A/N: I do not own Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright or Trucy Wright; they belong to CAPCOM. The plot, however, is mine. :)
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It's been seven years since Phoenix disappeared out of Miles' life and he's come, once again, to this same park bench as he has done every year since then. He's tired and heart sore, wondering why he even bothers when all Phoenix will do is to vanish again for another year. Will this year be any different or will it still be the same old, same old all over again, wounding Miles' already bruised heart anew?
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This fic is based on an an art piece by CanneDeBonBon entitled "PW: Park Bench" on dA as an entry for the EdgeyXNick club's Christmas Countdown last year. :) It's a beautiful art piece, with Miles and hobo!Phoenix, and I was inspired to write this fic! Thanks, CanneDeBonBon, for such an amazing piece!

I wanted to take a different look and this piece provided that. :) It's nice to have Phoenix being the one who needs to woo Miles back instead of the other way around. It's a refreshing change! :)

I didn't delve too deeply-just skimmed the surface, really-into the how's and why's of why Phoenix agreed to meet Miles in the Park or what it was that had changed his mind: he agreed to for some reason and they've been meeting there annually ever since. Personally, I think it's because they couldn't give up on each other and Miles was waiting for Phoenix to come to his senses, no matter how long it took. :)

Everyone has done something that they regret but there's always hope that things will work out in the end. It might not be the end we want but it usually brings either closure or another opportunity to make things right, a second chance. This, ultimately, is what this story is about and what I took from the piece: a second chance to make things right that were once wrong and a second chance at happiness. :)

There is no such place as Palisade Park anywhere in the world except in my own imagination. It's taken-minus the "s"-from a favourite song of my youth called "Palisades Park" written by Chuck Barry and recorded by Freddy Cannon in 1962. I bought the album-it was a collection of summer tunes by such artists as Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys and Mungo Jerry, among others-in 1983 when I was fifteen. I purchased the song from iTunes yesterday and I am enjoying listening to it. :)

Elements of Apollo Justice appear such as Trucy Wright and Phoenix's being disbarred. I have him, in this fic, being reinstated to the bar. I have never played the game so I'm using this fictitiously.

Hope you enjoy the fic! :)

Thank you to all my loyal readers who have read, critiqued and reviewed my stories! I appreciate it more than I can say:) Thank you all!

An Extra-special Thank you also to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, who's love and support helps keep me grounded! I appreciate it more than I can say! Love you, honey, and thanks!

Comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!

Rated T, Male/male Relationships, Phoenix x Edgeworth

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January 15th
Palisade Park
2 P.M.

It was the same thing, every time, and this time wasn't any different than the first dozen. They always met at the same park at the same time of year and always at the same time.

Miles sat quietly on the old park bench under the skeletal branches of the leafless tree that spread out over him, its bare fingers stretching upward into the slate-grey sky. His foot tapped impatiently on the snow-covered ground, glancing at his watch every now and then, his eyes narrowing.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the crisp winter air frosty and cold. He exhaled slowly, a thin stream of condensed air spiraling upward from his lips and he watched it in silence, his thoughts moving toward the person he was to meet here.

It was a ritual they'd started seven years earlier when his partner had been disbarred and, without a word or explanation, moved out of the home that they had both shared for five years. Despite repeated pleas, he'd refused to return which, inevitably, resulted in their drifting apart.

I'm surprised that he agreed to meet me here in the first place, let alone every year since. He shifted to a more comfortable position on the bench, his eyes once more scanning the perimeter for any sign of movement or people. I can't help but wonder why but I must conclude that I had to have looked pretty pathetic.

They'd lost touch for some time and Miles recalled those dark days with a shudder. He hadn't wanted the separation in the first place but he found that he couldn't change his partner's mind on the subject. In the end, it was with a reluctant, and heavy, heart that he'd stopped trying to reason with him and accepted the inevitable which came a month later when he arrived home after a particularly trying day to a cold, silent and empty house, a note hastily scratched on a note pad that was lying on the kitchen table.

He shouldn't have been surprised-after all, they'd been drifting slowly apart for months-but it did, and it hurt, more than he wanted to admit. It wounded him to his very core.

He hadn't wanted to touch it, let alone even acknowledge its existence since it meant, in a very real way that he couldn't deny, that Phoenix was gone. He couldn't help but feel betrayed by Phoenix's leaving even though he knew that it was coming; the pain that ripped through him was unlike anything he had previously experienced and it left him sweating and panting, doubled over and biting back a scream, clutching the back of one of the chairs until his knuckles were white with the exertion.

Tears ran down his face as he bit back the wail that was threatening to burst from him with an almost superhuman force of will; when at last he came back to himself, he was surprised to find that he was exhausted and sweating. What was done was done and, as much as he wanted to, Miles couldn't change the fact that Phoenix had left, that he was gone, a point that that traitorous note lying on the table staring up at him made very clear.

He blinked and, after a moment's hesitation, looked up at the grey sky, shading his eyes with his hand at the dim glare of the sun. He didn't know why he still lived in the home that he and Phoenix had once shared together, with the ghosts of the past lurking, unseen but not unheard or felt, in every nook and cranny but he supposed it was because he felt comfortable there, despite all the pain he still felt.

Miles sighed as he slowly lowered his hand, blinded momentarily as he gazed upward for a moment before lowering his head to stare at the ground, his heart pounding painfully in his chest.

It's always the same, he thought regretfully to himself, his fingers clenching into fists, and I don't know why I always expect it to change. It hasn't changed in seven years so why should it now? All I do is set myself up for yet another heartbreak...

He sighed loudly once again after he'd lifted his head, watching his breath writhe and twist in the crisp winter air, spiraling upward until it was lost to sight.

I don't know why I'm even here... His thoughts strayed to testiness, his eyes narrowing with the pain that never went away and that he could feel uncoiling deep inside him. It always ends up the same...

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January 15th
Entrance to Palisade Park
3 P.M.

He walked briskly, and with purpose, up to the wrought iron gates that lead into Pasadena Park, a place that he was well acquainted with as he had been here many times over the course of his life. He was dressed in black chinos, a sweatered hoodie and a blue cap pulled down tightly over his spiky black locks which stuck out at the bottom at awkward angles like an angry porcupine's quills.

He'd been coming here every year and always it was the same: he wasn't ready to go back to his old life which left his partner, and former lover, Miles Edgeworth, a sad mass of contradicting emotions. Phoenix thought that he would have gotten on with his life long before this-heaven knew he had plenty of admirers who would all but jump at the chance!-but, irregardless of the outcome, he kept coming here to this park every year, still single, and hoping that this year he would finally say yes.

It was with this uneasy mixture of trepidation and hope that he made his way to Palisade Park, his heart thudding loudly in his chest as he reached out, touching the wrought iron gate with shaky fingertips. He noted, with some degree of irony, that it was starting out as the same dance that they had danced for the past seven years but this year would be different. Having come to terms-and been reinstated to the bar-Phoenix was ready to resume his life with Miles, to pick up the pieces of where they had left off even though Phoenix wasn't so sure that this was a possibility after all this time.

Swallowing hard, he gripped one of the iron bars and pushed on it, following close behind it as it slowly swung open with a loud creaking groan. Phoenix shivered at the sound, closing his eyes for a moment to quell the panic that he could feel rising within himself.

He was walking into an unknown; he didn't know if Miles would even be here and he couldn't help but hope that he was or would soon come. Perhaps he had tired of waiting for him to pull himself together and had gone on with his life with someone else.

This was something that he didn't want to think about but he had to be honest with himself. Like it or not, this could be a very real possibility and one that he would have to prepare, or as much as he could prepare himself for, such an eventuality should the need arise.

Phoenix willed his thudding heart to calm; he needed to be calm and collected, as much as he could be, for this. He felt like he was walking into a minefield blindfolded and couldn't see where he was stepping, the potential for disaster increasing with every step he took.

He grimaced. Encouraging thoughts, Phoenix, but that's exactly how I feel. I don't know if Miles will even be here; it's been seven years since everything happened and I've refused him each and every time in the past when he's asked me to come back. He closed his eyes once more, swallowing hard, trying to get past the lump he felt forming in his throat, his heart lurching painfully. If he has, then I have no one else except for myself to blame although that will be cold comfort, indeed...

He sighed, looking up at the slate-grey sky with its thin, watery slice of sun that seemed unable to penetrate the gloom that surrounded the Park like a shroud. He knew that he was walking into an unknown situation-although he figured that his chances were good that this would have a good outcome but, as he well knew, one couldn't exactly count on that for an absolute. He had no idea if Miles would even be here; for all he knew, he could have tired of waiting for him to make up his mind and decided to go on with his life with someone else.

Not that I could really blame him if he has...

He took another deep breath, jamming his hands inside the hoodie's front pockets and hunching over to deflect the biting wind. It's something that I have to be prepared to face... He took another deep breath, his fingers wrapping around the iron bar and squeezing them tightly. No matter how much I want to avoid it, there's no getting around the fact that I feel very nervous about that particular prospect... He stopped for a moment, giving his head a slight shake, his lips twitching upward in the parody of a grin. Take a chance. After all, 'faint heart never won fair lady' or, in this case, 'fair man.' I'll never know if I don't try and there's nothing worse than regret, wondering what might have been had I only the courage to take a leap of faith.

Phoenix paused, looking up into the sky. He could see the tiny flakes beginning to fall and he couldn't help but smile when he felt the gentle caress of the snowflake as it drifted onto his skin, melting quickly.

I have enough regrets, he mused sadly, his mouth pulled tightly together in a thin slash, watching the pale, watery sun rays at last slice through the funereal gloom, and I'm tired of being alone. I should have gone back with him six years ago but I wasn't ready to at the time. He sighed. Being disbarred really threw me for a loop and I couldn't make head or tail of it for some time. He looked into the distance, squinting hard. It also embittered me for awhile, as well; my pride was hurt and I reacted in kind. If it hadn't been for Trucy, I don't know what I would have done.

He smiled softly as he thought of his adopted daughter. He owed so much of his sanity to her and wondered how he would have gotten along without her there, supporting him when he needed a shoulder, a willing and eager ear to listen when he couldn't take the pressures and slights of everyday living any longer and felt like he would go mad.

She didn't take his grouchiness personally; she knew what was bothering him and gave him his space when she felt he needed it in order to work things out in his own time and in his own way. He was always grateful, beyond his ability to express it, for her thoughtfulness and her quiet, hovering presence that afforded him so much comfort when all the pain of the past came rushing over him like a sordid waterfall, heart wrenching regrets pummeling him from all sides. He looked up again, closing his eyes and blowing out a thin stream of breath that hovered and twisted in the frigid air.

The truth had hit him right in the face some time ago: He couldn't forget him. He couldn't forget what they had once had together. He couldn't forget the beautiful days and sumptuous nights they had spent in each other's company. He couldn't forget the touch of his hand, Miles' dizzying kisses that filled him with so much pleasure that his heart beat faster at the mere thought of it. He should have known better than to try to deny it and, worse still, to bury it so deep within that it would never see the light of day again.

Once, he'd tried to convince himself that he didn't need Miles Edgeworth in his life; now, he knew, and was under no illusions, that he needed him in his life and wanted to him to be a part of it. He loved Miles Edgeworth with all of his heart and hoped that they could be together once again.

He closed his eyes, tilting his head upward until a stray, watery ray of sunshine gently touched his cheek, illuminating his face for a moment. I was wrong, Miles; I was wrong and I've paid for it. I shouldn't have left all those years ago and I shouldn't have left you. I'm also sorry that it took me so long to realize just how wrong I was and I hope that we can pick up the pieces and start fresh.

His breath hitched as he took another deep lungful of the crisp, chill air; along with those very pleasant memories came one that he didn't want to remember: leaving Miles.

How could I have been so blind? he thought remorsefully, opening his eyes once again, his nose twitching slightly as another snowflake landed on the tip. I had everything... and, in a moment of despair and hurt pride, I threw it all away. How could I have been so foolish?

After a moment or two more of wallowing in self-recrimination, he shook his head hard. This wasn't getting him anywhere.

Blaming myself for what what I did back then isn't going to resolve anything in the here and now, he mused, his fingers tightening on the metal gate once again, staring off into the grey distance once more. I have to move forward and find out what the truth is rather than waste it berating myself for past mistakes. He grinned crookedly. Even if the truth is something I'd rather not know...

He stood a moment more in silence and, before his mind had another chance to pose any other objections, comments or suggestions, he grasped the metal firmly, pulling the gate wide open with a quick, decisive pull and stepping quickly through and closing it behind him.

I may not like what I might hear, he thought as he turned and walked quickly through the snow which had begun to fall a little faster now than it had previously, but I do need to know where I stand. He looked up at the sky one last time, snowflakes falling lightly onto his face. I do hope that it isn't too late to make amends for my foolishness but I need to face the fact that it may be far too late to do so.

He took another deep breath, quickening his pace as he pushed his hands inside his pockets, burrowing deep down inside the warm fabric. Well... we'll deal with that situation if it arises. For now, I have an appointment to keep...