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It was New Years’ Eve, and it seemed like half of the population of Los Angeles was celebrating at the Wright Anything Agency. In reality, it was Phoenix, Apollo, Athena, Edgeworth, Maya and Pearl Fey, Klavier Gavin, Simon Blackquill (much, it seemed, to his chagrin,) and, of course, Trucy.
Everyone, it seemed, was drinking and chatting about old cases- except for Trucy and Pearl.
“Isn’t Athena only eighteen?” Trucy pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and giving Phoenix her best puppy-dog eyes.
“Aren’t you only sixteen?” her father had retorted, though not unkindly.
“But—“ Trucy tried to protest, but her father put his hand on her shoulder.
“Truce, she’s only having one drink. Why don’t you go grab some sodas and hang out with Pearls? You seemed perfectly happy doing that before I brought out the drinks,” Phoenix said, raising an eyebrow.
Trucy thought about this. It was true, as much as she hated to admit it.
“Well, all right, daddy. But can I at least have a sip?” She asked, grinning.
“I guess that’s fine,” he sighed, allowing her to take a swig of his champagne before turning back to what seemed to be a heated discussion about the Steel Samurai.
“Here, come on, Pearl, let’s go.” Trucy called to the other girl, tossing her a can of cola and heading towards Apollo’s office.
“Are you sure we’re allowed to be in here?” Pearl asked, lingering at the doorway.
“Sure we are! Anyway, it’s just Polly’s room. If he gets mad, I’ll just make some of his documents disappear.”
Pearl laughed at this, and stepped into the room. She sat carefully down on one of the chairs, and smoothed out her robes.
“Did you know that Polly...” Trucy held back a giggle, “Polly sometimes draws... he draws love notes on his legal papers?”
At this, Pearl’s eyes went wide. “Really? I never knew he had a special someone...” She sighed, putting her hands on her cheeks. Trucy always found this endearing. Apparently, it was subconscious, and she had done it ever since she was a child.
Before Trucy had the chance to reply, Pearl cut her off. “Is it Athena??”
At this, Trucy couldn’t help but laugh. “Athena? Not in a million years.” She saw the slightest hint of a frown cross Pearl’s face, and quickly continued- “I mean, I see how you could think that, but... they’re just really good friends.”
“Oh,” Pearl replied, apparently lost in thought.
They sat in silence for a while, sipping on their cola occasionally, before Pearl spoke again.
“Trucy, two men can be special someones, can’t they?” She asked, sounding hesitant.
“Well, yeah! I mean, look at Daddy and Miles! They’re certainly special someones, and they’re both guys, aren’t they? Why?”
Pearl bit her lip and played with her hair.
“Two... two women can also be special someones, can’t they?”
Trucy nearly choked on her coke. “Of course! Did you only think it was two men that could love each other?” She asked her friend.
“Well, no,” Pearl replied. “I kind of assumed that it could work that way too, but...” Here, her voice lowered, and Trucy failed to hear what the other girl had said.
“Pardon?”
“I think I might... I think I like another girl.” Pearl said, looking uncomfortably close to crying. She had always been a bit overemotional, but now was certainly not the best time for it. It was new years’ eve, after all. It was supposed to be happy.
Trucy suddenly looked around, alarmed. If someone saw them in the office, with Pearl near tears, they would surely think it was something she had done. She had to calm the other girl down, somehow.
“Shh, it’s all right!” Trucy said, carefully. “So, uh, what’s she like?”
“What?” Pearl asked. Trucy could tell she was trying to keep her voice steady.
“The girl you like! What’s your type?”
At this, to Trucy’s surprise, Pearl beamed. “She’s great! She’s been a close friend of mine for a while, and she’s really sweet...” Her voice trailed off.
Trucy allowed herself to smile at this. It was weird, but the thought of Pearl liking someone made her feel strangely insignificant. She pushed the thought away, and continued to talk to her friend.
“That sounds great, whoever it is is really lucky that you like her,” Trucy mused, looking at anything that wasn’t Pearl.
They sat quietly once again, the silence heavy on the room. The tension in the room was obvious, especially to both girls, who, in the quiet, could hear the other guests down the hall, laughing about something.
“Um, Trucy...” Pearl started, surprising the other girl. “I’m going to tell you. I am certain it’d be better for the both of us if I just got it over with, and if it’s strange, I understand, and I’m really sorry.”
Trucy was aware that she was probably making a really strange face, but she forced herself to answer. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, Pearly! I was probably gonna keep asking you about it until you told me, anyways.”
This wasn’t a lie. Now that Pearl had brought up the prospect of liking someone, Trucy wanted nothing more than to know who it might be.
They locked eyes, nodding to each other. Trucy did her best to put on what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
“All right, here goes.” Pearl took a breath, and continued. “I think it’s you. I mean, I think that I like you.”
Trucy nearly dropped her can on Apollo’s carpet, but managed to retain her grip on it. The two of them looked at each other, for what seemed to last centuries, and...
They laughed.
Trucy wasn’t sure why, but with the laugh, all of the tension in the room seemed to dissipate at once. It was as if they both knew- something. Trucy wasn’t sure exactly what that something was, but she felt absurdly happy.
“So, it’s not weird, then, is it?” Pearl asked, still smiling. Trucy nodded.
“Not at all. You know,” She said, shooting Pearl her most mischievous glance- “I think we might have to do something about this.”
Pearl gasped, and then looked reflexively at the door. Nobody seemed to be paying them any attention. The next thing Trucy knew, they were sitting on the ground, holding hands. They sat like that for a long while, content with each others’ company.
Then, suddenly, something seemed to go off in both their heads, something like instinct, and they were kissing. It started off as a series of hesitant, delicate pecks on the corners of the lips, and transitioned into a careful kind of embrace- soft, and warm. Trucy could taste Pearl’s lip balm. It tasted sweet. And then-
“Truce! Pearls! They’re starting the countdown, c’mon!” Phoenix was calling from down the hall. The two girls broke the kiss, startled, and Pearl gave Trucy a shy smile.
They started off toward their family, their new secret still fresh and unknown. They didn’t need anything else.