Titolo: unnecessary feelings turnabout
Beta/Brainstorming: altairattorney
Fandom: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials & Tribulations
Personaggi: Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright
Avvertimenti: Spoilers per T&T (e i giochi precedenti), missing moment, gen, in inglese
Genere: introspettivo
Parole: 1314
Note: Seconda fic per il #WRPG @ maridichallenge! I prompt questa settimana erano coraggio | verità | onore | fedeltà | disciplina | ospitalità | operosità | autostima | perseveranza. E niente, questa è la mia prima fic su AA e le voglio bene perché io e la Ely abbiamo discusso tantissimo su questa serie e sentivo che era doveroso scriverci su, specialmente senza doverci pucciare in mezzo il NaruMitsu a tutti i costi XD cioè sì, li shippo, però trovo che il loro rapporto di mutuo rispetto non sia stato sufficientemente esplorato dal fandom, quindi qui sono amici. #inb4HOMOPHOBIA11!!! e quindi niente, grazie Ely per le chiacchierate e per avermela betata con tanto di note colorate come i bimbi di Free! XD <33333
E intanto almeno 13 HP a sta gallina volante glieli levo, poi vedremo col lancio dei dadi. *incrocia dita*

The sky is acquiring a graceful shade of pink, gradually painting Eagle Mountain with a soft pastel touch, preceding evening as the temperature rushes to drop, the snow solidifying. Hazakura Temple is, all in all, a delicious, peaceful place, Edgeworth thinks as the keys of his fancy car dangle from his fingers, and once he sits inside it he just leans against the back of the seat, as the air conditioning slowly warms up the air, the snow under his shoes already turning into water and his body quietly relaxing after a day spent walking around in the white mantel of the mountain. Patiently collecting pieces of a puzzle and sometimes even wrestling little shreds of truth away, breaking people's defenses to protect secrets they jealously hid but he was aware to clearly spot and dig out.

Thanks to Pearl Fey's Magatama, mostly. But he probably would have spot Butz's lies a hundred miles away even without it. The guy is so ridiculously easy to read through, and for once he's grateful about it, because this time the case and the entire situation is so absurdly against him that any bit of light helps.

The pink light is slowly but steadily turning darker, and as pleasant goosebumps tell him that his body is warm enough now, he turns the engine on. It's going to be a nightmare to go back to civilization what with the place being ridiculously away from the rest of the world, the snow, and all the tight curves to drive through. Miles Edgworth sighs, like a mother would at the hundredth request from her petulant child. And a tiny smile rises on his lips as he somehow ties that thought to Wright. Speaking of which, he's had quite a hard time investigating this case, mostly because of the bizzarre characters he's met today, and putting thoughts together in a case that normally he would treat as just another job. But this is for Wright, and he wonders why the guy even takes cases like this. Sure, some things don't add up, but why does Wright always accept apparently lost causes? Wouldn't he be better off picking up people who can give him reasonable confidence about winning?

Then again, Wright did manage to turn the entire audience and any Judge's ideas on their heads multiple times, with a logic that seemed irrational and then made complete sense, against all odds. That is, apparently without cheating or bending the rules. It is quite sensational, he thinks, while he makes a "U" turn, and the air conditioning hums placidly. His lips, again, curve in a smirk when he thinks the closest thing to cheating Wright has ever done was probably bluffing. And those were really, really desperate situations. He was in a corner, and still he grasped on his beliefs with a fierceness that Miles hardly ever saw in an opponent. He still remembers about the time when Nick saw everything crumble under him, when everyone was against him and bad mouthing him, when he was forced to defend a guilty man, and he fought with all his might and will to keep a trial going even though it was clear that all he wanted was to lose, but he couldn’t. For Maya. Miles had seen that rarely, that level of desperation. And then Nick had opened up to him, in the middle of a court room filled with people who wouldn't understand, he called his name and put Maya's life in his hands. And that was the moment when he understood that he should have given him a hand, just like Wright did a long time ago.

As he carefully drives down the mountain, branches of trees and the white snow slowly fading to make room for urban elements, more familiar to him, with their grey streets, the constant noise contrasting so hard with the place he'd just left, his thoughts are focused on Phoenix. His name is pretty appropriate for the man, as so many times he'd seen him fall to his knees, apparently defeated, and then he'd raise his head, always fighting back, flaming with all the little scraps of the truth coming together in the most unlikely ways. No matter the situation, there was always a determination, a constancy that didn't seem to die, ever. And in those moments, Miles knew somewhere deep within that he was going to lose. He wasn't even disappointed anymore, though. Because if getting to the truth meant losing a trial, then... so be it. He’s been raised being taught to pursue perfection and victory, no matter what he'd have to do. But Wright, he'd showed him another way to be a lawyer. He'd saved innocents' lives, while probably Miles had done a complete disservice to justice and let criminals, murderers, maybe even worse kinds of people, roam the world for other people to be their victims, in the past. Just like in the case of Dahlia Hawthorne. He'd thought about that for a long time. How Mia Fey was right all along, and how her wisdom slowly grew with her fierceness, and how many times he saw her in Wright's expressions, in his eyes. Or, well, literally beside him. He thought they'd be an unbeatable team, together, Wright and Mia. In fact, her intervention had been crucial so many times... which made him thing about something else. One of Wright's many strengths was undoubtedly the ease with which he was able to form personal, potentially dangerous - for himself - bonds with people he'd just met. He'd fallen right into Miles' logical traps so many times, and yet he didn't just rely on himself.

Phoenix Wright was a complete, absolutely stunning jigsaw puzzle. There were so many components to him, every one of them fitting together with the others to form his personality, and yet all the pieces were also made of him. He could twist his brain for days, but still he hadn't wrapped his head around Phoenix Wright. And yet if there is something he is convinced of, is that he is fundamentally a good person. In a job where good and bad are relative and subjected to opinion, that guy was the exception. There was no maliciousness in his goals. His naiveté is, if he dared to say so, heroic. The funniest part is, Wright probably wouldn't call himself a hero. Miles isn't sure the man even knows why he always picks up the most desperate people to defend, including... well, Miles himself. He wouldn't think much of it, he'd undermine his own risks, and he'd put his entire heart into protecting people who nobody will give a hand to. Maybe it's because of that exactly. Maybe because Wright is meant to be the one representing innocent people without hopes to get a shield protecting them. Maybe it's the responsibility of having to stand by them when nobody else will that gives him so much strength.

But, in the end, he thinks, the most amazing thing is the truth’s role and power in all of this. Because no matter how much you try, the truth will come out eventually. It doesn't matter whether it'll require begging, or fending off a jury filled with prejudiced people, or being one against the world, or unjustly losing a trial just to be proven right all along the next time. And Wright's incredibly good at believing in the truth.  It’s like he doesn’t even try, it’s like it comes natural to him to simply believe in people’s better side.

So, for the first time Miles feels the need to be on his level. Because Phoenix Wright believes in him, that has to mean something, and maybe somewhere his father is present, there with him. It's comforting. It helps him sleep in the wake of the trial, and it's that trust and perseverance that he'll do his best to honor.