my little starshine

✴

phoenix woke with a start, jolting himself awake from his intense dream; he took a moment to collect himself, breathing in and out slowly while trying to gather his scrambled thoughts. his brows were furrowed and it took much more effort than usual to open his eyes, but he did so anyways, taking a moment to relax and remember where he was. home. in his bedroom, in bed, without a care in the world at the moment.

he heard an extremely quiet noise though, and not one that came from his room. fear gripped him before he realized who it was, and sat up, rubbing at his face and peeling back the blankets to walk out of his room. he stumbled along the way, having to navigate in the dark, messy halls of his combination office and apartment.

getting closer to his destination, he heard small sniffles and whines, and frowned. he hated to hear his baby girl in any pain. opening trucy's door, he made sure to be careful and quiet around her, making his way over to her bed and sitting down on it. she was still asleep. his hands found themselves pushing her hair back behind her ear, and he started to wake her up. "truce. trucy. baby girl, wake up," he murnured, moving the previously occupied hand under her back and attempting to lift her. it seemed like she wasn't the only one dealing with a bad time sleeping.

another whine escaped her lips and he dragged her into his lap carefully. "sweetheart, wake up for me," he tried again, and this time, she woke up the same way he had; with a sudden jolt and a tiny scream, she seemed more panicked, panting wildly as her eyes darted about the room. "darling, darling, calm down, it's just me," he reassured, his arms wound around her somewhat loosely in case she needed to be let go; he understood not everyone dealt with things in the same way, and she could start panicking even more if she felt like she couldn't escape.

"... daddy?" came her timid response, and he hummed in response. "yeah, it's me, sweetheart, i'm here," he soothed, finally catching her eye once she looked over at the source of the voice. after taking some time to calm down, breathing in and out at the same time as her father, she clutched onto him tightly, burying her face into his chest. and in return, his arms held her tight against him, beginning to rock the two back and forth. "daddy's here, daddy's gotcha. shh..."

heart wrenching sobs came from the poor girl, and phoenix just held her tight, burying his nose in her hair, letting her get it out of her system. "da-addy," came her hitched whine; "i know," he simply responded, kissing the top of her head. "i know." she shouldn't have to face night terrors at such a young age, or nightmares for that matter... he hated the one to bring her to such a state.

it was a long time before she ever calmed down enough to be able to speak, and when he felt her trying to pull back, his arms became slack, still around her body so she knew he was still here and open for her to collapse into. he brought one hand up, wiping her tears from her cheeks and eyes, and smiling sadly to her. "what's got you scared so bad that you woke up like this...?"

"h-had a really, really bad dream, daddy," she explained, and he nodded; he knew as much. "yeah? do you want to talk about it?" he questioned, hoping she was okay with it; she could only get better if she let it out, after all. "mhmm," came her eventual reply, and he nodded, becoming quiet whilst she tried to explain.

"s-saw momma first... and i was so h-happy to finally see her again..." a small smile appeared. "we talked about a l-lot of things... like m-my other daddy, and you, and our f-family-" she sniffled, took a moment to rub at her eyes again and calm down before she worked herself back up. "b-but then she... she disappeared. and then i s-saw my other daddy, and it was like the last time we saw each other... he left, and i was all alone until you were there..."

"a-and i was so happy to see you again, and you told me you promised you would never leave-" she paused. "... but you did. you, and p-polly, and mr. edgeworth, athena, pearl-" her voice became choked up, and phoenix shushed her quietly so she wouldn't get upset again. "shh... i understand now," he leaned against the wall, grabbing one of her stuffed toys from the bed and giving it to the small girl in his arms before lifting her up a little, and holding her close again.

"i would never, ever leave my little baby girl. not ever, no matter what," he murmured, alternating between patting her back and rubbing it. "dream me may have left, but i'm still right here, and i always will be. you are the light of my life, my little darling-" he let go of her for a moment, letting her climb back down, and placed a kiss on her forehead. "- and nothing will change that. i don't care who they are, what they do-" he stroked some loose hair back behind her ear again- "- i'll never let them take you away from me.. and if they do, well," his laugh was warm. "they'll have to go through me, which is pretty hard because your daddy can be strong when it comes to you."

he smiled at the giggle that came from trucy. "and why are you laughing, my little starshine?" he muttered amusedly; she shook her head. "no reason, daddy..." she crawled up, hooking her arms around her neck, phoenix wrapping her up in his own hug in return. "i love you," she whispered into his ear with another giggle, and he wondered how he'd gotten so lucky to adopt this little girl- this lovely child that he loved so, so much. "i love you too, trucy."

he heard her yawn and made a move to lay her back down, only to meet resistance on her end. "no!" she suddenly spoke, and he raised a brow at her behaviour. "you have to sleep, sweetheart-"

"wanna sleep with daddy!"

oh, he just felt his heart melt.

"so that's what you're fussing about," his smile came back tenfold. he picked up the plushie she'd just had, making sure to bring it with him while he made the "journey" to his room, stubbing his toe on something along the way and trying his very best not to curse.

("god dang stupid box-"

"be careful daddy, don't cuss or you'll have to put money in the swear jar tomorrow~"

"yeah, yeah.")

he eventually made it, making sure to leave the door open a crack just in case trucy needed to find the bathroom during the night (even though she'd more than likely just wake him up). he yawned himself, making his daughter yawn again in return- yawns were always contagious, yes?- and finally lied down in his bed, letting go of trucy for a split second to get under the covers, but scooping the girl right back up and tucking her in himself, then giving her the stuffed animal.

"goodnight, starshine," he tapped her nose with a smile.

"goodnight, daddy~"

his arms circled around her, placing his chin on top of her head again, rubbing her back with his free hand and waiting forher to drift off, until he finally did the same.

"i love you, trucy wright..."