Narumitsu Week Day 1 - Beginnings
AAAA this is probably the first time I've formally managed to attempt participating in this stuff, mostly because I'm still a tiny bit inexperienced with writing
My theming of Day 1's prompt will be around Phoenix's letters to Edgeworth, spanning from December 2001 (immediately following DL-6 incident) to roughly August 2016 (including covering the day of The First Turnabout).
I'm gonna warn that there'll be spoilers for Gyakuten Kenji 2/Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: Prosecutor's Path, Ace Attorney (the original), and Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, as well as the Ace Attorney anime episodes Turnabout Promise and Sound the Turnabout Melody. Also, mentions of death, some minor violence and the usual crap discussed in the Ace Attorney series applies here, so read at your own risk.
December 29th, 2001
Dear Miles, I dunno what happened yesterday.. The power went out and Mom and I had to eat dinner with candles since the power stayed off all night. Mom said it was a 'quake, a really bad one. I went to school today and didn't see you, so I hope you're okay.. Uh, I'm gonna try to get this to your uncle Ray, so he can get this to you, like we usually do if your dad isn't around to take my letters to you after I send them in the mail. Come back to school, please!! -- Phoenix
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December 31st, 2001
Dear Miles, ...I heard your dad's gone away.. When I got my first letter to Uncle Ray, he was crying and stuff. He kept saying your dad won't be coming back from the courthouse.. I had to redo this letter a few times after that, cuz I kept crying all over it. It.. I...
(The letter is smudged a little bit all over the words after that, making the contents a little harder to read on the already semi-terrible handwriting.)
Man, I cried all over this one too, but not as bad, so I guess I'll send it. I'm real glad you and Larry aren't here to laugh at me, but I'm also really missing you bad, Miles. I don't have a dad, either, so I really wish you'd come back and stay with me and Mom. Mom says she misses you too. Where did you go...? It really hurts not having you here.. I can't stop crying... I can't stop.. Please come back!! -- Phoenix
(There's a tiny scribbled P.S. on the edge of this letter. 'P.S.- Happy New Year's in advance, I guess')
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January 2002
Dear Miles, I.. think the teacher said you moved. I'm writing this at recess, so.. it's not gonna be as good. It's gonna be longer, too.. sorta. I don't know where you moved, but.. It hurts that you did. It's all over the news that your dad got.. I think it said 'shot'. Is that why he's not coming back? Uh, never mind, don't answer that. Lots of stuff happened since you went away. Uncle Ray stopped coming to see me after I gave him my other letter, so I'm gonna try giving this one to the principal or Mr. Grossberg's to have them try to get it to you. I feel really.. empty. Especially since you didn't write back yet. (I hope I spelled that right.. I had to ask a teacher to help me spell that.) It kinda hurts coming to school every day since you're not there. I miss you telling Larry he's saying dumb stuff (cuz he does).. I miss you teaching me about law stuff. I miss you getting all the teacher's questions right and helping me read better. I really miss you. ..I wonder, if this is how it feels for you to miss your dad. Does Uncle Ray and Larry and Mom miss you this bad, too? -- Phoenix
(Again, the letter is riddled with the occasional tear stain, and the last couple of lines seem unusually shaky, as if the writer were starting to lose their resolve mid-sentence..)
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May 2002
Dear Miles, It was raining today when graduation happened. All of us got really wet, but you know what? I made it, Miles! I'm not gonna be in elementary school anymore! I'm a middle schooler now! ..But now I'm gonna get a cold and I'm gonna be stuck in bed for a week. Stupid rain!! Oh well, at least I got almost all A's. I'm working really hard to get to college like you were saying! You said you wanted to go to college someday to be a lawyer, right? I'm gonna do that, too! I wanna find you so we can defend people together someday like your dad did! He'd want that, right? Oh yeah, Larry and I are also learning how to draw and stuff. I wanna draw really good too, like those people who draw court trials for a living. If I really end up not being able to be a lawyer, I can at least draw you in court doing stuff, right? Anyways, I'm REALLY hoping this dumb letter gets to you this time!! The last one got sent a little bit before you showed up to get your dog back in December, but I guess it's okay that you didn't answer it. It was really good to see you again, but I'm also really scared you'll get sad and lonely by yourself out there. I hope you can visit without running away this time, okay..? -- Sincerely, Phoenix Wright
(There's another P.S. at the bottom of the letter. 'P.S- You used to put 'sincerely' on your old letters before you said your name, so I'm gonna try it, too!')
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Spring 2004
Dear Miles, Did you like my radio request..? It was the only way I could think of to get my message out there. I really hope you're still in California to even hear that, Miles. So, I'd seen that Larry had bought a radio, since he said that was how adults liked entertainment nowadays.. (I hope I spelled that right, Miles. You kept referring to our old favorite show as 'children's entertainment' every time you talked about it at school!) I heard that the station was giving out requests one day, so I called them and asked! ..It's goofy, I know. I remember you went all pink when we were kids when I said nice stuff about you when you were there to hear it.. It made me feel warm when I thought about you! I still do feel warm, but I also feel like crying, because you're not here.
You're out there somewhere, out there with someone I don't know, out there with your dog, and that's still enough to make me feel happy. It makes me hope that you'll get these letters someday, Signal Red. ...Man, now Larry's laughing at me! I'm sitting here at lunch on the roof with him, writing this, and he said I looked all dreamy when I was writing this and my request to the station. Now I'M going pink! Okay, I'm gonna quit writing now before Larry sees it and laughs at me again.. I did mean what I said on my request, though. I want to see you again, Miles. Here's hoping one day, I can. Somehow, something tells me that my voice might help me the same way you helped me three years ago.. -- Sincerely, Phoenix Wright
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August 2013
Dear Miles, I haven't written one of these in a while, heh.. I see you still haven't gotten my letters. Damn my life. I really had hoped you'd get the last one.. When did I write that, middle school..? I bought a radio with Larry's help after that, but you never did post a request after I did, so I kept it and moved on. I've decided I'm going to become a courtroom artist, so I've enrolled in Ivy University. Actually, haha, I didn't even MENTION that part first! I got into college finally! I had to redo my SAT a couple of times to get in, but I did it anyway! I'm mainly in their art program, but I'm doing some law studying on the side. Speaking of law... I heard you became a prosecutor not that long ago. The really nasty kind, like that gross von Karma guy. ..I saw a news story, right? It talked about you. There's some really nasty rumors going around, both in the papers and even around here at school. Nobody believes me when I say I had you for a friend, Miles. You used to be really thoughtful, and also kinda blunt. But I have a soft spot for you. A.. Admittedly..
(There's a break in the page. The handwriting got slightly shaky.)
...I guess you'd term it as 'unnecessary feelings', huh? Since middle school, I couldn't quit thinking about you wherever I went. Stuff keeps reminding me of you on a daily basis. Little Pomeranians walking around reminds me instantly of your tiny dog.. Every time I hear the Signal Samurai song when they do the occasional rerun reminds me of the time Larry bought us those keychains as kids, and that one time I had the radio people play the theme song. Since I've gotten here to Ivy University, I finally started contemplating my love life. I... never bothered with it, since I had you and Larry when we were in elementary.. You never bothered with girls, so I didn't feel so bad about being too nervous to ask any out. But the truth is... Maybe you were, and still are, enough to trump any girl. Okay, sure, I still occasionally wish I could kiss one or say 'I love you' to a girl, but.. most often, I end up imagining you in that girl's place. I see us together on the courtroom floor, working together to find the truth.. I see us finding the truth and smiling, even if one of us loses. Maybe a really long hug or a kiss at the very end of the trial, when nobody's looking at us. You going all pink and telling me that's unnecessary, but me insisting, like the goof people always call me now.
(Another break in the page. The handwriting gets slightly shaky again.)
...but I can't have you by my side now. Not now. You're stuck, Miles, and I can see that even though I can't see you physically here with me. It's almost like I can karmically feel your pain. If that makes any sense. (It probably doesn't.) I want to save you from becoming that von Karma dude. I'll get there eventually, right..?
(Another break in the page. The letter actually ends up on a second piece of paper this time, carefully handwritten in blue pen like the rest.)
..There's another reason why I can't do any of that sappy stuff I wrote earlier, at least not with you. I got a girlfriend, a really pretty one that smells sweet like cake.. Her name is Dahlia Hawthorne, and she's a writing student here at Ivy! We met up at the courthouse while I was doing some reading in the library, and I bumped into her when she'd been doing some stuff for a paper. She gave me this lovely glass necklace, with a tiny blue container and some gold decoration stuff. I ended up falling for her on the spot, ahaha. I did say earlier that I like girls, too, Miles, so I guess this makes sense! We started going out after she gave me the necklace, and she's absolutely wonderful! She makes me food all the time, and she made me this cute pink sweater I wish you'd see. (Knowing you, you'd probably end up laughing at how silly it looks, but if that's what Dollie's into, then I'll go with it!) I still really miss you, Miles, though. I wish you could meet Dahlia. She's like an angel, like the butterflies she's always got around her. She's as sweet as her coffee and cookies she makes. I'd draw her, but it'd be really weird if I gave you a picture of her, she said. Uh, I guess I'll write again later, this kinda got long.. -- Sincerely, Phoenix Wright
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April 10th, 2014
(The letter has standard stationary belonging to the detention center, with some kind of emblem on the top, unlike the past letters which were on plain copy paper. The pen ink is replaced with pencil this time. Even the handwriting looks somber.)
Dear Miles, ...I got arrested. I guess I'd better explain, huh? Dollie had a boyfriend before me, apparently.. He was some snooty guy from the Pharmacology part of Ivy named Doug. He kept warning me about Dollie being dangerous or something, so I pushed him over and ran away. It'd been raining yesterday.. and... and..
(Tear stains almost ruins the writing in this section of the letter.)
...and Doug was gone, when I came back. I felt really bad for pushing him, honest! Now.. I might be responsible for him dying. How's that for bad luck, huh? I feel really heavy, like when I was a kid and your dad had gotten shot dead.. I can't really stop crying, and the guards are probably gonna yell at me to shut up if I start really going at it. Plus, I'm sick today, because I got a cold a little while ago thanks to all that rain.. God, Miles, I really wish you hadn't become a fucking prosecutor! I wish you were here to help me again! WHY DID GREGORY HAVE TO--
(More tear stains ruin a whole line of text following the name and messily written handwriting, making it unreadable. The writer must have been inconsolable trying to write this.)
....I had to get someone else to try defending me ib--
(The next word was crossed out after the tear-ruined handwriting. So was a few other expletives following that. Eventually, after a lot of crossed-out words in pencil, the letter continues a little more properly.)
...Crap, I ruined the letter, didn't I, Miles? I just feel so lost right now. I don't even have Larry or Dollie to make me feel better, and you're still off out there prosecuting. As I was saying before I messed up my words, I got another lawyer to hear me out. My trial starts tomorrow, so... I might be doomed. I'll never be able to become a lawyer and save you, it seems! I'll just be stuck in this gloomy prison for the rest of my life.. I really doubt I can get out of this one okay, Miles. I'm not good at doing stuff last-minute. You are, and you're not here.. Please, just this once.. Just this once, Miles... Come back.. Answer my damn letter! Please! Just once! I can't take being alone like this! I can't take it!! -- Signal Red
(The letter's not even signed properly.)
---
April 12th, 2014
(The letter goes back to its usual format, with one addition. There's an attached drawing this time. The drawing appears to be of Edgeworth himself, holding a few sunflowers and gladiolus flowers in his hands. The drawing is also in color, with Edgeworth being drawn in some distinctive shade of maroon.)
Dear Miles, ...Everything about Dahlia was a lie! She lied to EVERYONE. Including me. She was gonna kill me for real, Miles! Maybe I should've listened to imaginary-you and trusted my gut in court yesterday. Speaking of, I almost got poisoned! I'm having to write this from the hospital today, since they wanna make sure I'm not going to be poisoned for sure. But I've changed my mind about being a courtroom artist. That's no way to save you, Miles! I've made up my mind- I'm pursuing law full-time. My defense attorney, Mia, said she'd help me out if I were ever to go that way, and now I am. Dahlia's not holding me back, and now I won't let anything short of the law itself hold me back from saving you. Sure, it's probably really stupid to quit while I'm ahead, but.. I can't really say I should hold myself back anymore. I'm scared, but I want to push on now. I want you to smile with me again, Miles. That sappy stuff I said before.. I truly mean it. I love you, somehow. I don't know exactly how else to put it. You never read these, so I might as well be entirely honest, right? I promise, Miles, that I'll save you at any cost. Even if I have to defend you in court, I'll save you! That drawing’s some proof to it! -- Sincerely, Phoenix
(The P.S. this time says, ‘P.S- If I learnt anything from my shit experiences with Dahlia, it’s the meanings of the flowers I drew you with. Gladiolus flowers mean remembrance.. and sunflowers usually get symbolized for loyalty and joy. I also hear it’s a flower associated with lawyers...’)
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July 2016
Dear Miles, Phew! I'm glad to say I finally managed to get my attorney's badge! The Bar Association just approved it today, and I'm not gonna lie, I ended up crying when my results came in! I'm now going to work for my past defense lawyer, Mia Fey! She was really happy when she'd heard I wanted to work as a member of her law team, and I'm gonna move into the office pretty soon now that I'm not gonna live in my old college apartment anymore. ..Yeah, I'm still gonna keep writing these letters to you, even though you haven't answered any of them all these years. So what if you never answered them? ..I'll keep sending them anyway. I'll be more of a pest than Larry was to us as kids until the day I die or the day you come back! ..Well, I digress. (Please tell me someday if I used this right.) Uh, anyways, things have been relatively okay since my last letter. I got my law degree, and that was really exhausting. My sleep schedule's now ruined forever thanks to going through the cogs of law full-time in college, but I kinda know what I'm doing about law now. I'm still doing art, but I more or less do it strictly as a hobby now, to be honest. I'm still in contact with Larry, too, but he's usually pretty bad at his jobs and stuff. He's a bit of a deadbeat, just like you remember him from elementary school. I don't have any pets, save for Charley, the office plant that's in Mia's office. I also got a brand-new suit the other day, a really bright blue one! Man, it was pretty cheap, and it fits kinda weird, but the shade's really comforting to me for some reason. It reminds me of Signal Blue, from Signal Samurai. I still have my old keychain to this day. It's on my phone now, actually, and I think of you a lot whenever I see it there. Mia told me a bit about her sister, Maya. She says she really likes bad jokes and that Steel Samurai show that plays sometimes on TV. I told her how you used to like Signal Samurai as a kid, and Mia said you'd probably be the kinda person who likes Steel Samurai. (I don't doubt it, surprisingly. After all, it's kinda Larry's fault you and I ever got into Signal Samurai..)
(There's a second sheet of paper attached.)
Oh, there's one more thing! Larry finally got a girlfriend. She's somewhere else right now, I think, maybe some kinda business trip? Her name was something like Cindy, I think.. but anyways, she and Larry have been having an awful lot of trouble lately, so I'm sincerely doubting they'll make it. ..As for me, well.. my mushy stuff still stands. Now, I mostly daydream about you when I'm not brushing up on law stuff or checking emails for Mia or cleaning the toilet.. I keep imagining you as a defense attorney like Mr. Gregory was, standing confident and having your cold-hard logic crush any lies that might come your way.. Well, and what I said in my last letter, heh. Me.. uh, kissing you and all that. That still stands! A lot! ..I just don't know if I can say this outside of writing, ugh. I feel so nervous just writing this down, and Mia's starting to stare eye-sized holes in my soul from where I'm sitting... Does she suspect something? Okay, yeah, maybe she does. All I usually do once asked why I became an attorney is gush about that tiny class trial years ago, when you defended me despite everyone else (save for Larry) not believing me when I said I didn't steal your lunch money.. I've kinda-sorta come to terms with the fact that you're apparently the one person I can count on for me to love, since you haven't killed me and haven't done anything else to break my heart besides not reading my goddamn letters ever. Seriously, Miles.. You've never sent any letters back to me.. That's okay, though. Maybe if you never open these, you'll never reject me like Dahlia Hawthorne did.. -- Sincerely, Phoenix Wright
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August 3rd, 2016
Dear Miles, Okay... Here's my first ever trial! Larry got.. arrested. Probably the worst thing that's happened to him yet, I'm afraid. He's been accused of killing Cindy, apparently?? The second I heard about it, I asked the Chief to give me the case on the double! The problem? My stupid fricking not-diagnosed anxiety, that's what's the issue here! Well, that, and this IS my first trial.. Thankfully the Chief's gonna help back me up, but to be entirely honest, I'm kind of shaking right now.. I'm writing this as I'm preparing for the trial, so I don't know the outcome. Uh, wish me luck from out there, Miles! Maybe if I manage to bail Larry out of this, AND you answer my letters for once, how about the three of us go out somewhere and celebrate with the Chief? I think you'd really like Mia, Miles. She's really smart and really strong and independent, and I think you'd probably admire that a whole lot.. (And to be honest, you really should just answer my goddamn letters for once.. I miss you still, and I'm one step closer to saving you..!) -- Sincerely, Phoenix
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April 4th, 2019 -- High Prosecutor's Office, Room 1202
Papers with varying writings scattered across the maroon-clad prosecutor’s desk, His heart fluttered slightly, feeling strong embarrassment at Wright accusing him of never touching the letters in the final page of the last letter he'd gotten before the pair reunited back during the trial of Mia Fey's murder. To be fair to the defense attorney, it hadn't exactly been his fault for not recieving them.. But to be fair to himself, he'd never bothered to open a single one, not even after Wright had freed him from the burden of ever having to hold back his pain that von Karma had caused him. As a result of realizing that, he felt his face flush furiously, almost the color of his own suit.
"...Calm yourself, Miles," the silver-haired man grumbled to himself, willing away the heat from his cheeks to the best of his ability.... and then it hit him like a pile of bricks, right then, That Sort Of Realization. He remembered wordings from a couple of the past letters, and..
Oh. Now he felt as if he'd gotten slapped in the face with a white-hot iron to the face. That was how flustered he felt, attempting to re-assemble his mess of brain cells after realizing W-- Phoenix had imagined the same things he did. No wonder Franziska said Phoenix was a distraction. He kind of was. But the good sort. How is it that he managed to miss that for so impossibly long...?!
That was incredibly embarrassing, to say the least! The grey-haired prosecutor gave a deep sigh, pinching the bottom of his nose and staying like that for at least the next ten minutes before huffing, stuffing the letters back in the bag, and locating the nearest pen and paper. Then, in a flurry of determination and his much-neater-cursive-print-hybrid handwriting, Edgeworth began to write something on the paper, his grey eyes focused very carefully on the words he wrote.
Dear Phoenix, I wish to tell you something, now that you and I have a little less chaos in our lives at the moment to prevent me from answering you...
~Fin~
