oh yeah this fic exists
The little girl smiled and walked up to the little boy.
"Hi! I'm Anna."
"Ph-phoenix Wright."
The little girl tilted her head at the little boy and looked confused.
"Like... F - E - E -"
"It's P - H - O - E - N - I - X."
The little girl wrinkled her nose at the silly little boy.
"'P' and 'H' don't make that noise. They make pah and hah."
"Sometimes they do if they're next to each other."
The little girl decided not to argue with the little boy about the missing 'F'. The little boy hoped that the little girl wouldn't ask how to spell his last name.
"What's the last thing? The ehks?"
"We haven't learned it yet."
The little girl wasn't sure if she believed the silly little boy.
"Why's your name that?"
"It's a firey bird that got killed but then it came back to life."
The little girl laughed at the little boy.
"That's silly."
".... Yeah..."
The little girl saw her parents at the door and waved goodbye to the little boy.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow Fee-necks!"
The little boy said nothing and went back to playing alone.
======
The little boy's mother came to pick him up from pre-school a few minutes later. As they walked out of the building, hand in hand, the little boy asked a question he'd wanted to ask since he started school.
"Why did you name me Phoenix?"
His mother stopped on the steps and knelt down to her son's level. She knew he'd ask someday.
"Daddy's family has a tradition..."
"Trade-itsh-on?"
"Tra-dish-on."
"Tradition."
The little boy received a proud smile and a hug from his mother for saying the new word correctly. Because they played this game he had excellent pronunciation and a vocabulary much bigger than your average five year old. He'd also already been taught all his letters so he could spell his own name. Unfortunately this only served to set him further apart from the other five year olds.
"A tradition is something like... opening presents and having a cake on your birthday. It's something that people do every time a certain thing happens."
"What's Daddy's tradition?"
"Every time a baby is born in Daddy's family, they're given a strong name."
The little boy looked confused. His mother smiled.
"Remember your aunt who came to visit?"
"Auntie Libby?"
"Yes, well, Libby's only a nickname. It's short for Liberty."
"Liberty?"
"It means being free."
"Oh... then what's Daddy's name?"
"Leviathan."
"Lev-eye-ae-than?"
"Put it together."
"Leviathan?"
"Very good, sweetie," she beamed as she ruffled his hair. "Leviathans protect what's important, just like how Daddy protects you and me."
"Then what's your name Mommy?"
"Ah... Jane."
The little boy thought about the two Janes in his class and how no one made fun of them for their names.
"Phoenix, do you remember your cousin's wedding?"
"I was the ring bearer!" He puffed up with pride. "I didn't scratch even though my tie was itchy and I carried the pillow all the way to the rose-arch!"
She smiled and smoothed his hair back.
"Well you see, I wasn't a part of Daddy's family until I married him. On our wedding day my name changed from Jane Hawthorn to Jane Wright, just like how Terra's name went from Terra Craw to Terra Wright. Understand?"
"... I think so."
"Last names are family names. Terra and I want people to know we're part of the Wright family, so we changed our family names. But our first names, Terra and Jane, are our names. We can't change those because they were given to us on the day we were born... just the same way your father and I named you Phoenix on the day you were born."
The little boy's face fell.
"So I can't change my first name to something normal like yours?"
His mother hugged him.
"You know... sometimes I wish I had a name like yours or Daddy's."
The little boy was shocked to learn his mother wanted a strange name like his.
"Besides, it's only a matter of time before someone thinks of a nickname for you."
"What?"
"Daddy's best friend started calling him 'Levi' when they were in school, and Aunt Liberty's second grade teacher called her Libby. Someday, someone will find your nickname."
The little boy brightened. She gave him one last hug, stood, and they walked to the car.
======
A couple weeks later found the little boy named Phoenix playing alone in the corner of the room. This time when another child approached him it was another little boy.
"Hi buddy!"
The new little boy had a loud voice that bled friendliness and a wide grin to match, gold-orange hair and bright green computer circuits drawn onto his shirt. Given Phoenix's dark hair, gray shirt, and morose expression, it seemed like the two were polar opposites.
The new little boy leaned down and thrust his hand out to the still sitting Phoenix, who stared at him. After a few seconds the boy reached down and grabbed Phoenix's hand, trapping it in an energetic handshake. Phoenix was still a little confused since handshakes were for grownups with ties, but he decided that he might like this new kid, even if he seemed a little crazy.
"I... I'm Phoenix Wright," he said at length, thinking that the new little boy might not be aware of the fact that one eventually ended the handshake. A second after he said it he realized he'd let it slip without meaning to, and gave a mental shrug. Maybe doing things the 'ripping of a bandage' way would turn out better.
The new little boy ended the vigorous handshake and, for reasons unfathomable to little Phoenix, snapped into a straight-backed salute.
"Larry reporting in!"
Sometimes Phoenix wondered if he was the only one who said his whole name when introducing himself.
"Um... hi?"
The saluting hand dropped and the wide grin returned to the new little boy's face. He flopped down on the floor next to Phoenix and the block's he'd commandeered for his corner of the room.
"How do you say your name again?"
Phoenix almost felt like falling backwards and pulling on his hair.
"Phoenix."
"... Fee-necks?"
He really, really felt like pulling on his hair.
"Fee-niiiiiiiiiiicks."
"Phoe-nix?"
There was a nod and the new boy clapped happily.
"Fix me if I say it wrong again. Momma hates when people call her wrong. It's Bar-bar-ra, not Bar-bra."
It took Phoenix a few seconds to process the rush of words. It took him a few more to remember that is wasn't polite to stare, even though the new little boy didn't seem to think that Phoenix was that weird of a name. He just wanted to say it right.
======
A few hours later, after lessons and naps, the two little boys were again playing with the blocks in the corner of the room. At that point the blocks had been transformed into a space station and two fleets battling to the death. Phoenix had opened up enough to tackle and tickle Larry when his new friend used an underhanded maneuver to destroy his flagship. The teacher/babysitter then gave them a long lecture about roughhousing and how she had to pick up all the markers since they rolled into the table. They bent their heads and bore it the way little boy do. When time out was over they tried to keep calm, meaning that Phoenix kept Larry tethered so he didn't bounce off the walls.
Since he was thusly earthbound and unable to roughhouse, Larry turned to his second best talent (according to his mother), prying.
"So why's't you play over here all day?"
Phoenix shifted, uncertain about whether he should draw attention to his name since Larry hadn't caught how strange it was the first time. His honest nature soon won out.
"The others look at me weird because of my name."
"... What's wrong with Phoe-nix?"
"It's spelled P - H - O - E - N - I - X."
Eyes got wide. "That's a hard name. Wait!" Larry leaned forward enough to thoroughly violate Phoenix's personal space, but he found he didn't mind as much as he usually did. "You can spell that? Wow! You must be really smart. Are you going to be a doctor or a lawyer, one of those smart jobs?"
Phoenix blushed at the exuberant compliment. "No... I think I want to be an artist."
Bear hug. "ME TOO!"
"Boys, use your indoor voices."
Larry released the other boy and sat back down with a sly look on his face, or at least, as close to sly as a small, hyper child could get.
"Betcha can't guess what my last name is."
Phoenix gave him a look that clearly stated that he wasn't even going to try.
"Larry Butz."
Really, it was a good thing his parents drove manners home. It's the only thing that saved young Phoenix from giggling.
"Yeah... that's why I only say 'Larry' to people when I say who I am. I guess it's worse since your weird name is your name."
"No, you're good. Because when we grow up and get married, we can use the name of the family we're a part of then."
Larry tilted his head to the side, doing an excellent impression of a very confused puppy.
"Like Mommy's last name wasn't always Wright, but when she married Daddy she changed it since she was a part of the Wright family then."
"Isn't it only girls that do that though?"
"Mommy's old family says she should only wear dresses because she's a girl, and they're wrong. Why can't we change our names?"
Larry's grin was as bright as the sun, but darkened ever so slightly when he thought of his newfound friend.
"But it's your name that people are weird about. What'll you do?"
"Well... Mommy says that someday someone will think of a nickname for me, like how Daddy's old friend thought of 'Levi' instead of 'Leviathan'."
"A nickname, huh?" Larry mumbled as he turned the word 'Phoenix' over in his head. The teacher was a little worried when she saw such a hyper child still and deep in thought, but just hoped that Phoenix was being a good influence on the boy... and vice versa.
"Pho-e-nix... Phoen-ix..."
"You don't have to try really hard, you know. Mommy says the best nicknames are the ones that just show up and you don't have to think about-"
Something clicked.
"That's it!"
Phoenix blinked.
"Nick."
Phoenix blinked again.
"That's your nickname: Nick!"
"I can't be nicknamed after nickname."
"No no no, listen... Phoe-NICK-s."
There was quite a lot of blinking on Phoenix's part as he tried to process. When he did, he knocked Larry over with his own bear hug.
"Hi! I'm Anna."
"Ph-phoenix Wright."
The little girl tilted her head at the little boy and looked confused.
"Like... F - E - E -"
"It's P - H - O - E - N - I - X."
The little girl wrinkled her nose at the silly little boy.
"'P' and 'H' don't make that noise. They make pah and hah."
"Sometimes they do if they're next to each other."
The little girl decided not to argue with the little boy about the missing 'F'. The little boy hoped that the little girl wouldn't ask how to spell his last name.
"What's the last thing? The ehks?"
"We haven't learned it yet."
The little girl wasn't sure if she believed the silly little boy.
"Why's your name that?"
"It's a firey bird that got killed but then it came back to life."
The little girl laughed at the little boy.
"That's silly."
".... Yeah..."
The little girl saw her parents at the door and waved goodbye to the little boy.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow Fee-necks!"
The little boy said nothing and went back to playing alone.
======
The little boy's mother came to pick him up from pre-school a few minutes later. As they walked out of the building, hand in hand, the little boy asked a question he'd wanted to ask since he started school.
"Why did you name me Phoenix?"
His mother stopped on the steps and knelt down to her son's level. She knew he'd ask someday.
"Daddy's family has a tradition..."
"Trade-itsh-on?"
"Tra-dish-on."
"Tradition."
The little boy received a proud smile and a hug from his mother for saying the new word correctly. Because they played this game he had excellent pronunciation and a vocabulary much bigger than your average five year old. He'd also already been taught all his letters so he could spell his own name. Unfortunately this only served to set him further apart from the other five year olds.
"A tradition is something like... opening presents and having a cake on your birthday. It's something that people do every time a certain thing happens."
"What's Daddy's tradition?"
"Every time a baby is born in Daddy's family, they're given a strong name."
The little boy looked confused. His mother smiled.
"Remember your aunt who came to visit?"
"Auntie Libby?"
"Yes, well, Libby's only a nickname. It's short for Liberty."
"Liberty?"
"It means being free."
"Oh... then what's Daddy's name?"
"Leviathan."
"Lev-eye-ae-than?"
"Put it together."
"Leviathan?"
"Very good, sweetie," she beamed as she ruffled his hair. "Leviathans protect what's important, just like how Daddy protects you and me."
"Then what's your name Mommy?"
"Ah... Jane."
The little boy thought about the two Janes in his class and how no one made fun of them for their names.
"Phoenix, do you remember your cousin's wedding?"
"I was the ring bearer!" He puffed up with pride. "I didn't scratch even though my tie was itchy and I carried the pillow all the way to the rose-arch!"
She smiled and smoothed his hair back.
"Well you see, I wasn't a part of Daddy's family until I married him. On our wedding day my name changed from Jane Hawthorn to Jane Wright, just like how Terra's name went from Terra Craw to Terra Wright. Understand?"
"... I think so."
"Last names are family names. Terra and I want people to know we're part of the Wright family, so we changed our family names. But our first names, Terra and Jane, are our names. We can't change those because they were given to us on the day we were born... just the same way your father and I named you Phoenix on the day you were born."
The little boy's face fell.
"So I can't change my first name to something normal like yours?"
His mother hugged him.
"You know... sometimes I wish I had a name like yours or Daddy's."
The little boy was shocked to learn his mother wanted a strange name like his.
"Besides, it's only a matter of time before someone thinks of a nickname for you."
"What?"
"Daddy's best friend started calling him 'Levi' when they were in school, and Aunt Liberty's second grade teacher called her Libby. Someday, someone will find your nickname."
The little boy brightened. She gave him one last hug, stood, and they walked to the car.
======
A couple weeks later found the little boy named Phoenix playing alone in the corner of the room. This time when another child approached him it was another little boy.
"Hi buddy!"
The new little boy had a loud voice that bled friendliness and a wide grin to match, gold-orange hair and bright green computer circuits drawn onto his shirt. Given Phoenix's dark hair, gray shirt, and morose expression, it seemed like the two were polar opposites.
The new little boy leaned down and thrust his hand out to the still sitting Phoenix, who stared at him. After a few seconds the boy reached down and grabbed Phoenix's hand, trapping it in an energetic handshake. Phoenix was still a little confused since handshakes were for grownups with ties, but he decided that he might like this new kid, even if he seemed a little crazy.
"I... I'm Phoenix Wright," he said at length, thinking that the new little boy might not be aware of the fact that one eventually ended the handshake. A second after he said it he realized he'd let it slip without meaning to, and gave a mental shrug. Maybe doing things the 'ripping of a bandage' way would turn out better.
The new little boy ended the vigorous handshake and, for reasons unfathomable to little Phoenix, snapped into a straight-backed salute.
"Larry reporting in!"
Sometimes Phoenix wondered if he was the only one who said his whole name when introducing himself.
"Um... hi?"
The saluting hand dropped and the wide grin returned to the new little boy's face. He flopped down on the floor next to Phoenix and the block's he'd commandeered for his corner of the room.
"How do you say your name again?"
Phoenix almost felt like falling backwards and pulling on his hair.
"Phoenix."
"... Fee-necks?"
He really, really felt like pulling on his hair.
"Fee-niiiiiiiiiiicks."
"Phoe-nix?"
There was a nod and the new boy clapped happily.
"Fix me if I say it wrong again. Momma hates when people call her wrong. It's Bar-bar-ra, not Bar-bra."
It took Phoenix a few seconds to process the rush of words. It took him a few more to remember that is wasn't polite to stare, even though the new little boy didn't seem to think that Phoenix was that weird of a name. He just wanted to say it right.
======
A few hours later, after lessons and naps, the two little boys were again playing with the blocks in the corner of the room. At that point the blocks had been transformed into a space station and two fleets battling to the death. Phoenix had opened up enough to tackle and tickle Larry when his new friend used an underhanded maneuver to destroy his flagship. The teacher/babysitter then gave them a long lecture about roughhousing and how she had to pick up all the markers since they rolled into the table. They bent their heads and bore it the way little boy do. When time out was over they tried to keep calm, meaning that Phoenix kept Larry tethered so he didn't bounce off the walls.
Since he was thusly earthbound and unable to roughhouse, Larry turned to his second best talent (according to his mother), prying.
"So why's't you play over here all day?"
Phoenix shifted, uncertain about whether he should draw attention to his name since Larry hadn't caught how strange it was the first time. His honest nature soon won out.
"The others look at me weird because of my name."
"... What's wrong with Phoe-nix?"
"It's spelled P - H - O - E - N - I - X."
Eyes got wide. "That's a hard name. Wait!" Larry leaned forward enough to thoroughly violate Phoenix's personal space, but he found he didn't mind as much as he usually did. "You can spell that? Wow! You must be really smart. Are you going to be a doctor or a lawyer, one of those smart jobs?"
Phoenix blushed at the exuberant compliment. "No... I think I want to be an artist."
Bear hug. "ME TOO!"
"Boys, use your indoor voices."
Larry released the other boy and sat back down with a sly look on his face, or at least, as close to sly as a small, hyper child could get.
"Betcha can't guess what my last name is."
Phoenix gave him a look that clearly stated that he wasn't even going to try.
"Larry Butz."
Really, it was a good thing his parents drove manners home. It's the only thing that saved young Phoenix from giggling.
"Yeah... that's why I only say 'Larry' to people when I say who I am. I guess it's worse since your weird name is your name."
"No, you're good. Because when we grow up and get married, we can use the name of the family we're a part of then."
Larry tilted his head to the side, doing an excellent impression of a very confused puppy.
"Like Mommy's last name wasn't always Wright, but when she married Daddy she changed it since she was a part of the Wright family then."
"Isn't it only girls that do that though?"
"Mommy's old family says she should only wear dresses because she's a girl, and they're wrong. Why can't we change our names?"
Larry's grin was as bright as the sun, but darkened ever so slightly when he thought of his newfound friend.
"But it's your name that people are weird about. What'll you do?"
"Well... Mommy says that someday someone will think of a nickname for me, like how Daddy's old friend thought of 'Levi' instead of 'Leviathan'."
"A nickname, huh?" Larry mumbled as he turned the word 'Phoenix' over in his head. The teacher was a little worried when she saw such a hyper child still and deep in thought, but just hoped that Phoenix was being a good influence on the boy... and vice versa.
"Pho-e-nix... Phoen-ix..."
"You don't have to try really hard, you know. Mommy says the best nicknames are the ones that just show up and you don't have to think about-"
Something clicked.
"That's it!"
Phoenix blinked.
"Nick."
Phoenix blinked again.
"That's your nickname: Nick!"
"I can't be nicknamed after nickname."
"No no no, listen... Phoe-NICK-s."
There was quite a lot of blinking on Phoenix's part as he tried to process. When he did, he knocked Larry over with his own bear hug.