Love

They say that the most beautiful roses have the most thorns, and that cannot be any truer for Dahlia Hawthorne.

Dahlia is one of the biggest villans in the Ace Attorney world. She literally has no morals and never feels guilt for anything she does, which is quite surprising because she has the face of an angel. She is introduced as Phoenix's girlfriend from his university years. Dahlia only pretended to like Phoenix in order to get him to hide an important piece of evidence for her; this piece of evidence was what it would take to land her in jail. Phoenix, like so many men before him, was absolutely smitten by Dahlia and agreed to the task.

Unfortunately for Dahlia, she ended up having to pretend to be Phoenix's girlfriend for six months before finally getting rid of him. Actually, she had her twin sister pretend to be Phoenix's girlfriend for those six months while she thought up of ways to get rid of him. In the end, their relationship ended in heartbreak for poor Phoenix. Mia, Phoenix's lawyer at the time, talked some sense into Phoenix and made him realize that Dahlia did not care for him one bit. The relationship was completely one-sided and Dahlia was only using him. Phoenix realized that the truth can be quite hurtful sometimes.

Phoenix was so shocked and surprised because the Dahlia he knew was not that kind of person. They dated for six months, of course he would know what kind of person his girlfriend was by then, right? Phoenix eventually accepted the fact that Dahlia was only taking advantage of his feelings and he must have been mistaken for those six months ... or was he? Little did he know that the person Phoenix was dating those six months was Iris Hawthorne, Dahlia's seldomly mentioned twin.

Iris

Iris is very sweet and kind, the complete opposite of Dahlia. She wouldn't hurt a fly. She even became a nun at a temple in the future. Iris agreed to play the part of Phoenix's girlfriend because she did not want to see her sister hurt (or rather, kill!) another innocent person, so she made a deal with her sister to pretend to date Phoenix and get the evidence she needed from him back for her, as long as Dahlia didn't hurt Phoenix. As she played the part of a pretend girlfriend and tried to think up of ways to get the evidence back from Phoenix, she found herself falling in love with him ... and of course, Phoenix was already in love with who he thought was Dahlia. It's quite tragic really, because I am sure they would have had a very happy relationship with one another if Dahlia wasn't in the background pulling strings.

This is the only relationship Phoenix has with a female that is confirmed to be of the romantic type. It is so sad that their relationship ended in tragedy, because it is never revealed to him that the girl he was dating all that time was Iris. Phoenix was left thinking that the one he loved was Dahlia, the one who tried to kill him. Iris never could tell Phoenix that it was actually her that was dating him, and that she loved him.

discovery

As if fate would not let the love die, Phoenix meets up with Iris again in the future. For her own reasons, Iris decided to pretend she did not know Phoenix at all, even though it was difficult to disguise the fact she looked exactly like Dahlia, but with darker hair. She wondered if he still felt anything for her ... but in the end, decided it was best not to ask, just to leave it as a memory. It's not until Iris becomes in danger that it becomes clear that Phoenix still does have a little feeling left for the woman he thought was Dahlia. Iris was accused of murder, and Phoenix was determined to defend her in court. Deep down, he still believed that a woman as sweet as her could not commit such a terrible act.

In the end, Iris finally tells Phoenix the truth about what happened years ago, that she was the actual girlfriend. Phoenix was happy that the person he was dating at that time was just as he thought she was -- a wonderful and sweet person. Iris hinted that she may still have some affection for Phoenix ... but Phoenix has been mum on his own feelings. I'd like to think that Phoenix does, but decided that it's for the best if they stayed apart. Too much has happened between them, and they've both moved on with their lives. Besides, Iris was a nun now, but that doesn't mean they can't still care for each other.