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Sebastian felt like a fool.
It wasn’t an unusual feeling for him, no, but it had been so long since he felt this way that it stung. Losing a case was always tough on him, a stern reminder that he wasn’t meeting the expectations of Pops, that horrid man.
“It’s unfair,” he wept, bending his new baton until it sprung up with a crack, whacking him across the chin. “It’s unfair that he’s dead and he can still hurt me! He must’ve been right… Pops…” Sebastian hiccupped, his gloved hands pulling at the ends of his hair. His breathing was erratic and uneven, setting him further on edge than before.
This case had been particularly tough on Sebastian, given the circumstances. It had been his first solo case in Germany after working under his Aunt Franziska, and the defendant was being tried for child maltreatment and abuse. The night he interviewed those two little girls, he called home, a mess of tears.
“I don’t think I can do this anymore, Papa! They’re so little- so, so little… I can’t… Why on Earth would someone hurt them like that?” Sebastian had choked out, clutching the phone like a lifeline. He heard Phoenix let out a long breath, and he could picture the look on his face- riddled with worry and fatigue as he shook his head.
“Awh, Seb,” his Papa said, “I know what this means to you. I know how much those little girls remind you of things, how this whole case does. Your dad and I are so, so proud of you for doing this, and I’m certain your aunt is, too.”
Sebastian fervently shook his head, gritting his teeth. His face ached now, cheeks burning. He bit his tongue, tried to keep the thought in, but it was no use.
“I’ll feel like such a failure to those kids if I lose the case! It’s like letting Pops run free all over again! I could never forgive myself for it, Papa!”
Phoenix took a sharp inhale, taking the phone down from his ear for a moment to beckon his husband over before he continued. “It gets hard, sometimes, knowing that the shadow of a criminal looms over you like that… Believe me. I don’t get it as well as, say, you, your dad, or Prosecutor Gavin would, but I know how it can make you feel. Do you wanna talk to dad, Seb?”
The boy let out a strangled sound of agreement, muffled by the grimace he wore.
“Oh, mein Schätzchen," that was Miles Edgeworth now, Sebastian’s other father. The boy was a bit startled by how soft his dad’s voice was. “Don’t fret. You’ll pull through. We’re all rooting for you, no matter what. Those girls won’t be mad at you if you lose the case. They’ll know you tried your best, schnucki…”
Despite the long talks he had with his family throughout the case, despite the reassurances that everything would be alright, Sebastian felt his world shatter again when he looked at those two girls when the verdict was announced.
The younger girl was blissfully unaware, asleep in her chair. Barely 11, the older of the sisters just looked on, glassy-eyed and in shock. She stared at Sebastian and all he could do was hurt. He wanted to scream at her parents for treating her wrong, he wanted to scream at the judge, at the family’s attorney- but he couldn’t. All Sebastian could do was walk over and hug her, holding her up when her knees buckled, and she cried into his shoulder.
Coming home after that, Sebastian just wanted his family with him. He wanted to see them, to remind himself that they were still there, to reassure himself that they still wanted him after how poorly the trial went. Even so, he came back to that same empty house he shared with his Tante, who must’ve still been at work. The boy trudged up the stairs to his room, falling into bed without even removing his coat. He heard some voices downstairs but paid them no mind as he fell guiltily into sleep.
–
“Seb. Sebastian,” a voice whispered from the hall. The boy in question began to stir, forcing his eyes open. “How’re you doing, sweet son of mine?”
There, at the door, stood Phoenix Wright in all his blue-clad glory. Sebastian was taken aback, sitting up so quickly that he nearly fell forward.
“Papa...!” God, how much Sebastian had missed his dads. He tried to rub more tears from his eyes, trying to stop them from spilling at the sight of the man. His papa came over and took a seat on the mattress next to him, wrapping him in a tight embrace.
Phoenix rocked Sebastian slowly, letting his son bury his face in his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to his honey-brown hair as Sebastian grasped at his dad’s coat for dear life.
He would never say it to anyone, but moments like these made Phoenix realize how similar they were- how similar Sebastian was to Miles. Inconsolable at times, feeling guilt for things that they couldn’t control. He loved his boys, more than anything.
Sebastian's breathing gradually evened out. Phoenix let him talk, and he listened closely. When the man finished explaining, he fell asleep in his father's arms, exhausted from the day he had.
The raven-haired man smiled, folding up Sebastian’s overcoat and setting it on the foot of the bed. It used to belong to Miles. He’d done the same thing for his husband all those years ago, hadn’t he?
He called his husband to tell him what’d happened, explaining the points of Sebastian’s worries. Miles reassured Phoenix that he would speak with his sister about the two girls from the case and wished his husband a good night.
When Phoenix returned to Sebastian’s room after dinner to wish him a good night’s sleep, he found the boy hadn’t woken yet. He pressed a kiss to his son’s temple.
“I’ll be here for you when you wake up, Sebastian. I swear it.”
As he left for the door, Phoenix glanced back. He couldn’t help but think he saw Sebastian smile as he walked out.