Chapter Text
Athena Cykes would have never thought that a day with such a nerve-shattering conclusion would start with a few stray thoughts about Apollo Justice.
While everyone at the Wright Anything Agency missed their friend, as he had remained at the far-off Kingdom of Khura’in to restore order to its law system, Athena felt like she missed his presence the most. It had become second nature for her, as they had become immaculate work partners, could trust the other with their lives and enjoyed each other’s company.
There was no special, grand occasion that heralded the change in Athena’s feelings towards him. It was simply a particularly slow day at the Agency. She sat in her workstation chair with nothing to do and turned to quiet introspection as her gaze wistfully drifted to the desk now bereft of its owner. One statement lead to another. Her train of thought dutifully chugged along the itinerary until it arrived at the astounding Grand Central Station of —
“Am I … in love with him?”
That one set off several more thought locomotives on their routes, each more frantic than the previous; every one quickening her heart a little bit as if their departure whistles had given her a startle.
“No way, no way!”
“Don’t be silly!”
“Apollo and me?”
“Really?”
“Okay, maybe I have grown to rely on him in court, but…”
“Okay, maybe he did help me get through some of the very worst days of my life, but…”
“Okay, maybe I miss him dearly, but …”
“Okay, maybe him calling me a tiger was cute, but…”
“Okay, maybe his snark does cheer me up, but…”
“Okay, maybe he is very caring when it matters, but…”
“Okay, maybe his little confident smirk is adorable, but…”
“Okay, maybe he does take a lot after his manly dad, but…”
“Okay, maybe holding his hand on that catwalk was calming for both of us, but…”
”Okay, maybe that flustered grin when he’s uncertain is cute, but…”
“Okay, maybe…”
“O—okay, but…”
“O—o—”
“Oh no.”
The trains went off the rails.
The revelation felt overwhelming, so she excused herself and dashed out of the office for a jog, hoping that the fresh air would sort her jumbled mess of thoughts.
“I… I… I can’t do this, there’s Junie to think about… a—a—a— and Simon, he’s one … and Apollo’s my … And... and… I’ve never been …” As she ran, a fair number of excuses bounced around in her head, ricocheting off her skull and colliding with each other, setting off sparks at every contact, threatening to short-circuit her brain, to ignite it and burn it down until nothing remained but an ash pile of worry and unease.
Having arrived at People’s Park, she felt it necessary to sit down on a nearby bench to calm the slight tremble that had taken over her legs and take a deep breath.
She had no experience about being in a romantic relationship, for those teenage years that were meant to indulge in crushes, gossip and pining were stolen by her frantic quest of saving Simon. Every waking moment her psychology courses gifted her a break was a moment the law classes or exercise could use. That left very little time for socializing.
She tried to be friendly and amicable with her peers, but thanks to the rush, age difference and culture clash, no real friendships were formed, like the one with Juniper. Much less anything romantic…
What was she to do? A dash of panic crept from the corners of her mind as her breathing grew rapid and shallow. How was she to approach all these doubts…
Doubts.
That word dredged up memories of a courtroom devastated — one man standing on a crumbling stand, clad in a navy jacket of a friend lost, an eye patch easing the pain of suspicion misguided. His words bleeding desperation, full of need to be proven wrong.
“What is faith without doubt?”
To think a similar dilemma would befall her as well…
Even memories of him seemed to contain his usual calming presence. It swept away most of the anxiety and worry. Determination rose to fill the vacuum left behind.
“No! Apollo had the right idea! I mustn’t let this indecisiveness eat away at me! I will face my doubts head on! If any obstacle proves too much, so be it - I’ll accept it! No more regrets since I really will have given it my best shot! Let’s do this!” she thought as she jumped to her feet and punched her fist into an open palm.
And thus, she was off like a bullet.
First target — Juniper. Athena’s best friend … who also had a crush on Apollo. But could she still really call Athena her best friend if she was to do something so selfish?
As she was explaining her situation to her, Athena’s emotions started to run rampant. Each sentence became more unsteady and stuttered than the next until she admitted that she didn’t know what to do, and that Juniper just had to say the word, and Athena would stop this disrespectful, arrogant, irresponsible, juvenile, crazy idea of…
Junie calmed the trembling and crying Athena with words of wisdom fitting someone who is aiming to be a judge. While she still admired Apollo dearly, she wasn’t going to let it ruin their friendship. If Athena’s feelings were genuine, they were just as reasonable as Juniper’s own. She just encouraged to determine Apollo’s own thoughts on the matter and to respect them.
What had Athena done to deserve such an understanding friend?
“Ultimately, the choice is his. I still think Apollo’s an amazing man, and at the very least I would be glad, knowing that he is together with an equally amazing person…”
Tears of joy replaced the tears of sorrow.
Second, a visit to Simon Blackquill. The man who had nothing but her best interests at heart. She had a feeling he might have a few words about Apollo.
He, indeed, had more than a few words about Apollo.
A worthy adversary. Pertinacious. Audacious. And …harmless.
While Simon still cared about Athena, she was an independent woman now, and her love life was her own business, unless her partner brought harm to her. And his evaluation was clear — Apollo was a man of honour and not a threat to her wellbeing.
He was, however, far too enthusiastic in offering his services in providing “a katana talk,” if Athena felt like the lawyer still needed it. Simon was happy to oblige, in lieu of her lacking a father figure to do it.
“It’s very similar to a “shovel talk”, but quite a few degrees sharper and with more cutting,” he explained.
A snort of laughter replaced the snort of confusion.
Third, a return to the Agency. Trucy was one of the closest people to Apollo, and her opinion on this matter was important.
Trucy’s reaction was one of the expected possibilities, but what surprised the young lawyer was the intensity. The magician was more mature than she appeared — or wanted to appear — but in this case… Sapphire sight sparkling, hand held in hand, toes teetering on the tips before a bounce beset her body, grin gritted as gift of the gab graced her gob after gasping and grasping the gravity of Athena’s anxious admission about admiring Apollo.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I gotta tell Pearly!” she exclaimed and jumped to her feet.
Oh no. Pearl, Ace Romantic, will get involved. As if Athena wasn’t worried enough.
As the magician ran out of the room, she crashed into her father with a dull thud, rattled off a hasty apology to the man, and was away in an instant. Seems that Athena had received a Wright Double Deal, as Phoenix happened to pass by and had listened in from outside the room.
Thankfully, he was slightly calmer than his daughter. Athena felt emboldened enough to discuss her pressing topic with him.
While she danced around her issue, he picked up on her meaning veiled behind anxious stammers and omissions in sentences.
“Are you worried about fraternizing?” Mr Wright was direct. Athena braced for a stern discouragement.
However, he instead flashed his most devious smirk as he continued. “Why should you be? As far as I know, there is no “Apollo Justice” working at our Agency… I did hear about that one young, strapping lawyer who works at his own law firm abroad. It sure would be nice to have an experienced man like him employed here…”
A chuckle of relief replaced the chuckle of nervousness.
And thus, every major excuse had been calmed. They had been put to rest, no longer bouncing in her head and threatening to start a wildfire with every collision.
But Athena didn’t stop. Maybe she was emboldened by her apparent luck. Maybe she moved out of pure inertia. Maybe it was just her own bold nature at work. But she could feel her heart thrashing against her sternum as the first thing she did upon arriving home was start a video call with Apollo.
“S…surely it can’t all fall apart at the last step?” was her last desperate thought as the “Connecting…” flashed upon the screen.
What awaited her was a long, anxious conversation, peppered with comments by Widget — the little machine’s speakers had never looked so incomplete without a screwdriver sticking out of them before. The climax brought forth Athena’s confession to Apollo himself.
After the initial surprise, Apollo admitted that he missed Athena a lot as well, had found her reliable, radiant and, he added after a brief pause, attractive. However, he wasn’t quite sure if he would call it “love”.
Could his own mind would be as uncertain as Athena’s was today?
Therefore, she took it upon herself to be the engineer of that train of thought to gently help Apollo express himself to see if it would arrive at the same final stop. Her knowledge of psychology came in handy to hear his honest thoughts, as she took extra care not to be manipulative.
Seems that his logic also went off the tracks just as spectacularly as hers. Either that, or the chair he was leaning on had the most perfect comedic timing that side of the Pacific. As realization seemed to dawn on his face after a second or two of silence, Apollo fell off-screen with a wooden creak and a loud “THUD!” He rose back up with a radiant blush and a splutter in his voice, as if the hot blood in his face lifted him upwards like a horned hot air balloon.
Looks like obliviousness was still one of his greatest vices…
The initial shock being replaced by unfiltered joy in his heart thoroughly confirmed that he was genuine in his revelation. Thanks to her special hearing, Athena knew better than anyone else that true love is a matter of resonance. And right now, both their hearts sang on the same symphonious wavelength.
It felt like there was now a mountain of questions to discuss. Unfortunately, Apollo was still one of the few attorneys in Khura’in and he had to prepare for several trials, so for now all he could spare was a short chat about the most urgent ones.
Thus, he soon parted with a weary “See you later then, tiger… even if you just made the wait that much more unbearable…”
“Disconnected.”
Little did Athena know how soon this conversation would turn out to be the start of a heart-stopping event...