Winter's Ashes (Phoenix Wright Fanfic)

Information on the fic


Chapter 1

Sometimes it was hard to follow Miles around, Phoenix mused as he sped up his pace to get back by his friend’s side as they walked the school corridor to their lockers. Miles had his locker right next to his, much wheedling from Larry and Phoenix himself to the principal had seen to that. It was rather hard for the man to deny their request when they spent nearly a full hour pleading their case, or perhaps he’d simply gotten sick of hearing them whining.



Either way it didn’t matter because Larry’s locker was on the other side of Phoenix’s and that meant the three of them were able to chatter before and after class was over. Not that they didn’t spend a lot of time together during class but it was nice to borrow some things from Miles or Larry when Phoenix forgot things at home. Or when he just… lost them.



Which ended up happening a lot, not that Miles or Larry ever seemed concerned about it. Phoenix smiled hesitantly at one of his best friends and worked up the courage to ask once again, “Oh, um… Miles…”



The rest of the words got lodged in his throat, the unfortunate effect of having a cowardly disposition. Something that had always grated on his nerves and made that heavy coil inside him tighten up to the point he felt almost sick.



His friend never seemed bothered by Phoenix getting his attention though and like always he paused in rifling through his locker, smoky eyes turning to look into Phoenix’s own questioningly.



“Did you need to borrow a pencil or paper again, Phoenix?” he asked, not a hint of annoyance or questioning in his voice. Phoenix always felt eternally grateful his there were some things you just didn’t question.



“Oh, uh… Y-yeah, that would be uh… really helpful,” he mumbled, eyes flicking away from his friend’s to the wall beside them. There was a small chunk of the wall missing, probably from some fight, which the janitor hadn't fixed yet.



It was only when his friend was silent for longer than necessary and no shuffling sounds accompanied the silence that he realized he hadn’t fully answered the question. “P-paper!” he squeaked, snapping his attention back to his friend’s amused face.



Miles proceeded to take out his almost perfect notebook, opened it without effort to a page that was empty and then delicately tore the paper out of the book. Once that was done he snapped the book closed and tucked it under his arm, holding the paper out for Phoenix to take.



With nothing but pure gratitude he reached out to do so- and then the paper was snatched out of Miles’ hand before he could.



“Hey, are you two passing notes or somethin’, ‘cause if ya are then I wanta be involved!”



That voice could belong to no one but the infamous Larry Butz. It was just like him to show up at a moment like this to ruin things, Phoenix thought with a sigh as he saw the paper grasped in Larry’s hand was already crumpled up.



Who didn’t seem at all concerned about the glare he was getting from Miles or the fact that he had successfully ruined the “note” he thought he had. It was only when he looked down at the paper he realized what he had done, the little self-conscious laugh that found itself trying to come out of his throat yet staying lodged within it giving him away.



“Oh, eh-heh, I guess it wasn’ a note huh? Well, uh, I guess this was s’pposed t’ be yours, right Nick?” and as if he had not committed some terrible act of which horrible retribution would be upon him when he was not paying attention, or so promised the look in Miles’ eyes where he glared at Larry’s back, he held out the paper to Phoenix with the largest grin he could manage.



Which was large. And very sheepish. Unable to keep a grudge against someone he respected and felt so indebted to, although it was times like these he regretted feeling like he owed this kid, Phoenix took the paper from him and pressed it against his shut locker. His feeble attempts at smoothing the paper back to what it had once been had him sighing in resigned acceptance.



Something about the act made him wonder why people tried to repair something that’s obviously broken forever. Something that would never return to how it was and yet they’d keep trying because they wanted it to be how it was. Was it human nature or…



“SO Nick, did you study for th’ test that we have in Ms. Meywhether’s class?” Larry’s voice was loud in his ear, far too close for Phoenix’s liking.



The fact that Phoenix immediately tensed up and his fingers flexed instinctively to grip the paper, crumpling it up worse, clearly went over Larry’s head because he only dropped his chin on his shoulder and continued in that outside voice which was clearly not wanted.



“I mean I didn’t have any time t’ do that, ‘cause I was takin’ Lula out to the pet shop, she wants to get this kitty she saw there ‘n she wasn’t sure whether she should get it now or wait to ask for it on her birthday and I said-“



“Larry, is there any way that you could possibly stop talking like some kind of banshee and let Phoenix have his personal space? …And his hearing preferably in tact as well.”



Whenever Miles spoke in that no-nonsense tone Larry always listened and did what he said, perhaps because he sounded so much like an adult he couldn’t think of anything else to do. There was one thing Larry could be counted on doing and that was listening to authority, at least while said authority was talking to him.



“Sure, sure, Edgey,” he muttered and shuffled back. Rustling sounds, in his mind’s eye Phoenix could see him with that sheepish grin as he rubbed under his nose in that boyish cocky way he had.



Sighing softly in relief and pushing away the itch to rub his ears to soothe them from the abuse they had suffered under Larry’s overly loud voice, he turned around to look at his two friends. Larry obviously wasn’t even bothering to get anything out of his locker, if his empty hands were an indication and the uncaring air clinging to him as he leaned back against the row of lockers opposite their own.



Miles had shut his own locker by now and was frowning primly at the third member of their group, silently disapproving of his lazy demeanor.



Phoenix’s lips quirked up and he had to turn his face away from the two of them, staring hard at that crack in the wall in an effort to keep himself from cracking up. Even if Miles managed to make Larry study it wouldn’t have helped, their crazy friend would somehow end up failing any tests or quizzes they were given even if he studied every waking hour.



It just seemed to be something Larry was destined to do, scrape by in life without a single care and somehow walking on clouds despite any of it.



His lips twisted down suddenly, envying his friend’s ability and wishing he could do the same…



“Phoenix, Larry, we are going to be late if we do not continue to class,” Miles’ sharp voice cut into his thoughts before they could drop into dangerous territory. While Miles would never know when he brought Phoenix back from his cliff trips, Phoenix would be forever grateful that he had done so, knowingly or not.



To show his gratitude he turned back towards the two of them, yelping at seeing both of them already at the classroom door as though they were leaving him. “W-wait you two!” he squawked, almost scrambling over his feet to chase them into the room.



He plopped down into his desk beside them, cheeks puffing out at the amused grin on Miles’ face and how Larry was slapping his desk top between his laughter.



“O-oh man Nick, you really thought we were ditchin’ ya to be late didn’ ya!?”



“Y-you!” Phoenix pointed at Larry, almost wacking him in the nose with his finger, “you know how strict Ms. Meywhether is when someone is late, last time she hit a kid with her ruler!”



“Nonsense Phoenix,” Miles tutted in that almost irritating way, Phoenix couldn’t remember when he’d started doing that but he could swear he hadn’t picked that up from his father, “she would never hit someone with a ruler. She could get sued for doing such a thing.”



The boy paused for a moment, eyes almost lazily scanning the chalkboard up front as well as the teacher’s desk that was currently empty, “Although she did throw the ruler at him and nearly hit him.”



He had to keep his mouth from dropping open and stared at him for the lack of concern that such an event actually happened. ‘Wouldn’t it be bad for her if she had actually hit the kid…’



“Scared the hell out of me!” Larry laughed, leaning back almost dangerously in his chair with his feet pressed against the desk and Phoenix wanted to tell him ‘Careful, Larry’ but it’s far too late as the chair screeches and lurches.



The yelp of pain is expected and despite knowing it hadn’t hurt as bad as it sounded Phoenix couldn’t help the wince and the way he bit his cheek to keep himself from reacting.



Miles did the reacting for him, looking flatly down at their fallen friend, who was laughing as if he hadn’t hit his head hard on the chair, and spoke in a voice as dry as the desert, “I can see that you will never learn the concept of keeping a chair on all fours, rather like your own life in fact.”



Despite the sharpness of the words themselves neither of them were bothered by it, Larry simply stretched his arms over his head and laughed louder. “Man, that was great! It’s like a ‘coaster ‘cept it only lasts a second ‘n then you realize you aren’t dyin’!”



‘If a rollercoaster makes you think you’re dying I don’t think I want anything to do with that,’ Phoenix thought to himself, face in a fight between frowning at the thought and smiling at Larry’s uncaring attitude.



Larry Butz would laugh death in the face and somehow end up best friends with him, he was just that kind of person.



“Yo, Edgey, Nick, help me up willya?” Larry whined, wiggling his body back and forth on the fallen chair. Around them the rest of the class was whispering or laughing at Larry’s latest failure, it didn’t bother him at all if the large grin on his face was any indication.



He shook his head amusedly and stood along with Miles, both of them reaching out to grip the chair’s back and pulled with all their might. Somehow despite the large lump of flesh still sitting in the chair they managed to pull it back onto its feet and set it right.



As if in defiance of their help Larry immediately had his feet on the desk once more and was balancing the chair on two legs.



“If it falls again I’m not helping you,” Miles said flatly, frowning down at him before he sat himself.



The door opened with a crisp click and Phoenix’s heart gave a lurch, scrambling to sit down in his seat as their teacher came into the room. Her sharp eyes swept over all the students assembled, settling on him for a moment before drifting away.



He’d rather not find out what she would have said had she caught him out of his seat, especially when it was one of her rules not to be doing so when class started. She already had a grudge against him for having to give Miles the $38 she was still convinced Phoenix had stolen…



Not wanting to get further onto her bad side he ducked his head down and stared at the table in front of him. The classroom that was so loud before the door opened had hushed, he was sure you could hear a pin drop. It reminded him of under the bed, holding your breath as much as you could, telling yourself “Don’t make a noise, don’t make a sound, you’ll be found if you do, don’t breathe,” and it takes him a moment to remember he’s in his classroom.



The woosh of breath he let out startled Miles across from him, Phoenix looked up quickly at him and smiled apologetically at his inquisitive look.



And then he looked to the chalkboard as Ms. Meywether started writing something that looked like the beginning of a quote.



‘For none are so lost as those who cannot see they are.’



It was a strange quote, he wasn’t sure why the teacher wrote it on the board but something about it rung true within his heart. Phoenix always had a fondness for quotes, something about the age-old wisdom in things people said seemed just… right.



Their teacher stopped writing and turned to look at them, looking between each of them as though she expected someone to question her. Larry might have had Phoenix not lightly kicked his leg underneath the table as soon as he opened his mouth, probably with some smart words ready to come out. In response he was given a wet-eyed look as though he had betrayed Larry in the worst way possible, to which Phoenix simply sighed.



“Can any of you tell me what this quote is about?” her prim and proper voice cut through their interaction, a stern glance given to both of them that had Phoenix ducking his head with a wince.



No one spoke up, perhaps none of the other children could understand what it was getting at. Phoenix liked books but he’d never had much of a chance to read them outside of school books, and even then he sometimes wasn’t able to read those as they ended up lost or… damaged.



Suffice to say he didn’t have the required knowledge to understand the quote fully.



So of course the only person other than Ms. Meywhether who would understand the quote would be…



“It’s rather simple, Ms. Meywhether. The person is not speaking about directions or going somewhere, but about a person’s path in life. Those who don’t realize they don’t know where to go in life, or that they’re going the wrong way entirely, are the ones who happen to be the most lost.”



Leave it to Miles to be so direct in his explanation, and for him to not look the least bit flustered by having to speak so openly to the classroom and the teacher at large. Something Phoenix himself wasn’t able to do, any time he tried he would become so terrified what he had to say was wrong, even when he was so sure it was right, he’d try to wriggle under his desk as best he could to avoid having to answer.



“You’re absolutely right, Miles,” their teacher simpered at him, smiling slightly. It was well known she sucked up to Miles, maybe for no other reason than because his father was famous. Or maybe she was worried if she didn’t she’d get sued, or at least that’s what Larry had joked one day.



“Now class, I’d like you all to get out your notebooks and try your own hand at writing a quote. Make it as straight-forward or as mysterious as you want, but remember that it has to have importance to you. You don’t have to share it with anyone else, but you’ll be turning it in to me so make sure you don’t put anything inappropriate in it.” The last comment was obviously addressed to Larry if the teacher’s brief glare at him was any indication.



“Man, you put one comment about a girl’s looks in a paper and she just won’t let you forget about it…” Phoenix heard his friend mutter beside him, not bothering to look at him to see the pouty face he’d have on even if the teacher was probably correct in reprimanding him.



He’d seen some of what Larry wrote about the girls he liked and Phoenix was quite sure it wasn’t appropriate for kids their age. Not that he was fully certain what was appropriate at their age considering he’d never interacted with anyone besides Miles and Larry but he could guess at least.



Seeing as their teacher wasn’t saying anything further and had even sat down at her desk and pulled out a book from her bag to read, Phoenix looked between Larry and Miles. Unsure what to do himself whereas the two of them already had an idea, or at least what seemed like an idea considering Larry was more chewing on the end of his pencil than writing.



Not to mention what looked suspiciously like a doodle of the girl who sits at the table beside them on Larry’s paper… at least Miles’ looked neat and proper, if a little short.



Phoenix looked back down at his paper and took his pencil out of his bag, tapping the tip against the paper several times as he thought about what he was going to write. How long or short were the quotes meant to be? And what could he really say that was important to him?



Frowning down at the paper as if that would somehow solve his issue, he shook his head and clicked the end of the pencil to let out some lead. And then he hunched over the desk and began to write on the paper.



‘A light in the dark, the never-ending fire which wards off the teeth of Fear and Pain, are the words spoken without thought.’



He chews on the end of his pencil, unsure if what he’d wrote was acceptable or not. Was it really all that important to him? Phoenix wasn’t really sure but he was too afraid to put anything else down. Maybe he should try to add a different quote onto it, in case Ms. Meywhether didn’t like the one he wrote?



Sneaking a peek at his friends didn’t give him an answer to his questions. Miles was already done with whatever he’d wrote, his eyes roaming the classroom boredly while waiting for this exercise to end. Larry… well he was simply grinning like an idiot, an idiot who hadn’t done his part at all if the doodles and all the scribbled through lines were any indication.



Phoenix sometimes wondered how he ever passed a grade, or how his parents let him get away with such an uncaring attitude.



Once more he looked down at his paper and the words written on it, rereading them several times and coming up unsatisfied each time. He scratched out the lines and went back to writing, unsure what he was going to write this time that would hopefully satisfy his teacher.



‘Love seeds in the heart and is grown by the care of friends and family.’



Reading the line once more, Phoenix couldn’t help but smile to himself and peek up at his two best friends. Both of whom were having a silent conversation with their faces, something to do with Larry’s feet once more being on the table if Miles’ glance towards them meant anything.



His lips curled up more, a warm feeling in his chest. It was true, really, his best friends never understood how their words and actions affected him. How they made him grow, subtle yet so very strong. Compared to the crybaby he was before, at least.



How when, after Miles stood up for him because of the theft, once everyone headed home that day he had stopped Phoenix. A small tug on his sleeve and a soft voice of, “You didn’t do anything wrong, don’t ever let anyone tell you something you know isn’t true.”



And Larry’s, “Yeah, Edgey’s right! When someone does something like that, you refuse to listen to them and fight for what you believe in!”



…Although following the advice had ended rather painfully, he still clung onto those words as a reminder of what he would do when he grew up. When no one could touch him anymore, when he could take care of himself.



“Alright everyone, pencils down now. I’ll come around to collect your papers and then you can go to recess for the day.”



Miles caught his eye and raised his brow questioningly at him, Phoenix blinked back at him, unsure what he was questioning before realizing he was still smiling. He simply smiled wider and shook his head, knowing if he said what he was thinking he’d just be teased about being a sappy sop.



And so another day slid on by, something he was content to ride, like a rollercoaster he’d always heard about and had so very much wanted to be on. Even if the thought of going that high scared him more than anything else he’d also heard that it was a fun kind of fear. Especially when you started heading back towards the ground.



He had been ready to go straight on home, only half paying attention to whatever Miles and Larry were talking about behind him when someone caught his sleeve and pulled hard, nearly pulling him off his feet.



“H-hey, what are you-!?” he spluttered indignantly, planting his feet firmly on the ground and twisting around to see Larry’s sheepish grin, his hand still gripping his sleeve firmly.



“You’re always running off immediately after school, Nick,” he said, grin slipping into a pout as he released Phoenix’s sleeve to cross his arms. “You need to stick around today, Miles said he was interested in watching that Samurai Delinquent movie and I have a few extra bucks so I could totally pay for you!”



His heart almost stopped, skidded, and then continued a little wobbly like his father driving when he drank too much. Not go home after school, go see a movie with his two best friends?



Not go home after school? Could he really do something like that, when he needed to tell his father how he did today on his test?



“I-I don’t think I can go today, Larry. I-I have something I need to do at home…” he mumbles shyly, taking a few steps back and gripping the strap of his backpack across his shoulder tightly in both hands. He looks between Larry’s crestfallen face to Miles’ deep frown, unsure what to say next and wanting to simply turn and make a break for it.



“But Nick! This is the last day the movie is in theatres, this is the only day you can possibly go see it! You aren’t going to miss it just because you have something to do elsewhere. I mean what can possibly be that important?” Larry whined, clasping his hands in front of his face and puppying him in that way Phoenix could almost never resist.



“While Larry is a bit overdramatic, Phoenix, he does have a point. What might be so important to miss a chance to hang out with us after school for once, as well as see a very good movie?” Miles’ smooth voice overrode Larry’s scratchy and whiny one, Phoenix couldn’t stop his eyes from sticking on his friend’s grey ones.



There was an almost pleading look in those eyes, almost like Miles was silently begging him to go along with them, or tell him what bothered him sometimes. The something he kept silent about when he showed up to school with bruises and laughed them off saying he’d slipped on the stairs, or fallen off his tree, or even once fallen off his house roof while playing hide and seek…



Phoenix realized with a pang that he’d never even hung out with his friends after school, he’d always gone straight home after separating from them. The only times they’d ever hung out was when Phoenix managed to sneak out on the weekends, and even then it didn’t last for very long before he excused himself to go back home to help with one thing or another. Or for homework, of which many times he didn’t have any.



Would it really be so bad to just go along with them to the movie? One time wouldn’t hurt too much, he could always explain it or just wait outside his house until it was late and sneak in. Pretend he’d been there all along, or something.



He couldn’t just say no, he thought while biting his lip. Larry had even offered to pay for him, and they all knew how stingy Larry could be with his money at times. Laughing about how he had to keep some money to pay for a girl or some other thing…



To go so far for him, he couldn’t say no. And so Phoenix gathered up all the courage he had and smiled hesitantly at his best friends, eyes flickering between concerned grey and pleading brown.



Opened his mouth with a shaky breath and said, “O-okay, let’s go see that movie. I’ve always wanted to see what was so interesting about these Samurai movies you both love.”



The smiles on Larry and Miles’ faces was enough to validate his decision. Larry grabbed his hand hard and started dragging him in the direction of the movie theatre. Miles walked primly behind them, scolding Larry to let go of Phoenix’s hand and let him walk on his own lest he cause them both to fall on their faces.



Which they eventually did, Larry laughing it off while Phoenix pouted and didn’t forgive him for a total of five minutes until Larry went so far as to pay for his popcorn.



And when the movie ran and Phoenix lost himself in the fight for justice against evil men, he couldn’t imagine how anything could go wrong. The world was just so right, he was a normal kid cheering on the hero

---

When I have more chapters posted up I'll be putting them here.