In the middle of a casual date, Athena asks Apollo a question.

I Probably Always Liked You

The Shipshape Aquarium was quiet today. That wasn't very surprising for a Tuesday morning, which was what the two lawyers had been hoping for. Work had been hectic for a while, so the two of them hadn't had much time just for themselves. It had been Apollo who had suggested a date a date on their next day off, and it had been Athena who had agreed and suggested the aquarium. This was far from the first time they had been here together; the relaxing atmosphere made it ideal for a repeat date location. Not to mention a couple could hold hands and even make out a bit without drawing much attention.

After visiting Orla and Ora, two orca whales who had been central figures in a case Athena helped with a few years back, and saying hello to Sasha Buckler and Marlon Rimes, the two of them made their way through the aquarium.

"So, there's a question I've been meaning to ask you," Athena told her boyfriend as they watched brightly-colored fish swim through the tanks.

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" he asked, curious.

She watched a couple of angelfish dart by before she answered, "When was it that you first had an idea that you liked me? As more than a friend, I mean."

"Hmm," Apollo mused. "Well…" an embarrassed look crept onto his face. "I always thought you were beautiful from the get-go, of course. But it was honestly probably after… well…" he trailed off, his expression clouding over. "This is going to sound really weird, but I probably started thinking it after… that whole business with the Phantom."

Athena was shocked. Apollo never liked bringing that incident up, not that she could blame him. "Really?" she asked.

"I just… couldn't believe that you forgave me. Sometimes I still can't. And yet you did. Even after what I did, you stuck by me. I was struck by that overwhelming strength of your heart. That was probably the moment I really started falling for you."

A stunned silence passed as Athena processed both the sadness and love coinciding in his voice. "Apollo…" She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "If I'd known this was where the conversation was going to go, I wouldn't have asked."

He hugged her back. "No, it's fine," he insisted. "I had wanted to tell you at some point anyway."

Athena pulled away from the hug and kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "I love you."

"And I love you," he replied with a sweet smile.

She gave him another hug, and they stayed like that for a long while. She felt Apollo stroke her hair for a few minutes before he pulled away, taking her hand to lead her to the next area.

"So what about you?" asked Apollo after they entered. There were sharks swimming around in this exhibit. "When was it that you decided you liked me?"

"Well…" Athena pursed her lips. "It's kind of hard to say for me, really. Maybe on some level I always did like you."

"Come on," Apollo protested. "You have to have a better answer than that."

"Mayday, mayday!" exclaimed Widget. Apollo stared pointedly at the AI device with a grin.

Athena flushed. "It… it might have been when we were investigating for that murder that Trucy got accused of."

Apollo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh. Is that so?"

"It was—no. Nope. Not telling."

"Oh c'mon, Athena," Apollo quipped. "You can't just get that close and then not say." He crossed his arms. "Tell me."

"You had such a sweet, meaningful answer. Mine's just—no. Not. Telling."

"I won't laugh or think it's stupid," promised Apollo.

Athena heaved a sigh. "So during that investigation we met Ema, right? And she showed us how to use that fingerprinting kit?"

"Yeah, I remember. I was doing most of it because my junior colleague was slacking off," he answered with a teasing scowl.

Athena became very interested in the aquatic life in the tank once again as she went on, turning steadily more and more red. "Well… it didn't help that… um… the senior colleague was bending over using the fingerprint powder and the junior colleague got… distracted."

"…Wait, WHAT?"

"I always admired you from when we first met," she said, still determinedly looking at the tank. "You were an amazing lawyer, and you were funny, and I liked hanging around you. I don't know when exactly it crossed the line from friendship into romance. It was so gradual that I couldn't tell. Until that day I caught myself… staring at your ass. I was shocked that I did it, and I tried to go into denial that I could possibly think that way about a friend and coworker." She shook her head. "And then I was joking about holding your hand when we went up the catwalk, and you shocked me by seriously agreeing. That whole time we were up there I was thinking… how much I actually liked holding your hand."

"I liked that too. Minus the part about being up on the catwalk," commented Apollo. "And even if it is a weird thing that I never thought would come out of my mouth, I guess I'm flattered that you like my ass."

"Damn it, Apollo," Athena muttered finally glancing at him from the side. "How do you always make these moments sweeter than they have any right to be?" He rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, just get over here," she insisted before he could respond, pulling him towards her and kissing him as he obliged. After a few minutes she pulled away and invited him to keep walking to the next room. A bunch of rays were swimming around in this tank.

"Though really," Athena said after watching them for a bit. "No, never mind."

"What's on your mind now?" inquired Apollo.

"I should have told you." Her voice was so full of sadness that she was sure it could be detected even without her special gift. "I should have told you that day you decided to stay in Khura'in. That was when it really hit me, when I realized how much you meant to me."

"Athena…" The sadness in Apollo's voice could have killed her. "I came so close to telling you myself then. But… I was afraid that was only going to make things harder. I couldn't let Nahyuta and Rayfa down. Even if it did hurt more than anything to leave you behind."

"I know," Athena admitted. "You had to take your own path. And I'm so proud of you for doing it. But… obviously, I'm glad you came back."

"Hey, I promised I would," he told her.

"Yeah, well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried you'd find some pretty Khura'inese woman to decide to settle down with and have a bunch of Khura'inese lawyer babies."

"EXCUSE ME?" Apollo sputtered.

Athena burst into laughter at his indignation. "Hey, you never know," she said seriously. "You could have. You are kind of considered a hero over there, right? The ladies probably would line up for a chance to have your babies."

He groaned loudly. "Please stop teasing me like that. Besides, none of the women in Khura'in hold a candle to you."

"Bull. I've seen Queen Amara."

Apollo rolled his eyes so hard they could have popped out of his head. "Queen Amara is my ADOPTED BROTHER'S MOM."

"I'm just saying that there could be other women out there that look like her."

"And even if there was, I wouldn't care. The only beautiful woman I'm interested in is you. And honestly, I was expecting you to be the one finding some other guy while I was gone."

Athena poked Apollo's nose. "Let's not play the 'you're the attractive one; I don't know why you're dating me' game again, Apollo Justice. You're handsome as hell, you've got me, and now you're stuck with me, like it or not."

He startled her by taking the initiative to pull her into a kiss of his own. "Fine," he told her, happiness and love emanating from his heart and smile.

"You cheeky little—" she broke off her sentence as she was interrupted by the sound of something pitter-pattering into the room. A penguin wearing a backpack waddled around and stopped as it saw them.

"RIFLE!" Athena exclaimed. The bird immediately turned tail at the sound of her voice and began to flee the room. "RIFLE NO! COME BACK AND LET ME LOVE YOUUUUUU!" The young woman chased after Rifle as Apollo heaved a sigh. This somehow never failed to happen every time they visited. He had no choice but to follow.

"ATHENA! GET BACK HERE!"

"I AM EARNING RIFLE'S FRIENDSHIP THIS TIME I SWEAR TO GOD!"

"ATHENA WAIT!"