MadFox: Hey, guys! Woah! I know! This story isn't dead! It's updated for the first time in like a year! But our writing team did some backflips to actually get this written down. Man. There's going to be a huge party when we finish this story. The team is now made up of a whole new set of nerds: myself, Lumos314, Misa96, Dances-like-flames, and LilacWinters. So basically there's only 2 members of our original crew. Whoops.

Well, this chapter's pretty angsty, so buckle your seatbelts. It's time to conduct Symphony again!

~O~

S- Sincerity

POV: Apollo Justice

I'd always hated mornings. It was something about the atmosphere… The bright lights, the half-dead people…

And it also probably had something to do with the fact that there was a magician standing over me with a water gun, shooting me in the face.

"Polly! It's Christmas! It's already 6:30 and we haven't started opening presents yet!"

I groaned. "Can't you just shake me or something? Maybe after I've gotten more than four hours of sleep?"

"Nope! That's not very much fun. Plus, I'm a kid! We're supposed to wake our family up early to open gifts!"

She sounded like Clay after a sleepover… Only that I normally found Clay standing over me with shaving cream, silly string, or once even a pair of scissors.

He's dead. Reality shook me awake more than a water gun ever could, and I felt my stomach drop with realization. I took a deep breath, and let the sadness ripple through me before I allowed myself to do anything I'd regret. I then opened my eyes and put on my typical face.

"Do we have coffee?" I grumbled.

"Well, no. But if you really want coffee that bad, I can get some from my magic panties!" Trucy exclaimed.

"No thanks, then. I'll make it myself," I groggily attempted to sit up, but the air mattress I'd spent the night on shifted with my weight and made me fall back down. I was personally against the idea of the Wright family sleepover, but it had only taken a little effortless, daughterly manipulation on Trucy's part to get Mr. Wright to insist on it. She was the agency's little princess, after all.

I was so tired that I began to drift back to sleep the moment I closed my eyes. It felt so relaxing to be in that state between conscious and unconscious. Just as I was about to nod off, though, a sudden jet of cold water hit me between the eyes.

"Gah!" I yelped, caught off guard. "Trucy!"

"Polly! SANTA!"

"Santa doesn't exist, Trucy."

"Shh! Pearls doesn't know that yet!" Wait… Pearls is seventeen, right?

"I'll tell her if you don't let me sleep. Seriously Trucy, you must be tired, too. I could hear you guys giggling downstairs at four AM, even over the sound of Mr. Wright's bear snoring." I turned my head to look at Mr. Wright's empty bed. "Where is he, anyways?"

"He's making Christmas breakfast!" she said with a grin. My mind began to picture the meals I'd grown accustomed to for the occasion- Clay's dad was a remarkable cook, and Clay and I had a tradition of making wings out of crackers and turning our baby sausages into rocket ships before we ate them. The dull pangs of sadness came back, and I frowned. I'd spent the past few nights staying with him, sleeping in Clay's bed- Clay, the college grad too wrapped up in his career to cook for himself and buy a house, opting to stay with the loving father he could never leave for long- trying to wrap myself up in his presence until the scent of him had faded away completely. Clay's dad had welcomed me with teary eyes as I swore to him that I'd find the truth, I'd find the killer, I wouldn't back down. But even with the accused facing massive charges worthy of far worse than the death penalty, that couldn't bring back the glitter in Mr. Terran's eyes. I just wanted to leave it behind me; the Christmases spent with Clay, the Christmases spent alone in the orphanage, the Christmases that Clay and I would never spend together.

Why is it that the harder I try to forget, the more I remember?!

I felt another cold blast of water, and I sprung up. "Okay, I'm awake, I'm awake!"

"If you tell Pearls about Santa, I'm going to pour a whole bucket of water on you!" she warned.

"I won't say a word."

"What about Santa?" A familiar, sticky-sweet voice came from the doorway, and I saw Trucy point the water gun at my head.

"Oh, uh… I plead the fifth," I stammered.

"You aren't in court," Pearl replied.

"Polly saw Saint Nick last night! Didn't you, Polly?"

"I sure did." But it turns out that he wears a blue suit rather than a red one. And he's not exactly a saint.

"Wow!"

"Polly even made his spikes extra pointy today to look like a reindeer!" Trucy added.

"Trucy didn't need to change her outfit to accomplish that- Ack!" A jet of water went straight into my ear, and I moaned.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Polly!" Trucy pouted.

"Don't be mean to Trucy!" Pearl butted in.

"She started it!"

"And I'll finish it!" Pearl said, rolling up her sleeve. I backed up until I felt the wall behind me, and I winced. Please don't…!

"Hey, Apollo! I got you a Santa ha-huh?" Athena peeked through the doorway, twirling a Santa hat around her finger. "What are you guys doing to Apollo?!"

"He said I looked like a reindeer!" Trucy whined.

"Apollo! Don't you know that girls have sensitive feelings?" she asked, giving Trucy a protective hug.

I rolled my eyes. "Not that one. I'm pretty sure the only feeling she's capable of is Christmas cheer all year round."

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" Athena cheered. "Bel aaaaaaastre que j'adooooore, soleeeeeil qui luit pour mooooooi…!" Leave it to Athena to start singing in French. I used the opportunity to escape, as Pearl's fighting stance had evaporated into pure, childish joy. I did note a frown from Trucy, though- Jeez, you know I didn't really mean you looked like a reindeer. Are all teenage girls so sensitive?

I walked downstairs, following my nose to the scent of burnt toast. I stepped into the apartment's kitchen, and found a note on the table.

The evidence clearly proves that I can't cook, so I'm going to the store. Don't open presents without me, Trucy… Especially not mine.

There was a pen next to the note, so I decided to add a little bit to it.

Dear Mr. Wright,

You do realize that they don't sell pre-toasted toast at Walmart, right? You're going to have to learn how to use a toaster eventually.

-Apollo

I had barely finished my sassy scribbling when I heard a bang come from the office's door. I turned around to find Mr. Wright stumble into the office with several bags and a box. "Hey, guys! Breakfast!"

Athena came sprinting downstairs at lightning speed, and I yelped. "Woah, Tiger! Weren't you spreading Christmas cheer?"

"Nope! I was lying in wait for my prey," she joked.

"Last time I checked, tigers don't eat bagels," I retorted. She smiled at me in that genuine Athena sort of way, where I could see her joy radiating both from her face and from Widget's green light.

"This tiger does."

Mr. Wright smirked. "A lion might, if it's got pepper on it."

"Huh? Do they like pepper?" Athena asked.

"It sure makes them smile," he added, his eyes glinting like they do when he's making a horrible joke.

"Nick, you can't make an inside joke to someone on the outside!" someone complained. I turned around to see Miss Maya as she began to explain, "See, Nick had a case way back in 1692 where a lion got a bunch of pepper up its nose, and it sneezed and bit off someone's head."

"...What?!" Athena asked.

"And he almost ate Nick, too!"

"...That's not exactly how it all happened, but I don't want to get into the strange details of that particular case," Mr. Wright crossed his arms, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Hey, you were the one who started it," Maya said. "Oh, but Regina had her baby!"

"Really?" Mr. Wright replied. They got into a strange conversation about raising a kid in a circus, so I tuned out and opened up a box of food that Mr. Wright had bought. It was full of bagels, and Athena was already grabbing a second, so I fought for a chocolate chip one and put it in the toaster.

"HOLD IT!" someone yelled. I turned around, heart racing and eyes wide, to see Mr. Wright pointing at me. "That toaster is broken!"

"Toasters occasionally burn toast if you leave it in there for five minutes, Mr. Wright."

"Unplug it! Unplug-" There was a strange noise, and the toaster began flaming.

"Ack!" The fire went straight for my face, and I barely avoided getting 3rd degree burns on it. "What the heck happened to the toaster?!"

"It's mine… Let's just say Simon got angry at it," Athena laughed nervously. I turned around to check Widget for her emotional state, but it turned a bright green as Athena started giggling. "Your hair!"

I sprinted into the bathroom to check my spikes, and they were, indeed, burnt at the tips. I cursed, frowned, and demonstrated many symptoms of negative human emotions before I bitterly left the bathroom to find a pair of scissors. When I found one, Athena eyed me curiously. "What are those for?"

"I guess I need a haircut now. I was probably due for one… My spikes are floppier than I'd like them to be."

"Can't pull off a hot hairstyle, huh?" Athena joked. Rolling my eyes, I walked back into the bathroom and started carefully snipping.

I was almost done when Trucy ran into the room screaming, "Presents, Polly!" I yelped and cut a little bit too much off of one of my spikes. I shot her a glare, and she stuck out her tongue cutely. "Oops."

"All right, just let me get my bagel," I said, dropping the scissors. My hair looked presentable, so I walked out to the kitchen, where Athena was waiting with a half eaten, charred bagel… My half eaten bagel. "Hey! That was mine!"

"Oh, whoops. You shouldn't have left it, then!" she cheekily replied.

"You shouldn't have left your fire hazard out, then!"

"You shouldn't have trusted my fire hazard!"

"You shouldn't have eaten my bagel!" I dug through the box of remaining bagels. "It was the last chocolate chip one, too…"

"Oh, cheer up, Polly!" Maya exclaimed. Oh, not you, too. You're probably the one who ate all of the other chocolate chip bagels. "It's present time!"

"Don't call me Polly. Only Trucy can call me Polly." Once I realized what I'd said, I stammered, "Not that Trucy can call me Polly!"

"Evidence has been tucked away in the court record!" Trucy called. "It'll make a nice ace up my sleeve sometime down the line."

"Whatever…" I muttered.

"So, who wants their present?" Mr. Wright asked.

"Me! Me!" Maya cheered, dashing over to him and sliding on her knees to properly beg. Ow, Didn't that hurt? She just slid at least a foot across the carpet! Phoenix just laughed and handed her an envelope. She ripped it open immediately, with a certain finesse in that though she ripped it to shreds, its contents were left unharmed. She looked at the Christmas card, skimmed the front cover, and opened it hastily. "...Huh?"

"What does it say?" Athena asked.

"Nick!" Maya pouted. He just grinned.

"What?" I asked.

"It says I don't get a present unless I can tell him what was on the front of the card." She frowned. "Words. A large, boring block of words."

"Eh, close enough," Phoenix said with a wink. He handed her what looked like a gift card, and she cheered. "Lettuce Meat Up? Yes!"

"But you guys just met up," Pearls said.

"No, lettuce! Like the vegetable! And meat! Like, "where's the beef?"!" Maya exclaimed. "It's the best burger joint ever to exist! How much is on this, Nick?"

"Ha ha ha. That's a surprise."

"You have no idea, do you? I bet you got it out of your back pocket as soon as you realized I was coming over!"

"You keep believing that," he laughed.

"I've got something for you, too, you big lump." She handed him a Christmas card, and after opening it, Mr. Wright just laughed.

"What is it?" Trucy asked.

"She promised to pay for a meal somewhere that's not a burger joint," he chuckled. "I hope this doesn't mean you were just planning to take me to Wanda's or something."

She jumped. "How did you see through my diabolical plan?"

"Ha ha ha." He tossed his magatama, caught it, and passed a small box to Pearl, along with a larger, squishy package. "I think the only person who didn't run over here drooling should get to go next." What am I, chopped liver?

She bit her lip and carefully unwrapped the first gift, not wanting to rip the paper. None of us could really be angry with her, but I noticed that the longer she took, the more the other girls fidgeted. Finally, she pulled a rubber ball out of the box. "Ahh! It's perfect!" The logo of the Ship Shape Aquarium glittered a vibrant orange against the numerous penguins covering the toy.

Miss Maya grinned. "That one was from Santa." ...Someone's gotta tell her.

The delighted girl opened the other package just as meticulously and gasped as she pulled out a long, silky dress. The ivory accents on the pastel pink fabric perfectly matched the string of authentic looking pearls and the shimmery flats that had been included. Where in the world did Mr. Wright get the money for that?

"Maya, Trucy, and I got this one for you, in case your special someone comes along soon."

"I... Thank you!" She jumped at Mr. Wright and he chuckled again. I'd never thought about it before, but with the glow on her face and her mostly absent parents, the awkward attorney must have been the closest thing she had to a father, just as Clay's dad had become to me.

...Why do I think about him more now that he's gone than I ever did before?

Trucy slipped me a gift while the others oohed and ahhed over Pearl's dress, and I looked at the delicate wrapping with a sense of tenderness. Everything Trucy had done was meticulously thought out, not a wrinkle in her wrapping or a tear in the paper. It was all perfectly constructed, with not a thing out of place.

...And that seemed completely out of place.

"Open it!" Trucy urged.

"All right, all right," I said, carefully undoing the tape, trying not to rip the perfect wrapping job.

"You're slower than Pearls!" she hissed, too quiet for Pearl to hear. I ripped it open in response, earning a grin from Trucy, and pulled out what looked like a scrapbook.

The bright blue paper cover had a picture of me in court; I looked like I was yelling "Objection!" as loud as my chords of steel could handle. How on earth Trucy had managed to get ahold of it, I had no idea. Under the picture, in stenciled lettering, were the words "Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney".

"This is… Really amazing," I said, flipping through the pages. It had a page for each of my murder cases, filled with stickers, memorabilia, and photographs. I found our first case together with a picture of Wocky, an OG cracker wrapper, a few fake white feathers, and a few pressed autumn leaves from the park, among other things. It seemed like Trucy had put her entire heart and soul into it, I realized as I kept looking through. I found the case where Kristoph was sentenced for a second time, and rather than dart around the true emotions that we'd felt during that dark case, she had delved into the depths, keeping the memory alive. She hadn't sugarcoated anything, treated any moment like it was less than crucial to the both of us, or left out details. There it was: A label off of a bottle of Ariadoney nail polish and one off of a bottle of luminol, photographs, and even a toothbrush. But what was most shocking was a sketch signed by Vera, a picture of Kristoph as his identity finally shattered.

I closed the book, not wanting to remember any more of the past. "Thank you, Trucy… This is really incredible." I hoped she couldn't see the fear or the sadness, but deep down I know she could. I hope she knows that I'm being sincere, though. I thought I was, but nervous tics aren't reliant on sincerity alone- they're something more connected with the brain than the heart.

She gave me a small, sad smile before turning with her trademark grin to hand a square shaped package to Pearl. I spent a few more moments reflecting before I was interrupted by a tap from something soft on my back. I turned around to see Athena standing behind me with a rather large package in her hands. "Feliz Navidad!"

I blinked and accepted the squishy, cylindrical parcel, groaning when I realized my gift to her was all the way across the room. I told her as much and she grinned. "Don't worry, I'll make you go get it after you've opened yours."

This present, thankfully, was wrapped rather sloppily; it looked like she had used a whole roll of scotch tape to patch up the numerous tears. I was able to rip through it all without feeling guilty, and soon saw a red fez sitting on my lap. "Am I missing something?"

"Yes!" She balled her fists, but Widget remained bright green. "I mean, fezes are cool, but you have to look inside it, too!"

I pulled what seemed to be an impressive amount of random objects - a brown pinstripe suit that was clearly from the thrift store; a pair of cheap, paper 3D glasses, and a bow tie that was relatively drab compared to my bright red suit - before finding the last object in the bottomless fez. Suddenly, everything made sense.

I facepalmed. "Of course; Doctor Who."

"Took you long enough!"

I pointed my new sonic screwdriver at her, listening to it whir realistically, but sadly it had just as much effect on her as the Doctor's did on wood. She simply stuck her tongue out at me.

"I'll find something for the rest of the Doctors soon enough. But didn't you say something about my present?" She grinned and I sighed as I got up from my comfy spot on the sofa to grab the thing. By the time I returned, however, she was snuggled cozily right where I had been.

"Hey!"

"Move your feet, lose your seat!" I flopped, and dropped the small envelope on her lap.

"Go ahead and open it, couch thief." She grinned and gave me a quick peace sign before tearing into the card. Inside I had written a thoughtful message, which was probably a little cliche but it had taken me forever to think of, and I had taped a gift card to the Shipshape Aquarium.

She squealed. "Oooh! Yes!"

I smirked. "I figured with that perpetual 50% discount they gave you to the gift shop, you could get a lot with it."

Athena was so pleased with the card that she missed the other part of her present; it had fallen out of the envelope and I had to pick it up from the floor. "Here you were making fun of me for missing things," I said, finally getting to smirk at her. In my hand was a small, star shaped charm, with a loop so she could secure it to Widget's cord. "A friend of mine from college owed me a favor, and his entire family is made up of jewelers. So I took a stone from the garden of the Space Center and had him make it into this. Now you'll have an earring from the moon and a necklace from Earth."

She was speechless, but I was glad to see that Widget was glowing green. I smiled back at her as she found her voice. "Thank you so much," and enveloped me in a hug. I put up with the inability to breathe for as long as I could stand it before I had to pull her off. "Oops. Too tight, huh?"

"Just… a bit," I panted.

When I had finally managed to catch my breath, I found my present for Mr. Wright, which I plopped on the ground next to him- a very light, very big box. He seemed kind of surprised by it, but that might have been because I accidentally dropped it on his foot.

He tore open the box with a finesse that he must have been taught by Maya and then looked up at me with an eyebrow raised. "Really?"

I was quite proud of my gift; after all, it would hopefully save me and Athena a lot of work in the coming year. I had found bulk packs of automatic toilet bowl cleaner at James's Club and bought a few. Mr. Wright would get his clean toilet and I would, hopefully, get assigned more lawyerly jobs.

Maybe that wasn't going to work out so well in practice, though. "Want to go install some right now?"

"Heh. No thanks."

In return, my boss handed me a very wide card. I opened it to find a thick stack of money and a bunch of coins that promptly fell onto the floor. My eyes bulged until I began to count it all; it was mostly singles.

"So, all those times I borrowed money from your salary…" He was grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his spikes.

"You borrowed over three-hundred dollars from me?!"

"Ha ha ha… 314 dollars. And 32 cents."

"Mr. Wright!"

He grinned that grin of his and said, "Don't worry! That's not everything."

He held out his hand, a navy blue, faux-leather bound book sitting in it. I took it gingerly and opened the cover to see the first page covered in a surprisingly small scrawl. It was titled, "The First Turnabout".

Mr. Wright scratched his neck. "It's a chronicle of my major cases as a young attorney, from my point of view and with a few additional notes. I thought you might appreciate it, with me being so mysterious all the time."

I blinked in surprise. It was actually… Really touching of him. I'd always wondered what those cases had been like, and he was definitely right about being mysterious.

"Uh…" My face felt hot as I rubbed my spikes back some. "Thanks. Wow... Mr. Wright, this is… really amazing." I looked down to flip through the pages, but when I looked up he had disappeared. I guess he wanted to save us both the awkwardness.

As I skimmed some of the passages, I noticed that he was also fond of making sarcastic remarks about the prosecution and insulting obnoxious witnesses, and I realized that maybe the two of us weren't so different after all. He even named his cases after turnabouts like I did.

When I was finished, for the moment, I looked around for my favorite magician. Trucy, on the other side of the room, was fiddling with her new set of earrings; Athena had found a pair with a magnetic, mini deck of cards so she could wear whichever card she wanted. Already, I was amazed by how surreptitiously Trucy was able to swap the magnets out for one another. I grabbed her present from the tree and began to move in her direction.

"Watch this, Polly!" She stared at her hand, concentrating. Then, in one fell swoop she pulled the card from her ear and the matching, large one appeared in her hand. She grinned. "Yes, it worked!"

"Nice job, Trucy!" I had spent enough time around her to be able to understand how the most basic tricks worked, and this one made sense to me. Slide the magnet off her ear, slide it down her sleeve, and pull the full size card from it on the way. It was still pretty neat how she executed it flawlessly, though.

Then I did a trick of my own. I had the small package containing my gift for her wedged between the layers of clothes on my back, and I whipped it out. "Ta da."

Compared to Trucy, that wasn't even magic. She did grin and said, "You'll have to do a little better than that if you want to join me onstage."

"Pretty good for a boring old lawyer, though," I bragged.

"Eh, you tried." She gave me a wink and poked her tongue out.

She took the present and unwrapped it much faster than Pearl, ripping off the paper while still managing to keep it in one (easy to clean up) piece. She stared at the gift for a moment. "Is this… A book?"

"It's a journal. I don't know, I guess it's good to get your thoughts on paper. It makes them feel valid and important and all that, if you take the time to appreciate what goes on in your head. I've always found mine to be a source of comfort, and I thought you might too."

There was more silence before she looked up and said, "Wow...Thank you, Polly."

I smiled. "Take a look inside." There was a pair of twenty dollar bills tucked in the cover. "I know you were saving up for your Myriam Scuttlebutt costume."

She put her hands on her hips, but smiled. "Hey, my magic box will be way cooler than hers!"

I raised my eyebrows. "It better be, if it's almost $500."

"Well…" She shrugged. "It'll let me do some really cool tricks, even if it is really expensive. I'm almost there, now, though. Thanks!" She grinned and gave me a quick hug before trying to catch Athena and give her a present.

I was about to sit down and look through my new scrapbook some more, but Pearl decided to give Miss Maya and Mr. Wright their gifts at the same time, which resulted in a lot of noise and everything else in the room stopping. Mr. Wright got a book of honeymoon suggestions (including things like Hawaii, Jamaica, and a multitude of other places he could never afford to visit) and Miss Maya got a chocolate fountain bearing the label: "Do not use until your wedding day or Trucy's graduation party." Most of the rest of us had to work to conceal our laughter as Mr. Wright's face turned bright red. It was pretty funny to see him being the one embarrassed for once. Miss Maya also looked vaguely embarrassed, but she seemed more frustrated with the literal meaning of the directions on her gift than what they implied.

"C'mon Pearly! You can't just give me a chocolate fountain and then tell me not to use it! That's like...not even a gift!" We all gave up and burst out laughing at this point. Even Mr. Wright ended up smiling, though it still took a while for his face to return to a normal color. Pearl looked she wasn't fully sure of why everyone was laughing, but she smiled just the same, like she was happy everyone else was happy.

I was surprised and a little embarrassed when Pearl's next move was to hand me a gift; I didn't know her well enough to know what she would have liked, so I hadn't gotten her anything. The delicately wrapped box had an envelope on top, which I carefully opened to reveal a card reading "Merry Christmas Apollo!" on the front with border of tiny, intricately-painted holly leaves surrounding it. I turned the cover, and was suprised as a pop-up Christmas tree folded out as it opened: a tree complete with tinsel, ornaments, and a star on the top. Amazed, I carefully set the card on the table by me, leaving it open so that the pop-up was still on display, and I gingerly unwrapped the box. Inside, there was a (clearly handmade) hat that was the exact same shade of red as my suit with a big puffy green ball on the top. It was the type of thing I tended to avoid wearing due to the fact that it crushed my bangs hopelessly.

"Do you like it?" Pearl asked me with huge eyes. "I spent two weeks making the hat!" she said, beaming. I was speechless. She put so much effort into this and I didn't even get her anything. I felt terrible, but I put on a bright smile. At least I could show her that I appreciated her beautiful gift. With a silent apology to my hair, I pulled the hat on, thanking her and telling her it was wonderful.

"I, uh, didn't get anything for you. I'm sorry," I mumbled after extravagantly praising the hat and the card. Her smile didn't even flicker.

"Don't worry! We don't really celebrate Christmas in Kurain, so getting any gifts at all is really exciting!" she said, beaming. Somehow, that made me feel just as bad as if she'd been disappointed.

I tried to grin as she walked away, only to be irritated again when I heard my name. "Polly! Hey, Polly!"

"It's Apollo," I grumbled as I turned to face Maya, who was happily reading the manual for the chocolate fountain despite Pearl's clear instructions.

"Yeah, whatever." She grinned at looked at me for a second before turning back to the device. "Your present is over there." I followed her outstretched arm to see a medium size red box on the table a few feet away from where she was sitting. "Hey, Nick. Do you think this'll work if I put sprinkles in the chocolate?" Clearly, she was done with me, and I felt perfectly fine with the fact that I'd overlooked getting her a present.

I had to admit, though, her present was nice. The box contained a "Phoenix Wright Survival Kit", apparently a package deal with the guide I'd gotten last year - a copy of which Athena was now holding. It had a toilet cleaner and Steel Samurai themed brush; a pair of scissors; a full, and rather expensive looking, first aid kit; a "Get out of jail free" card from Monopoly; and one bottle of sparkling grape juice, for when I needed to bribe Mr. Wright. I was most thankful for the first aid kit - there was a burn on my forehead from the toaster and I hadn't noticed it at first, and some aloe vera gel was very welcome.

All the gifts had been given and everyone was smiling, but something still didn't feel right. While everyone else was entertained by their new toys, I slipped out of the Christmas-cheer-filled room and headed to my desk in the office. I just couldn't take it any more; every single smiling face reminded me of all the Christmases I'd spent at Clay's house. My foster parents were great, but with the other five kids there I felt much more at home with my best friend. But I guessed that was gone now. Sure, I had the Wrights and all their friends, but there were people in the room who I'd never even met before yesterday. How could that truly feel like a family?

Staying in a room with at least three people who could tell when someone was hiding something was also starting to get a little nerve-wracking; I knew it was only a matter of time before they figured out something was wrong. So I decided that the best idea would be to remove myself from the situation, and the only excuse I could think of was...doing paperwork. Also, an added bonus of paperwork was its side effect of requiring enough mental focus that I wouldn't be able to think about Clay while I was doing it, and I would have less work to do later.

I threw myself into the work, and for a while I didn't think about anything but trials, evidence, murders, and criminal convictions. Unfortunately, the peace and escape that came with the paperwork couldn't last forever.

"Apollo, what are you doing in here?" Trucy asked as she walked in the door. "It's Christmas! You don't have to work!"

"Criminals don't take Christmas off, so I won't, either," I replied.

"Oh, aren't you a spoilsport! We're going over to a Christmas party, and there's free food, and you're coming. Let's go."

"Woah, I didn't sign up for this!"

"...It's good free food, I promise."

"...All right, let me get my shoes."

(O)

It took forever to actually leave - we were held up by a magician's missing wand, a misplaced present, and an empty stomach ("Athena! We're going to a dinner party!") - but at some point we wound up at Mr. Gumshoe's house. He opened the door with a wide grin and a hearty laugh; if he'd had a red suit and hair that was white rather than graying, he could have easily passed for Santa. At least to Pearl.

"Hey, pals. You made it!" He grinned and ushered us inside, slapping Mr. Wright on the back as he passed. "Mr. Edgeworth told us that you never got our invitation. I'm really glad he saw you yesterday!"

A small woman walked over without meeting anyone's eyes and stood by him. "It's just my luck that it would get lost in the mail."

Mr. Gumshoe smiled warmly and said, "I think our luck has gotten far better since we became a family." He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and every girl in the room squealed.

The rest of their family, two children, dashed into the room at the sound of the girls' high pitched 'awws'. Trucy was immediately tackled. "Aunt Trucy, Aunt Trucy!" Now their high pitched screams filled the air and I winced. She gave a glowing smile to the pair, one with long, light brown waves of hair and the other with short black spikes on his head. They latched onto her and didn't let go until, with the snap of Trucy's fingers, bubbles appeared from thin air and floated around.

The two chased them as we all made our way to the table filled with burgers (what else?) and very, very salty Eldoon's. I was about to sit down when a large hand clapped my shoulder. "Hey," a voice said, strong but quiet. "Mr. Edgeworth told me all about the last few days, pal, and I just wanted you to know that I'm real sorry about your friend. I know it's not much, but he was really brave and I hope no one ever forgets it."

It's true, the gesture was one of many awkward moments where the world attempted to stop to drag me back up to speed with its breakneck pace. Many people had offered condolences that had really added up to, "His death made other lives better, but I'm sorry for you," or "Sorry your friend never achieved his dreams," but something about the ace investigator's genuine smile reminded me that the world was missing a shining star, one who had done so much more than he'd ever expected to accomplish- one who had reached dreams that he'd never meant to reach. Being here, away from the paperwork, away from the everyday toil I'd immersed myself in, I could feel a bit of warmth in the loneliest part of my heart.

"Thank you, Mr. Gumshoe… Thanks a lot."

(O)

The Steel Samurai said some witty line, filling the room with laughter once again- Mr. Gumshoe's roar almost covered up Miss Maya's shriek. I'd managed to get a headache somewhere in the mass chaos of cheerful company, and the blood rushing through my head grew more forceful with every heartbeat. The squeals of the movie-watchers weren't exactly helping, so, after making sure they were all focused on the movie, I quietly slipped out. The cool breeze was refreshing, so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Clay loved nights like this. I took a few more steps, seeing a small, dimly lit hill not far away that would have also piqued his interest. I climbed up to the top, sitting down in the cool grass. Looking up through the few fluttering flakes of snow, it took me only seconds to find his favorite constellation, planet, and star all shining extra bright. I gave a bittersweet laugh and felt my eyes begin to water.

I felt like my emotions were being decided by someone rolling dice in my head. Was I going to feel despair? Was I going to feel nostalgic? Was I going to feel peaceful? Was I going to feel anything at all? It didn't seem to have any pattern whatsoever- I just wanted to be at peace with the whole thing and move on like I know Clay would have wanted me to do, but I couldn't. I couldn't.

"Hey." I jumped as Athena plopped down next to me, and tried to wipe my eyes surreptitiously. "You alright?"

"Huh? Yeah. It was just a little loud in there." I sniffed a little.

"Tell me about it. All that shouting made my ears surge." She winced a bit, rubbing her ears, and I swear that Widget flashed a little grimace that I hadn't seen before… But then again, I wasn't exactly in an ideal state of mind. "I heard you sniffling from a mile away… You sound sick. Heart sick."

"You don't need to worry about me… I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine, you know?" I faked a smile best as I could, but it was pretty clear that it wasn't fooling her.

"And I'm Athena Cykes and I can read your heart like an audiobook, you know? Yours is particularly loud as of right now, too." She poked my chest for emphasis, her face colored blue thanks to Widget.

"Sorry, I'll try to keep the volume down next time," I grumbled.

"Apollo… What's the point of hiding when you know that I can feel your pain every time you open your mouth? I know you're hurting, but you keep insisting that you're fine and you don't need any help. Do you know that it drives me insane to know you're hurting and there's nothing I can do to help?"

"Sorry if my problems are making your life difficult," I spat.

"Apollo… You know that's not what I mean. It's just… I trust you so much… I'd trust you with my life, and I feel like you don't trust me at all in return. I want to help you, but you won't let me."

"That's because I'm sick of trust!" I shouted before I could think, and Athena started. I hesitated, making one last effort to hold up the dam that was keeping in the bitterness and the pain I'd felt for far too long, but I crushed it- If she wants feelings, she's going to get feelings! "Don't you get it? Ever since I was born people have broken my trust! My parents abandoned me before I can remember because they couldn't handle some dumb kid in their lives, my mentor is in solitary confinement for the murder of Trucy's biological father, one of my... clients gave me forged evidence to get them a not guilty verdict and never apologized, Clay's dead, and everyday idiots like Bobby Fulbright end up being serial killers in disguise! I don't think you understand what it's like to not have trust as a possibility, Athena, since not all of your relationships ended in failure!"

"You can't discount all of the friendships that do exist just because they haven't ended yet," she steadily replied.

"The second I trust someone is the second that fate turns on them," I retorted.

"Do you think you have that kind of power? People don't just die because you care about them, Apollo."

"Then why is all of this happening to me? Clay never did anything wrong, and neither did I! But now he's dead, and… Clay is dead." As soon as reality set in, and the pictures of Clay laughing and smiling flooded my thoughts, tears started pouring out of my eyes and I buried my face in my knees, shaking with sobs as warmth flooded my knees. Athena gingerly ghosted her hand over my back, eventually beginning to rub circles with her fingers.

"Clay died because he was a hero," she said quietly. I drew in a sharp breath. "He died trying to save that hope capsule. This is hard to hear… But Starbuck didn't die. The Phantom wasn't out to kill the innocent bystanders… He was there to kill the only person who could stand in his way. And that was Clay. Clay chose his own path, Apollo… And I think you're his only regret."

"I know." came my weak reply. "...He's an idiot."

"Why did Clay want to go to space so much, Apollo?"

"He wanted to experience what nobody else ever had."

"Do you know how many people have been able to take down a serial killer?"

"Me? You? Mr. Wright? Trucy? Some guy's pet parrot?"

"...What?"

"It happened. Ask Mr. Wright."

"...I think I will. But Apollo, I know you're hurt. And I'm here for you." I looked into her eyes and noticed that she was crying, and I felt a pang of guilt.

"I'm so sorry…"

"These-" she said, pointing to both of our eyes- "These are good tears. These are the kind that friendships are made of."

"Like when Clay's mom died…"

"Yeah. But, Apollo, don't you see? You've been holding all that emotion in, and every time you say you're fine you encourage it. Sometimes, you just can't pretend nothing's wrong. What's the point of going through all this pain if you can't use it to grow closer to the people who care about you? Pain is how we learn about each other."

I stared at the tear stains on my knees as I thought, if only to avoid Athena's piercing teary blue eyes. "What am I supposed to do, then? Everyone else is having a great Christmas and I don't want to ruin that with my infectious grief."

There was a pause as she did the same before looking at me with Widget a deep blue. "You're not the only one."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you realize that you aren't the only actor around here? It might look like everyone's having a great time but trust me, some of their hearts are just as broken."

"Who? What's wrong?"

Athena sighed and stretched out to lay in the grass, eyes turned towards the stars. I joined her, staring at the small misfit star in the big dipper. "It's probably not my place to tell you, but… I'm sure you've picked up on the illusion a certain magician's trying to create with sunglasses and waterproof mascara."

"Trucy?"

"You haven't noticed?"

"I don't know, she seems to be having too much fun with squirt guns and Christmas decorating."

"It's impossible to be a glittery, happy ball of fun all the time. The second you can't see anything but smiles is the second you take out the magnifying glass."

"I really haven't been treating her well, have I?" I asked. There was a moment of silence, and the tears began to trickle again. "Argh…" My face contorted as I tried not to cry. I focused on tensing every muscle in my body, determined to just stay fine, before an arm snaked around my shoulders and I instinctively relaxed. I inadvertently heaved a sob, and the stars streaked together as Athena began to rub my arm soothingly. It was freeing to let go of it all and to not be fine for a bit.

After the sobs turned to sniffles, we sat in silence for a little longer before I saw a light streak across the sky. "Was that a shooting star?" Athena asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied.

"Make a wish, then!" She said with a laugh.

"I just want Clay back," I confessed. Just one last time… If Christmas miracles can really happen, I just want to see him one last time, so I can say goodbye.

Athena let out a hum of understanding. "Why don't you tell me a bit more about him? I still don't really know all that much."

I smiled. It seemed the dice of my emotions had granted me a moment of peace. "He used to drag me outside in the middle of the night all the time so he could show me this planet or that galaxy. We spent hours looking for constellations and making up our own. We'd camp out under the stars and just talk to each other, kind of like we're doing now, but about all the stereotypical teenager things. You know, girls and video games and ambitions and stuff." I chuckled a bit. "He always seemed to have a better handle on understanding girls, though. I always went to him for advice." I closed my eyes. " I don't know who I'll go to now." Something hit my head, hard. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"You're sitting next to a girl who can hear everyone's emotions, silly! Anytime you need advice, just ask!"

I rubbed my head. "Alright, alright. Just don't slap me again, please."

She winced. "Sorry, Apollo. Though, I do pride myself on my relationship advice. I mean, look at how Junie and I chased off that creepy friend of Mr. Wright's!"

Her comment jogged my memory, and there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. Oh, right... "Speaking of that... Congratulations to you and Junie."

"Huh?"

"I mean, she's a great girl and I know you guys are really close..."

Athena blinked a few times. "Wait, you..." Then she burst into laughter and I felt my face heat up. "You actually thought... You thought we were serious?!"

"Are... you saying you weren't?"

It took her another minute or so before her giggling calmed enough for her to talk coherently. "No way! We're just really close friends. Besides, Junie's got her eye on someone else." She smirked knowingly and I thought I saw her wink. "We were just acting to get rid of that jerk!"

"Heh. I think everyone is glad that you chased him off... I think Mr. Wright owes us an explanation as to why he's friends with the guy in the first place."

She chuckled. "Yeah… Maybe he'll talk about that parrot, too."

After a while longer of just watching the stars, we heard the door open with a shout. "Apollo! Athena! Where'd you go?"

"Hey, Trucy! We're over here!" I replied.

She rushed over and grabbed my arm, trying to drag me back. "Come on! Mr. Gumshoe brought out cake for us!" Little glittery ball of fun, huh?

Athena tried to rush past, but I caught her wrist first, chuckling. "All right, all right. You go ahead and get a piece. We'll be there in a minute."

"Alright! Hurry up!" She dashed off, and I turned to my... friend.

"Athena… I just wanted to say thanks." I hesitantly offered her a hug, which she accepted with gusto. "I might not be able to adjust right away, but I'll do my best to stop hiding from you all."

"Of course, Apollo! Don't forget that I'll be there every step of the way!" She grinned, her eyes flickering towards the house, and I sighed.

"Let them eat cake," I told her. She stayed for one more second before pulling away and running for the door. "Come on, Apollo!"

Sighing, I looked up at the sky one more time.

I'm Apollo Justice, I thought with a soft smile, and I'm not fine.

But that's okay, because I will be someday. It'll just take a little time, and a lot of my friends.

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Quote Wall! (Disclaimer: Lumos and Jeffbob are no longer dating, Can is no longer part of the doc, Larry is our buddy who doesn't actually contribute, and Misa is not trash)

Lumos: Okay, so after they all wake up at, like, 6 am, maybe they can all go open their pants.
Misa: I didn't know you were that kind of a person, Lumos!
Lumos: STUPID TABLET AUTOCORRECT! Presents.

Can: (...Note to self: Never give Chief any ideas.)

MadFox: I have completely lost the ability to say no to people. My kid's gonna end up as a juvenile delinquent and she's going to ask me for alcohol money so she can have a good date with her 26 year old boyfriend and I won't be able to say no to her
(2 minutes later)
Misa: MADFOX I HAVE A QUESTION
MadFox: What?
Misa: Am I an idiot
MadFox: ...No? What gives you that impression?
Misa: There, you said it. You said you couldn't say no. I just proved otherwise.
MadFox: You. You scoundrel. ...but idc about my dignity Misa's not an idiot XD

Misa: WHOAAA. WHEN DID YOU GUYS WRITE THIS MUCH FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER?
Flames: Lumos, Lilac, and Madfox have been hard at work.
Madfox: Wanna do stuff? :D
Misa: Why does that sound wrong?
Madfox: ...
Misa: MADFOX IS RENDERED SPEECHLESS ONCE AGAIN!
Madfox: …I remember how I used to complain about the fact that you guys never made fun of me. Then Jeff and Larry came along and now it's just… A Madfox attack.
Misa: You're too precious to make fun of. A cinnamon roll, too precious for this world :3
Misa: But I like to be trash sometimes. Trash making fun of a cinnamon roll: A bestselling novel by Misa Youngbag

Lumos: Guys, save me. I'm dating a creepy fake doctor who is a pedophile!

Lumos- Tell MadFox to get back here. XD
Larry Butz- Madeline says she's doing a thing
Lumos- That thing better be getting back here. XD

MadFox: I ship Meth. Maya/Death
Larry: Gosh MadFox get over your meth addiction

Larry: Lol jeff and Lumos will have a forbidden romance XD [in our Warriors AU]
Flames: It's like Romeo and Juliet, just less shallow and hopefully doesn't end with them both dead.