madimpossibledreamer | Pursuit ~ Seeking the Truth

title is an unintentional AA2 reference

Main Points:
Ace Attorney Soulmate AU
Chapter Summary: Phoenix might be a romantic, but he doesn't automatically assume his Soul Link is romantic. He just wishes his would talk to him.
Word Count: 690
Rating: Teen
Pairing: pre-Wright/Edgeworth
Spoilers: The entirety of the first game and some pretty important spoilers for the second and third
Warning: Edgeworth's note (suicidal themes)

         People tell Phoenix he’s lucky. Larry won’t stop whining about it. He just smiles and changes the subject, because he sure doesn’t feel lucky.
         Most people will catch the stray thoughts of their Linked. If they’re more organized, which Phoenix isn’t, they’ll set up a ‘channel’ to communicate to, a section of their brain just for their Linked. His, though. His basically constructed a wall. It’s basically like he doesn’t have one, only because he’d felt the rush of it forming, he feels more alone and empty in his head than he ever had before.
         He tells people that he has no idea who his Linked is. He tells his dearest Dollie that it doesn't matter, it's not a romantic Link anyway. Both are lies.
         It's all weird enough that they haven't given any indication who they are through the Link. It's not unheard of, but it's frowned upon, even though it should be none of society's business what goes on in two people's heads. There are Hallmark movies about people who hate their Linked until they just give each other a chance and then it's happily ever after. Which are always romantic, even though it's a proven fact that romantic Links are only at most half of the Links at any given time and it fluctuates throughout the years. Nick knows those aren't realistic but can't help but watch them anyway. He's always been a romantic, really. He knows this.
         But even then, it wasn't this total blackout, and it'd been portrayed as a problem to be fixed. He's never heard of someone who's managed to hide everything and knows instinctively he probably shouldn't go around telling people about that, so he doesn't.
         There's only one person it could be, he's fairly sure, because Miles had to move away. He goes for the old-fashioned method of pen and paper, sure that it's exactly the kind of thing Miles would like (especially as he doesn't have Miles' new email address), only for those to go unanswered too.
         And it'd make sense. He'd be able to explain himself better to Mia if he just said 'oh yeah, the reason I want to take the bar is that my soulmate is in trouble', but if Miles–no, Edgeworth now–is so stubbornly blocking the Link, he probably doesn't want his private affairs aired everywhere, even if Mia would probably keep a secret. But, yeah, that's probably why the obsession, why the all of it. He went chasing Miles, forcing the man to speak to him face-to-face, because he doesn't know what he's thinking, and he should.
         He knows Maya probably thinks the prosecutor is stuck-up and a little too formally thorough as he requests that Wright 'not show his face in front of him again, nor attempt to contact him using any available medium', but is a bit too distracted to answer her flabbergasted and probing questions, because, well.
         It's clear the block was so total Edgeworth doesn't actually realize Phoenix hasn't attempted to talk to him through the Link in years. Which Nick hadn't actually realized himself, but it made total sense. He wasn't getting through that way, fine, he'd try something else. Theater classes had made him creative, at least, even if he'd basically thrown them all away in the end, but hey, they helped out with this whole bluffing thing.
         And then, the whole DL-6 thing. State vs. Edgeworth. Maybe that explained everything, maybe now that that's been resolved and Edgeworth can breathe easier...
         Nothing.
         Maybe it just takes some time. He's formal and standoffish like he was when they were kids, just ramped up by a factor of eleven. Maybe he just needs to ease himself into it. Phoenix takes to just focusing on a sentence here and there, all low-key, like, "Muffin for breakfast. What're you having?" He never gets any response, not even an acknowledgement, but maybe the idea that he's not alone will help.
         State vs. Skye. Edgeworth is a little friendlier, maybe even has a sense of humor when dealing with Ema. Maybe there's hope. And then it comes.
         Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death.