NaruMayo

NaruMayo is the het ship between Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey from the Ace Attorney fandom.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
The ship's origins date back to Turnabout Sisters, wherein Maya Fey, on September 5th, 2016, is accused of murdering her sister Mia Fey, Phoenix Wright's mentor. Maya was in the wrong place at the wrong time (as she always is), so she got arrested by the police. Phoenix's first thoughts were to go meet her and ask her who she wanted as her defense attorney. Although he doesn't need to, he still goes out of his way to find a lawyer for her — mostly due to the fact that she's Mia's little sister. Eventually, even though the lawyer she wanted declines, Phoenix goes up to her and flat out refuses to let her go undefended. He says he will be Maya's lawyer no matter what because he doesn't want to let her go undefended.

On the first day, Phoenix brings in enough doubt to get the case extended for one day; this is tantamount to heresy in the legal world as it was the first time someone had caught Edgeworth's use of dirty tactics in the courtroom. Phoenix continues his investigation, still hoping to get Maya acquitted until he himself gets arrested for the murder. Even after Maya is released, she still sticks by him even though, by all accounts, she could simply have left. During the trial, which was very close to ending badly for Phoenix, Maya stuck by him, trying to help him in any way she could. Eventually, Edgeworth and Redd White, the witness, push into a corner, wherein he is trapped and unable to escape. He accepts his fate, deciding to give up the fight; this shocks Maya into action. She puts her hands together and summons the spirit of her sister, which both saves Phoenix and gets Mia's murderer caught. When she wakes up, she finds that her sister's left a note for her, which tells her to meet Phoenix in her office at 9:00 PM. She does this and the both of them meet up, their neck now free from the noose. Maya grabs Phoenix's hand, shaking it and bestowing him with the title: "Nick." It's worth noting that only Phoenix's other friend Larry Butz calls him Nick. Maya immediately drags the confused Phoenix out to eat burgers, her staple part of her diet.

Now then, Turnabout Samurai doesn't do much for our duo, but it still provides them some much-needed comedic relief after the stressful trial 2 months ago. Maya is presented to be the goofball and comedic relief character, who tries her best to keep things interesting. Phoenix does not appreciate it at first, but eventually, he learns to enjoy it and gets a bit more used to her personality. Phoenix himself is someone who is very interested in his work and tries to limit distractions, but over time, they grow on each other.

Then, we approach one of the high points of Phoenix's early career, State vs Miles Edgeworth, otherwise known as Turnabout Goodbyes. Phoenix and Maya are trading banter like nobody's business, a clear sign that their relationship has grown from one of uncomfortable acquaintances to friends. Phoenix tells Maya (sarcastically) to call the fire department and get herself hosed down, which she actually goes and does. Once the investigation is finished, we head onward to the first day of trial. Manfred von Karma, the God of Prosecutors, the prosecutor who hasn't lost a case in forty years — an unheard of feat — is prosecuting the trial against Edgeworth. Compared to the frilly purple baron of perfection, Phoenix and Maya are just two heady teenagers attempting to defend a hapless client. As per the von Karma standard, Phoenix is completely blindsided by his objections and his evidence. His witnesses confuse the young attorney until we reach Lotta Hart. Here, Phoenix completely fails, unable to find the contradictions due to von Karma's skill and experience (and dirty tactics).

Maya notices this and, unable to stand watching how Lotta was lying and getting away with it, she shouts, "OBJECTION!" This shocks the entire courtroom and, in her shock, Lotta says something she shouldn't have. Von Karma orders that Phoenix be thrown out for causing a ruckus, but instead, Maya shakes her head, standing up to the prosecutor. She says that as she was the one who caused the outburst, she should be the one sent out of court in contempt. The court accepts this and Phoenix watches as Maya is dragged out; he will not let her sacrifice go in vain.

Later on, during the second day of investigation, Phoenix and Maya make their way to the Department of Criminal Affairs, where information is kept on all cases that have been prosecuted. Gumshoe gives them his permission to search the Records room to look for information regarding the DL-6 Incident. To their shock, von Karma is there and has already taken away everything regarding the DL-6 Incident. Phoenix, unwittingly, causes an incident when he shows von Karma a piece of evidence he shouldn't have. Von Karma demands that they hand over the evidence, which is met with complete dissent from the attorney and his assistant. He then smirks and takes out his taser, going to take from them by force. Just as he's about to electrocute Phoenix, Maya jumps into the way, letting herself be electrocuted instead of Phoenix himself. This doesn't do much as von Karma still manages to escape with all the evidence.

Phoenix and Maya have nothing. Nothing except for the bullet which Maya pried from von Karma's hands; in despair, she calls herself useless, both as a spirit medium and as an assistant. This goes on to be crucial for the retrial of the DL-6 incident the following day. Afterward, Phoenix and his victorious crew have a party in which the defense attorney gets himself a hangover. Upon waking up the next morning, he finds out that Maya is gone, having left him a note saying that she had to leave to go train.

Still in a hungover state, Phoenix rode as fast as he could to the train station to talk to her. He tells her that she's not useless. She counters saying that everyone was useful except for her. Phoenix objects, showing her the bullet that she'd managed to nab from Manfred. Finally, she managed to accept that she wasn't useless, but she still wanted to train and become a better spirit medium so she could help Phoenix more next time; after all, Phoenix is helpless without her. As we find out in Rise from the Ashes, this is true. For two months following the case, Phoenix remains despondent, refusing cases simply because Maya isn't with him; he isn't interested or invested in the case as he was with Turnabout Samurai, which she forced him into taking. The only reason Phoenix takes Lana Skye's case in the first place is that Ema Skye (Lana's sister) reminds him so much of Maya in Turnabout Sisters; her situation very nearly mirrors Maya's.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All takes place about a year after the events of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (technically about 6 months between Turnabout Goodbyes and Reunion, and Turnabout, which is chronologically the first case of Justice For All). Phoenix is simply going to work, with no motivation as shown prior until a crazy doctor barges into his office and demands that Phoenix listens to him, but more on that in a bit. The first case of Justice for All, The Lost Turnabout, is a doozy in-and-of-itself. In it, Phoenix is forced to defend a client after losing his memory. Somehow, he manages to luck out and wins a not guilty verdict against a Winston Payne who wasn't pulling any punches. Phoenix manages to eventually regain a bit of his memory but does not fully regain it until the end. Him fully regaining his memory is prompted by Maya, who seems very scared at the possibility of Nick losing his memory. Phoenix then goes on to think that he has unforgettable memories of Maya, eventually remembering their not-so-happy reunion in Kurain Village, Maya's home town.

Turner Grey, a doctor requesting a spirit channeling, shows up at the Wright and Co. Law Offices to ask Phoenix to go with him to Kurain. As it turns out, Maya has accepted Grey as a client. She really seems to have missed Phoenix (and also might want to prove herself helpful to him) because one of her stipulations was that Grey had to bring "her assistant, Phoenix Wright," along with him. It shows just how much she cares about him, that she would want him of all people to be there with her. Upon arriving atat the village, our duo have a proper reunion (hence the name: Reunion, and Turnabout). Phoenix states that if he knew her village was as close as it was (about 2 hours away), then he would have visited more often. Maya rebuts this, stating that she wouldn't have accepted it because she had to work hard by herself.

Maya, as it turns out, is of a bit more importance than just being Phoenix's assistant. As is explained in the game by Morgan Fey, Maya's aunt, she's the heir to the position of Master of Kurain Village. And it turns out that Nick and Maya have a very casual friendship. When Phoenix calls Maya by just her first name in front of her aunt, she goes ballistic, telling him he has no right to do so. She tells him to call her Mystic Maya.

So, after this informal reunion, Maya walks Grey into the channeling chamber in order to fulfill his request. The door is locked and the channeling begins. It seems that a certain miscreant from six months before is also at the village: Lotta Hart makes her presence known. Phoenix and Lotta sit with Morgan to have some bitter tea and jaw-droppingly large strawberry desserts. Soon afterward, a gunshot is heard coming from within the channeling chamber. The valet outside is reasonably confused until another gunshot is heard. By that time, Phoenix realizes something: Maya's in the channeling chamber! What does he do in this situation? He gets up and tells Morgan to send him the bill for his actions later and runs over to the door of the channeling chamber. With Lotta's help, Phoenix breaks down the door to the channeling chamber and sees her standing on the other side. Or is it?

The police are called and Maya is soon arrested for the crime of murdering Dr. Grey. The next thing Phoenix knows, he finds himself in the Detention Center, Maya on the other side. This time, even Maya is convinced that she murdered Dr. Grey. She's very nearly in hysterics, thinking that she failed the channeling and that she was a disappointment compared the rest of her family line. She's reluctant to take any help, telling Phoenix that she'll accept her fate. Phoenix simply says to get the papers ready, because he's going to defend her. Maya immediately rejects him, saying that he'll lose. She doesn't want him to defend her because it'll ruin his reputa— "Stop It!" Phoenix shouts at her for the first of two times this entire game. He doesn't want to hear it. The thought that Maya Fey could commit a crime is completely impossible. He believes in her just because she's Maya, not because her case is easy, not because she asked him to, but because he wants to. This is the depth of their bond at this point.

Phoenix unconditionally believes in Maya's innocence; that's something that he sticks to for the rest of the series. Even when Maya doesn't believe in herself, Phoenix always does. He hasn't abandoned her — he never will. Phoenix Wright is as loyal as a dog. He will never betray a person; it's against his instincts, both as a person and as a lawyer. It's very offensive to him when someone does betray another because of a certain situation in his past.

Anyways, after this scene, Maya gives Phoenix her magatama, a charm that protected her. She tells him to get Pearly to lend Phoenix her spiritual powers through the magatama. This is also very important as a Fey's magatama is a very priceless heirloom; the fact that Maya gave it to Phoenix shows that she trusts him back as well. It yet again shows the level of trust both of them have in each other. Phoenix's trust is reciprocated by Maya, making their friendship stronger as a result.

Phoenix makes his way back to Kurain Village to begin his investigation. He investigates Lotta, Morgan, and the next witness, Ini Miney. After that, he meets Pearl Fey, Maya's extremely sheltered cousin and prodigy spirit medium. Pearl is extremely shy and Phoenix is barely able to start a dialogue with her. Eventually, when Phoenix shows her the magatama Maya gave him, Pearl opens up and start speaking to the attorney. She asks who Phoenix is and when given a response, she immediately recognizes him.

Some of the first words out of her mouth was this: "You're...You're Mystic Maya's...'special someone.'" It seems as though Maya's done a bit more than just talk about Phoenix to her little cousin.

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