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"I was going through Clay's things a few months ago, and I found this medallion. His dad said it was a present he meant to give me before he died, and told me to keep it...the problem is, it didn't come with a chain."
So she was one step forward, she knew what to give Apollo for Christmas. Unfortunately, it became two steps backward when she went to the store and discovered the perfect chain to go with it cost more than she had left after buying everyone else's presents.
"Can't you simply buy him a cheaper one? Justice-dono will hardly care as long as it's from you," Simon said. Technically, he was right, but this chain wasn't just nice-looking, it was sturdy and the perfect length.
"Plus," she said, "the clasp is made of moon rock. That alone sold me..." And Simon nodded, seeming to understand.
"A small detail, but one that will mean more to Justice-dono," he murmured. "So what do you intend to do?"
"I'll have to get a second job," Athena said. "It shouldn't be hard to find something, everyone needs a little extra help around the holidays." She knew right away that pulling a Gift of the Magi and selling her earring wouldn't do any good, even if she got a fortune for it Apollo would be devastated at her selling a precious gift from her mother. She wasn't about to ask Mr. Wright for a loan, either.
She went out looking for work the next day, but most stores turned her away after learning she was a defense attorney. "Overqualified," they said as they ushered her out the door, not even letting her explain that it was just a temporary gig. Finally, a department store Santa flagged her down.
"My elf had to leave. Family emergency or something," he said. "You look like you'd be good with kids, and it pays fairly well. Please help!"
Athena liked kids well enough, and the man seemed nice. Plus, she was hardly in the position to say no, not when the store was holding that chain for her and she'd promised to have the money for it within a day.
"No problem, sir!"
A scrapbook should have been the easiest present in the world to buy. It was a book people keep pictures in, and he knew Athena would love to have one to start off with her copy of the HAT-1 group, as well as the pictures Aura had finally given to her.
It should have also been a fairly cheap present, but the one he instantly knew was the one for Athena was also the third most expensive and he was mostly tapped out after buying presents for everyone plus paying the shipping for the ones going out of the city.
"I should have put aside more money for Christmas," he sighed as the cashier cheerfully put the book aside for him. Just for today, they'd hold it, and now he needed to scrape together the cash to be able to take it home before the store closed. He thought luck was on his side when he saw the Christmas tree lot across the street was looking for extra help.
"All you gotta do is sell the trees. But you're a student of that lawyer Phoenix Wright, aren't you?" the manager said with a grin. "If you can BS your way through a trial to decide someone's life or death, you can BS your way through selling a tree." Apollo tried not to groan. I know Mr. Wright and us are famous for bluffing until we find the right evidence, but did he have to put it so bluntly? And after we saved his brother two months ago!
So Apollo put on a Santa hat, a vest decorated with bells, and prepared to sell his heart out.
Hours later, Athena came back to the office and sat alone in the kitchen, sipping a cup of hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. How she'd managed to spend all day in a crowded mall full of people and little kids and feelings without exploding was beyond her, and she could swear she caught some discord in Santa's heart. Like he was trying to keep something a secret...particularly from her.
It didn't help that half the kids there had colds or cried easily. Poor Santa got the brunt of it, but she'd been thankful for the thick green gloves that protected her hands from all the snot, and that the kids always missed her face when they sneezed.
Not that it mattered. He'd paid her handsomely, she'd bought the beautiful chain with the moonstone clasp, and tomorrow Apollo would have a place for Clay's medallion.
Apollo didn't come out of the shower until the water ran cold. Sell a few Christmas trees, what could be easier? Anything, he thought. Environmental protesters with their hearts in the right place but their heads way in the wrong pelting him with rotten fruit for "daring to snuff out the lives of beautiful living things", sticky sap and pine needles everywhere, dogs who got away from their owners and thought the lot was their bathroom.
Trucy and Mr. Wright would be back with Pearl and her cousin Maya any moment. He turned off the water, dried off and hurried into his jeans and the ugly sweater Robin had made him. It was warm, it was clean and it was surprisingly comfortable, just what he needed as he wrapped up Athena's present.
"Athena?! How did you-"
"Apollo, it's-"
Neither of them could finish their sentences, Apollo staring at the moonstone clasp and Athena hugging the book to her chest. Tension had filled the air until Athena pulled out her envelope of photos and Apollo took out the medallion.
"So is this why I didn't see you all day yesterday," Athena smirked. "I knew something was a bit off about you, but I didn't sense anything worth probing."
"And I had a feeling you were hiding something from me," Apollo said. "I just thought it was the usual where-you-hid-my-present secret." He chuckled. "So you really stood at Santa's side dealing with sticky little kids?"
"While you put your Chords of Steel to work selling every Christmas tree left in the lot." They sat down, Apollo clipping the medallion to its new chain while Athena slipped her photos into the book. "Thank you."
"Thank you."
She leaned against his shoulder and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Everything they'd gone through in the last year had been worth it just to make it this far and have this amazing first Christmas together.