Turnabout Wedding Vows

by stars_and_selkies

Summary:

"The chandelier!"

"Move! EVERYBODY MOVE!"

Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix wright have known each other since they were nine years old. Since then, they've both faced loss and tragedy, separation and hundreds of other incidents; from a murderous ex-girlfriend, to an international smuggling ring. And though it may have taken almost 20 years to get where they have, they made it here.

At 27, they're finally getting married.

But despite this, it seems that the one day that was supposed to be entirely their's has taken a sudden dark turn. After a murder attempt, Miles and Phoenix have to turn their investigation towards the wedding party. With the help of old friends and maybe even family, they need to find out who's trying to kill them, or their lives may be forfeit as a result. Personally, Miles has to finally come to grips with settling down and taking the final steps towards moving on from his past, and Phoenix must confront his own doubts about himself and his abilities not only as a lawyer, but as a human too.

Chapter 1

"C'mon Nick! Please!"

Phoenix glowered up from his desk, feeling his usual cheerful demeanor slip with rising irritation. "There is not enough no in the world, Larry."

"But we've known each other since we were like, nine!" Larry whined, his bottom lip quivering.

Phoenix had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "I already told Miles he could pick out the best man, and even if I had been the one to make that decision, I still wouldn't have picked you!"

"First off, that was cruel. Second off, maybe I could be the maid of honor? Please Nick??"

"Maya's already the maid of honor, Larry. Now get out of my office; I have a wedding to help plan."

Larry turned and walked out, his head hung low, whimpering the whole way out. Phoenix groaned and dropped his head into his hands. It had been stressful enough making the original decisions as to who would be the members of their small wedding party, which only consisted of the grooms, the best man, and the maid of honor. Phoenix and Miles had already decided that the wedding would be small and decided to cut the wedding party to reflect that. No matter how much Larry whined. There had been a little bit of bickering about who would pick who, but they'd come to an agreement at the end of it. Miles had gotten to choose the best man, which was Dick Gumshoe, and Phoenix had gotten to choose the maid of honor, which was Maya Fey. After that was done, they had to choose the day, the venue, the colors, the flowers, the reception area, the officiant (The Judge), invitations, catering, and writing vows. Needless to say, even with the time both of them had taken off, they were both at the end of their ropes and up to their ears in stress. Phoenix couldn't wait for the wedding to come if only to be done with the planning and set up. 

He heard the door open, and glanced up, half expecting to see Larry again, but sighed in relief when he saw Maya standing in the doorway with two cups of coffee. She handed him the mug with "Worlds #1 Attorney" written on the side, before sitting on the edge of his desk and sipping her own mug. Phoenix took a long drought of coffee before smiling up at his assistant.

"Thanks Maya."

"You betcha Nick! What did Larry want?" Maya asked, swinging her legs.

"The same thing he wanted last week; to be in the wedding party." Phoenix said, scowling at his coffee before taking another drink.

"Not again..." Maya rolled her eyes and took a few more sips of coffee. "He just won't take no for an answer, will he?"

"It's Larry; I was at least somewhat prepared for this. Or something like this, I guess."

They sat in silence for a while, drinking coffee. Then it was back to work for both of them; Maya organizing some cases, and Phoenix with continued wedding planning.

By the time they finished and closed up the office, it was dark out, and the street was only lit by the lamps casting an eerie white glow beneath their feet. Maya waved and started her walk back to her apartment. Phoenix watcher her retreating back until she turned a corner and was out of sight. Then he turned and began his own walk home.

It was silent aside from the sounds of distant city traffic and the occasional passing car or gust of wind. Phoenix quietly reveled in the quiet of the night, the sweet spring air that promised warmer months ahead, and good weather. The occasional petal floated down from the trees above him, settling on his coat or in his hair, but he did nothing to brush them off. Before long, he turned onto another quiet street, lined by short brick apartment buildings on an overlook that offered stunning views of the city. He came up to the front door of one of the buildings and pushed the door open. There was a little activity in the lobby, but Phoenix paid no mind to any of it as he headed for the stairs, before darting up two flights and heading down the empty hallway. Finally, he stopped in front of his apartment: 228. He grabbed his keys, and unlocked the door, before stepping in. 

The lights were, to his surprise, on. From this angle, he could only see the living room and part of the dining room but the lights in both were definitely turned on; which was odd, he thought Miles would still be out. Even though they weren't supposed to be working, that didn't stop Miles from going into the office or precinct to make sure that nothing was falling apart at the seams. Not that Phoenix was any better; he'd gone into the office today too. He'd meant to review a couple of old cases but ended up doing wedding stuff the whole day.

Frowning softly to himself, he wiped his shoes on the welcome mat before taking them off, then hung his coat on the rack. He stepped into the living room before calling, "I'm home!"

For a moment it was silent before he heard "I'm in the kitchen!"

He walked through the living room to the dining hall to find, sure enough, Miles was working at the stove, usual suit jacket abandoned, cravat off, and his sleeves pushed up. Phoenix leaned against the entryway and grinned. Miles, hearing him walk up, turned and smiled softly at him. Phoenix, in response, not so subtly looked him up and down. 

"Nice." Phoenix muttered under his breath.

Miles rolled his eyes but was still smiling. "Shut up and help me make dinner. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing."

Phoenix rolled his eyes and took his place at the counter, looking down at the recipe card, before moving to help Miles finish dinner.

They ate, briefly discussing their days. Miles told him about an incident at the precinct that he had to deal with, and Phoenix told him about Larry's complaints. After that, they sat down in the living room to go over some more details of the wedding, then headed to bed, as they had to be up early tomorrow to put everything together; tomorrow was the rehearsal dinner. They weren't rehearsing their vows; they wanted them to be a surprise at the altar. 

Phoenix sat on the edge of the bed, where Miles was already curled up, half asleep. He turned and looked at him, smiling softly, thinking to himself; how did I get this lucky?

Chapter 2

Miles frowned from his spot by the doors, watching Phoenix direct around a slightly confused looking Dick Gumshoe, while Mia (being channeled by Pearl) stood just behind him, her lips pursed as she tried to explain what Phoenix wanted in more detail. He glanced to the other side, where Shi-Long Lang was helping Kay with decorating the tables of the reception hall. They seemed to be making far more progress; Lang would put down the tablecloth, then Kay would put down the vase of flowers.

At least there is some semblance of teamwork. Miles thought, though part of him was proud to see them working together so well. Now if only those three could get it under control. He looked towards Phoenix, Mia, and Gumshoe; all now trying to stop a table rolling towards one of the walls. After a moment, Mia seemed to realize the effort was futile and just watched the boys chase after it.

The table hit the wall with a loud crash.

"Fools," Miles muttered under his breath, while Mia shook her head. 

Despite the odds against them, within the next two hours, they all managed to get everything looking good. Although Miles had to account part of the improvement in both setup and speed to Franziska, who had shown up with her whip about 30 minutes after the table incident. He rubbed a new bruise on his shoulder and winced. Glancing across the room, he made eye contact with Phoenix, who caught the movement and mouthed 'Franziska?'

Miles smiled and nodded before crossing the room and standing next to him to look over everything. He glanced up and saw that Phoenix's eyes were shining with tears.

"I can't believe it. We're getting married." Phoenix said, his voice barely above a whisper. He turned and grinned at Miles, who gently took his hand.

"We are. Tomorrow." Miles whispered back. Phoenix reached up and cupped his face, leaning forward to kiss him when...

"MILES EDGEWORTH!!!" 

The froze as the door slammed open and Franziska Von Karma stormed in. "IF I HAVE TO DEAL WITH LARRY BUTZ ANY LONGER I SWEAR IM GOING TO WHIP YOU TILL YOU BLEED!"

"Why are you threatening me?!?" Miles asked, stepping away from Phoenix, who was backing away with his hands raised in defense.

"Because somehow this is your fault!" she snapped, before grabbing him by the ear and stomping off.

---

 

Phoenix watched them go, once again feeling the familiar twang of irritation. He couldn't blame Franziska for being irritable with Larry; he'd been short-tempered with him too. He knew that he was likely going to stick his nose where it didn't belong once he got wind of wedding prep and received an invitation; an invite Phoenix was beginning to regret sending. He shook his head and looked out over the space again. Several large, round tables sat spread around the room, covered in fine white tablecloths and topped with small glass vases with various (expensive) flowers. Miles could tell you the names of each of them, Phoenix was just glad they looked good. And it made Miles happy, which was incredibly important to Phoenix.

Phoenix glanced up at the large Chandelier in the center of the room, sitting above the table where the wedding party would be. Although the candles had long since been replaced by artificial versions, the chandelier was antique; it dated back to the early 18th century, from what he'd understood of the rambling of the owner of the property they were holding the reception on. What was his name again...?

Phoenix didn't have time to think it out, because a moment later the door flew open and Miles strutted back in looking ruffled and irritated, Franziska hot on his heels. Phoenix sighed with relief though; while dealing with an irritable Miles was never fun, Larry was nowhere in sight.

"What did Larry want?" Phoenix asked, sticking his hands in his pocket.

"The same thing he wanted yesterday; to be part of the wedding party," Miles said through gritted teeth.

Phoenix groaned and massaged his temples. "Great. I thought we were through that."

"Evidently not," Franziska said, tapping her foot and tugging on her whip. Phoenix felt himself get tense as she did so, anticipating that whip to be turned on him. Again.

"At any rate, we should get ready for the rehearsal dinner; this will be the first time everyone will be together before the wedding," Miles said, turning to look at Phoenix.

"I almost forgot about that." Phoenix groaned, dropping his head.

Phoenix and Miles said goodbye to Franziska, before heading back to their apartment.

Notes:

Sorry, this isn't super exciting or comprehensive; I just wanted to update this fic real quick for you guys. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Awkward.

That was the mood in the room. Awkward. Phoenix poked and pushed his food around his plate, trying to think of a clever icebreaker. He'd never thought about it, but all these people had never been forced to sit down in the same room before. This was the only reason they had decided to do a rehearsal dinner; to get the feel of the atmosphere they were expecting.

And right now, it was awkward.

He glanced over to look at Miles, who was sitting with a stick-straight back and pursed lips. Like Phoenix, he wasn't eating but rather simply pushing his food around. Phoenix resisted the urge to sigh and glanced across the table at Mia (still being channeled by Pearl) who gave him a sympathetic look.  Phoenix was about to give up entirely, when...

"Alright, I've had enough."

He glanced to his right, where his fiance stood, commanding the attention of the entire room. 

"I know many of you have never met, and are only here to support Phoenix and myself. But at the very least you could introduce yourself; we'll be stuck together all day tomorrow after all, and I can tell you that I'd appreciate it if this wasn't the atmosphere then." Miles looked around the room, making eye contact with a couple of the guests, before sitting back down.

After a moment, to Phoenix's slight surprise, the conversation started up and the awkward silence dissipated into cheerful chattering. Maya started up a conversation with Kay and Lang, while Gumshoe seemed to have opened up to Mia, who was listening to him politely. 

As he watched the discussion rise, he leaned over and whispered, "Nice job."

"As if I'd ever do anything less," Miles muttered, smirking. Phoenix chuckled under his breath before turning his attention to the chatter around the table. 

The rest of the dinner passed in much better spirits, thankfully with no major issues. After that, everyone headed back to the place they were staying. Some of them had rented a hotel for the wedding, while others already lived in town which made their attendance easy. Phoenix and Miles said their last goodbyes before heading back to the apartment.

---

Back at the reception venue, things were a little different. The lights had all been extinguished and the hall was silent; nobody would see.

Opening the door slowly so as to make no noise, they slid through the door as nothing but a shadow, before taking a step-ladder leaning against the wall and carrying it up beneath the chandelier. With steady hands and careful steps, they mounted the ladder and carefully set about losing a few bolts and removing two of the false candles, thus balancing the weight so that it would not fall right away. Then they put the second part in motion; attaching a small explosive to the spot where the chandelier was mounted to the ceiling. All they would need to do was set the explosive off, which would unbalance the chandelier and cause it to go crashing down.

Right on top of the grooms. Revenge never tasted so sweet, even if they weren't doing it entirely for themselves. It had been hard enough to reach this place without incident.

Just as they turned to leave, the door opened and they froze.

"Who's there?" a voice called out, accompanied by the beam of a flashlight.

They stifled a curse; no one was supposed to be here tonight. They watched as the owner of the voice stepped into the room, shining his flashlight, hitting the stepladder. They stepped closer, and in the light, they could see that it was an older man and surmised that he must be the owner of the property, Mr. Aaron Andrews.

Quietly, they pulled a small pistol out of his jacket and turned it on the man, aiming for his head. And with one shot, watched him fall. They then jumped down, and dragged the body off; no sense leaving a crime scene, he thought, as he started the process of cleaning up.

 

Chapter 4

Notes:

IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE THIS ONE CHAPTER. Hope it's worth it, and I apologize if it sucks, also if it's too long.

Phoenix was up early the next day, having gotten very little sleep. He turned over and sighed, looking at the empty bed next to him. Miles had insisted on being traditional and had spent the night at Franziska's place.

"It's improper to spend the night before the wedding together; besides, we'll have tomorrow night all to ourselves."

It was that last part that made Phoenix agree, although he was cursing himself for it now; the bed was uncomfortably cold without another person at his side. Nevertheless, he'd suffered in silence and rose early for the ceremony that afternoon. He was supposed to meet Maya at the reception hall later that night to make sure everything was ready on that end. After that, it was to the venue to get changed and ready for the actual wedding. Phoenix stretched and stood, looking in the mirror, and felt his heart lurch.

He'd been nervous before, yeah, but the planning really took his mind off those nerves, and more specifically his doubts. He knew he wanted to marry Miles, he'd known for a long time. But he still wasn't entirely convinced that Miles wanted to marry him and that he would even show up to the wedding. Phoenix wouldn't blame him if he didn't; he couldn't imagine that he was a great partner, let alone husband.

After a moment, he shook himself out of his thoughts. Enough self-pity, Nick. You've got places to be. He told himself, then turned and opened the closet door, resisting the urge to wring his hands and bite his lip.

Everything seemed to be well at the reception hall and after a quick once over, Phoenix reluctantly agreed that nothing seemed out of place. He'd almost wished something had been; it would have bought him a little more time before they had to go to the venue. He grabbed some lunch with Maya, who ate both their servings as Phoenix himself was too nervous to eat anything. He was positive the moment he put something in his stomach that it would just come back up again.

After lunch, they headed towards the Venue. Thankfully, it seemed to be in perfect condition. The trees were still full of blossoms, and the chairs sitting underneath them in front of the arch seemed to be clean and undamaged. Off to the side was a small building which would be where Phoenix and Miles would change. They'd do the ceremony, do a few pictures and then take a limo to the reception hall. Phoenix had thought the Limo was overkill, but Miles insisted upon having at least one "over-the-top element" to the wedding, and Phoenix had relented to it.

He stepped into the building. It was empty except for a nervous looking Adrian Andrews, who ran up upon seeing them enter.

"There you are!" she said, nervously wiping her hands on the skirts of her dress. "I don't want to bother you right before your wedding, but I have to ask you something."

"Of course, Adrian. What's up?" Phoenix asked, feeling a sudden lump come up in his throat.

"I haven't heard anything from my uncle Aaron since yesterday afternoon; have you?" Adrian asked, rocking up and down on the balls of her feet.

Phoenix frowned slightly. "Nope. Nothing since then either. Sorry, Adrian."

"Oh, alright. Thank you, Phoenix; I'm sure he's fine." Adrian said, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and looking as though she thought her uncle was anything but fine. She moved off to check on something else, and Phoenix and Maya stepped into a side room.

Maya tossed open the closet doors and pulled out two outfits, both carefully covered and cleaned. One was a pretty purple dress, the other a black tuxedo. Phoenix took a deep breath and took the tux from her; she flashed him a grin and stepped into the bathroom attached. Phoenix quickly changed, carefully adjusting the sleeves and collar of the tux before tying his bowtie and pinning on his violet boutonniere, before running his hands over his spiked hair one more time and looking in the mirror.

Thankfully he didn't look quite as pale as he expected, and the tux fit well so he hadn't lost too much weight since he had it fit. He was turning to look at the various angles when the bathroom door slammed open and Maya stepped out, hands on her hips and grinning broadly. The dress was sleeveless and fell to her knees, where it was pleated. The shade of purple was the same as his boutonniere.

"So... what do you think, Nick?" she asked, leaning forward in that peculiar way of hers.

"You look great, Maya," he told her, rolling his eyes a little bit.

"So do you, partner," she said, grinning and elbowing him lightly in the side. "Now, ready to get out there?"

Phoenix took a deep breath and nodded. Before stepping out into the lobby, now completely empty. He stepped onto the porch and looked out to the wedding venue, where the wedding guests all sat, chatting amongst themselves. He felt immensely grateful that they'd decided to have a small wedding, as it meant that there were fewer people to embarrass himself in front of.

Maya grinned up at him, and they walked over to the end of the aisle. The pianist they'd hired started a simple melody and Maya stepped up in front of him. She turned and winked at him and stepped down the aisle. She almost seemed to be floating with each step, and just before she reached the arch where the judge stood, Phoenix followed her and tried to ignore his heart pounding in his chest. He hoped he didn't look as nervous as he felt.

He stepped up to stand just in front of and to the right of Maya and turned to look out at the now silent guests. He made eye contact with Ema, who was sitting in the front row, and she gave him a grin and a thumbs up, which calmed his nerves a bit.

He heard the tune change and glanced at the aisle. Gumshoe was first, and he grinned at Phoenix with wet eyes. Phoenix resisted the urge to laugh; of course Gumshoe was already on the brink of tears. Gumshoe took his place opposite of Maya, and Phoenix looked back out to the aisle.

And held his breath as he felt his heart skip a beat.

 

 

Chapter 5

Miles seemed mildly embarrassed and nervous, but Phoenix hardly noticed that. He'd pinned up one side of his silver hair, and his suit was a bright, clean white with violet and black accents. His hands were clasped behind his back, and his posture was perfect.

Of course, to Phoenix, he could have been wearing jeans and an old t-shirt and he'd still be the most beautiful person Phoenix had ever seen. He stepped up to stand beside Phoenix, who grinned broadly at him and reached out to take one of his hands.

"You look amazing," he whispered.

"So do you," Miles whispered back, smiling softly.

The judge cleared his throat and everyone fell silent. "Friends and Family of the grooms, welcome and thank you for being here on this momentous day! We are gathered here today to celebrate their love and commitment to one another. I have known both of these fine young men for many years now, and I can safely say that there are few people with as much conviction for the truth, nor such a magnetic connection. I can imagine no finer couple and am honored to be the one to officiate this ceremony. Now, I believe they both wrote their own vows, but my integrity requires me to ask; does anyone currently present object to the continuation of this ceremony?"

Phoenix held his breath, for a moment afraid that someone would indeed raise their voice, but the venue remained silent. After a few moments, the judge motioned to Phoenix to begin his vows. He took a deep breath and pulled a small card out his tux; he had them mostly memorized, but he wrote them down just in case he tripped up or forgot part. He took a deep breath before glancing down at the card, then making eye contact with Miles.

"Miles Edgeworth, I've known you for 18 years now. You were one of the few people I looked up to you when we were kids and you influenced my life in a way I never could have foreseen and I cannot thank you enough for that. I spent 14 of those years searching for a way to show you, and when I finally got my chance I wasn't sure I'd ever get through to you. But I did, and I got to watch our relationship grow from rivals to friends to lovers and that alone was a gift I still cannot believe I've been given. Beyond that, I cannot stress just how much I care about you, how much I love you and will always love you. I swear that I'll love you for the rest of my life and that you will always have my entire heart. I love you, Miles Edgeworth. And that will never change." Phoenix coughed slightly, his voice cracking a little as he reached the end.

Miles smiled so brightly Phoenix was certain he'd melt. There were tears in Miles' eyes, and he reached up to gently brush them away. Miles held his hand to cheek for a moment, before clearing his throat.

"I'm sorry, can you give me a moment?" he asked the judge, who was sniffling a little bit himself but gave him an affirmative nod.

Phoenix glanced away from him for a moment and glanced out at the crowd. Franziska had a tight expression on her face and looked very much like she was going to cry. Kay and Raymond Shields were both sobbing.

Miles took a deep breath and turned to look at Phoenix. "Phoenix Wright. I cannot put into words everything that I have experienced in the last 18 years, and it would take a lifetime to truly describe them. I've taken the good and the bad and downright awful over the years. When I encountered you again after 10 long years of sadness and confusion and fear I was ready to push you away. I was ready to simply tear down your optimism because 'how dare he be happy when I'm miserable'. But then you beat me in that first trial, and I couldn't do it. I watched as throughout that year, every time I went head-to-head with you, you'd always look at me like I was worth redeeming when even I couldn't see that. And then you did redeem me, and I was a fool who ran away from that redemption, who ran away from his feelings. But I came back; I don't know why, but I'm damn glad I did. Phoenix, I can't promise that I will be the perfect spouse but I can promise that I will give you everything I have; my heart, my soul, my thoughts. They're yours, and always will be. This is what I promise to you, Phoenix Wright. I love you."

Phoenix took a deep breath and smiled as tears slipped down his face. Miles was crying too, he noted, and when he looked over his shoulder Gumshoe was crying openly into his hands. They both turned to look at the Judge, who was trying desperately not to break into tears. 

He sniffled, then motioned to Maya and Gumshoe, who stepped so that they had their backs to the crowd and were holding the rings out to Phoenix and Miles. Miles gently took the ring from Maya, while Phoenix took the ring from Gumshoe. They turned to face each other and put the rings on each other's hands. Maya and Gumshoe returned to their spots, and the Judge raised his arms.

"With no further ceremony, I now pronounce you husband and husband!"

The guests stood and applauded. Phoenix stepped close and pulled Miles into his arms. Miles smiled up at him and whispered, "I feel like I've been waiting for this one kiss for eternity."

"Me too." Phoenix whispered, before leaning in and capturing his lips as the cherry blossoms fell softly around them and the sun set over the city.