Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters from Ace attorney, especially not Apollo nor Junie as they belong to Capcom and not me. Eldoon doesn't belong to me, either.
Intertwining fate.
A beautiful indigo blue painted coated the diamond, moonlit skies. Stars dotted the dark blue skyline and twinkled innocently as if to paint a beautiful evening for some couples. The upper scenery the skies had presented was far more beautiful in the local park in a quaint spot in Los angeles.
The ivory moonlight beams softly reflected across the ground and every blade of grass was complimented by a small fleck of silvery-white that covered the front of each and every shortly-trimmed blade of grass that each had a slight bit of moisture collected on the surface if to indicate the slight rainstorm that had recently passed by; some strands of grass were even weighed down slightly by dew drops that hung off the edges of some individual lush green locks.
It made the scene look much more prettier, though.
Crickets chirped in the evening breeze, the sounds synchronising with the sound of the branches stirring and rattling in the wind like wooden wood chimes to create a beautiful somewhat soothing lullaby which was made by nature itself.
The scent of spicy noodles wafted through the air and the warm yet comforting glow of a Japanese lantern was aglow nearby as a certain couple travelled down a dirt path which was surrounded by an abundance of trees and foliage that looked magnificent in the nighttime dusk.
Apollo Justice and Juniper Woods both walked down the pathway, hand-in-hand. The lawyer and the aspiring judge/flower maiden both sent each other sideways smiles as they silently walked through the evening and they both seemed to be very happy as they walked together leisurely in the moonlight.
Apollo wore a casual red jacket which was buttoned up and he also wore a matching white scarf around his neck which fluttered softly in the breeze. He also wore his normal red trousers which looked spotless, most likely they had been cleaned specially for this occasion.
His thorny bangs gently swayed in the gentle breeze that flowed through the air and he wore a little smile on his lips as his russet brown eyes were locked on to the girl whom strolled beside him.
Juniper wore a beautiful beige dress with a long hem that reached down to the balls of her ankles. On her shoulders was draped a nice shawl which had been knitted just for the occasion and there was even a few pretty acorns stitched to the material on the front. Her long grey-brown locks of hair was worn in a French braid that was swept over her left shoulder.
One of her exposed arms was wrapped softly around the stronger arm of her escort and she, like him, wore a small smile on her lips.
The wind softly bristled her fringe and brushed her hair backwards as if to try and pull it slightly out of proportion.
The couple slowly walked down the road without a care in the world as they inhaled the fresh yet chilled oxygen that hung in the air. It was calming in a way and it felt even more so as the wind caressed their faces as they felt the soothing gusts of wind embrace their body's and wrap the almost numbing cold around their internal protective cocoons of body heat.
It was then that the delightful scent of Eldoon's noodles had greeted them as they sniffed the air, Apollo smiling in warm recognition when his olfactory sensors memorised the scent.
His mind had learned the distinct smell of Eldoon's since the very first time he had picked up on the partially delicious aroma and tasted the salty broth the homeless dude had put his blood, sweat and tears into cooking into utmost perfection. Apollo could still remember feeling the tingly salty broth tickle his taste buds and had since then learnt to recognise it properly in more ways than one.
Why were the two out at such a late hour?
Well it was because of one special event: their first date.
Apollo stopped and started to unthreaded his arm from Junie's. She frowned in confusion upon feeling the loss of security and comforting body warmth and she couldn't help but furrow a brow of confusion at him. Just what was going on? Polly seemed to sense his date's confusion and slowly took her hand in his. He slowly and gently pulled the young lady towards a certain direction and she started to notice something's that she hadn't noticed before.
The pathway was decorated since there were small lit candles lighting their way that was on either side of the otherwise plain path. A sudden suspense started to pour into the quiet evening and it surely added something exciting to the mixture of surprise and the recipe for a romantic evening.
A somewhat eager spark in his eyes, the young horned attorney-at-law led her forwards and they slowly ambled passed an abundance of woodland trees that were stripped from most of their leaves, most of said leaves being on the ground due to the Autumn season. The multi-coloured leafage softly fluttered like butterflies as the wind rustled them softly and Juniper could hear the leaves on the underfoot path crunch and crackle under her footsteps.
Apollo finally stopped again and turned to face her again but he wore a very compassionate kindle igniting inside his eyes. His brows knitted together to paint a mindful look on his usually authoritative face whilst a the corners of his lips flecked and he smiled softly at her.
"Get ready, Juniper...we're here now." He announced proudly.
Juniper couldn't help but smile back at how excited the young man looked. She felt like her heart was bursting in her chest and she could even feel a cough flutter inside her throat, tickling it gingerly as she tried to contain her excitement.
She couldn't keep the giddy smile off of her face and she could not help but try and keep the floodgates of her tears back whilst she fought back desperately against the urge to tear up.
Apollo softly pulled her towards a wide open space which rested under a large beam of moonlight which pratically spotlit the whole place.
In the middle was a circular bit of pathway where not only Guy Eldoon's noodle cart was parked but there was also a very romantic set up waiting just for them. Set a little ways in front of the noodle stand, was a round mahogany table which had a nice picnic spread put on top of it; what was also on the table was some neatly set out bowls and little side dish plates with some neatly-folded napkins and even little paper menus which was lain on one side of each plate. There was a bottle of some sort of fancy wine sat in the very middle of the two opposite ends of the table and perched right beside the green glass bottle, was a little candelabra which held a long stick of wax with a tiny yet glimmering flame laying atop the black fuse and there was even a pair of wine glasses perched beside the plates. Sitting just outside the noodle stand with his legs in a pretzel, was Guy Eldoon who held a harmonica to his lips as he blew a romantic melody through it.
Juniper was absolutely gobsmacked as her eyes twinkled with absolute shock and joyful surprise.
Her heart was racing a mile a minute as it stirred inside her chest.
Apollo had done all this...just for their first date?
"Oh, Apollo! I...I love it!" She exclaimed, tears starting to well up in her beautiful hazel eyes.
Apollo could see how beautiful she looked in the edge of moonlight. Of course, he found the young lady stunning in every setting be it rain or shine, but somehow -in this exact and precise moment in time- she looked even more graceful and elegant. Like Lamiroir's ballad, the beautiful want-to-be-judge had a voice which glided through the air and soared like a fledgeling bird taking its first graceful flight. She looked stunning in the beautiful moonlight as the shreds of ivory softly caressed her face.
Apollo smiled compassionately, feeling pleased with himself for making Juniper smile.
He bowed and held his hand out politely with a small bow of the head, "Shall we sit, Miss Woods?" He offered in a smooth tone.
Junie nodded and took the young man's hand in hers and her smile became a bit bigger when she felt Polly tug her forwards before assisting her in settling down into one of the stools which sat on either side of the dinner table while Apollo went towards the other side of the table and sat opposite of her. He simply eased into his seat and pushed himself against the table so his legs could vanish underneath it and he picked up the piece of paper which qualified as the menu for this little dinner date.
"So, do you come here often?" Apollo asked, his voice surprisingly slick as he leaned on his left arm. His eyes were lidded dreamily as he wore a very soft grin on his lips.
But his expression gave way for a shocked frown and his eyes shot wide open in realisation, suddenly having the abrupt thought that he just sounded stupid and awkward.
Oh no, that was seriously stupid! Now what would she think of him!?
He noticed that Junie raised a brow with confusion and furrowed the other one whilst she frowned with a lot of perplexity. She seemed to have been estranged here as she looked at the young man with eyes incredibly wide.
"A-Ah...oh...um...W-What I mean is...err...I mean..." He tried to make amends to his previous statement and then recovered quickly by changing the subject "...L-Let's look at the menu, shall we?"
He snatched up the menu and started to look at it, trying to hide himself behind it in an attempt to disguise the fact that he was blushing a shade of red akin to a bowl of ripe cherries.
He felt his throat tighten so he could no longer swallow and he tugged at the scarf to try and loosen his throat and to try and ignore the fact that he was starting to secrete a bucket-load of sweat. Juniper didn't say anything but her confused frown slowly turned into a smile. She raised a hand to her mouth and quietly giggled at her date's awkwardness as he tried to clearly be romantic.
She didn't say anything as she copied her date's actions and slowly picked up the menu and examined the options. She was not surprised to find that the only meal in this was noodles so she decided to go with one of those, this being her very first time trying a bowl of Eldoon's noodles.
Speaking of which...she decided to try and spark a conversation with her nervous wreck of a date as she asked him "How did you manage to do all of this?"
Apollo was caught off guard by that question as he bolted upright into a sitting up position and dropped the menu to the table below him and looked right into the eyes of the lovely young maiden he was spending time with on this beautiful evening. Regardless, he cooled himself down and answered with a slight fidgetiness, "Well, old man Eldoon owed me a favour for returning his noodle stand a year ago and I asked him to help me out for our special night."
He flashed a thankful look to the homeless noodle connoisseur, to which he responded by flashing him a nonchalant and rather dull smile right back.
Juniper's eyes lit up when she remembered Apollo mentioning something about this. "Um...Isn't that the very same noodle stand you found during the investigation for your very first court case working with the Wright anything agency?"
Apollo nodded, impressed with how well she remembered that. He set the menu aside for a moment and confirmed it for her.
"Yep, that's the one."
The couple shared a slight silence and it felt like it lasted for several moments on end as they both simply stared at one another. They didn't know what to say anymore since time had slowed to a near halt for them both and they even hear anything save for the steady gusts of wind and their pounding heartbeats. Neither of them wanted to ever let this moment end and they wished to remain lost in each other's gazes and they both jumped when Guy Eldoon abruptly tapped Apollo on the shoulder.
Apollo gave a small yelp as he looked around in a panicked manner for the person who touched his shoulder and was almost stunned when he stared at Eldoon. He watched as Eldoon looked at the both of them and asked "Have you decided on what you're havin'?"
Eldoon stopped to give the couple a single gesture with his head.
The thorn-haired lawyer in red looked at his date for the night and she nodded in confirmation.
Apollo smiled a bit and looked back up at Eldoon, knowing that the both of them had the exact same meal in mind. "Yes. We'd like a super-sized bowl of the vegetarian noodles, if that's okay." He smiled, eyeing Juniper with happiness. He knew that the flower girl was a vegetarian and couldn't stomach meat very well due to her weak constitution so he decided to help her out by ordering something which she could have, even if he was planning on sharing the meal with her. Junie lazily twirled a strand of long grey-light brown hair around her finger as she tried to keep herself from putting on a humongous smile that would make her look supremely childish.
Meanwhile Eldoon gathered the two menus and retreated back to his stand without saying another word.
Once again, the couple were left in a silence that dragged on and on until it became awkward and rather stale. The dating judge and attorney-at-law were both unsure of what to say to each other until Apollo decided that he had to compliment her; most people on dates do that! At least he had to drive off this awkward silence that plagued the duo this very romantic starlit evening!
"Y-You know, J-Juniper...you...you have beautiful eyes." Apollo smiled toothily in a sheepish way, his voice strained and stuttery, as he began once again pulling at his scarf anxiously. Even though he could easily detect the slightest of nervous habits, he was certain that his scarf pulling was becoming HIS nervous habit right now.
How ironic that a living lie detector was horrible at keeping secrets.
Juniper blushed furiously, looking down at her own lap and nervously fidgeted in her seat. She couldn't believe that the red clad attorney had just complimented her. It made her eyes sparkle in the bright moonlight and she just couldn't suppress that giddy grin anymore. She smiled warmly at the lawyer who sported the two thorns of hair, her heart growing in size. She finally raised her eyes to look at the young man sat across the table from her and muttered timidly, her voice as soft as a whisper.
"Thank you very much."
Before anymore conversations could take place between them, Eldoon returned whilst carrying a big bowl -one of the biggest bowls he had in his stand- and it was so big he was staggering underneath the weight of the large piece of porcelain which let out a decent amount of steam that wafted up each of the dating couple's nose, making them almost drool on themselves.
Eldoon set the bowl of steaming hot broth down on the table and went to work in pouring the couple each some grape wine which was non-alcoholic into the two glasses which were sat on the table. When he finished that job, he took the two plates which were initially on the table and scooped them up as he carried them back over to his beloved noodle stand. The noodle vendor carried the two plates and ignored the lawyer in red and the flower girl judge as they started to grab a pair of chopsticks each and pick up some strands of noodles in between the two thinned sticks.
Both Apollo and Junie started to slurp on their stringy noodles which came with the occasional crunchy bit of vegetation.
There was broccoli, little bits of lettuce leaves, little chopped bits of green onions and there was even some sticks of celery. Because of the broth that made the noodles slightly sweet with a strangely scrumptious tangy taste, the vegetables were a tad soggy but neither Polly nor Junie minded as they slurped their noodles.
In the meantime, Eldoon resumed playing some romantic music on his harmonica as if to sweeten the atmosphere.
The spiky-banged attorney-at-law and the aspired-to-be judge slurped their strands of wet spaghetti at a steady pace and, one one of the noodles, they both unknowingly picked up the same noodle which was quite long. They each sucked on a single, particularly long noodle. They were oblivious to the fact that the string was making them slowly approach each other from face-to-face and, before they knew it, as they sucked on the spaghetti, their lips touched. They both pulled away abruptly and blushed profusely, looking to the floor in humiliation when they realized what had happened.
The duo couldn't believe that they had kissed.
Just what had happened?! They hadn't expected to kiss like that! Just what drove them to do such a thing?! Both of their minds raced with worry of what the other would think of them now that they had accidentally locked lips!
But, unexpectedly, Apollo and Junie looked back up at each other slowly.
Their eyes met.
"Um...A-Apollo...I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to h-happen!" Juniper squeaked her face going redder than a ripe strawberry. She shut her eyes tightly and noticeably grit her teeth in worry as her jaw tightened a bit. She coughed weakly a little bit as she started to become sweaty from nervousness.
"Don't be sorry, its fine..." Apollo replied with a trembling undertone, simply sent the young lady a soft gaze as he said this in an attempt to get her to stop nervous-coughing. "...There's something I have to tell you."
Juniper awkwardly picked at the remaining noodles that lain in the bowl as well as the salty broth that they floated in like little latex rubber toys in a bath.
She raised her eyebrow at the young man, unaware that the outline of her angelic graceful form was being caressed by the silvery white beams of moonlight. The attorney in red swallowed to try and loosen his tight throat. He tugged once more at his scarf as he looked deep into her beautiful eyes and he found all other things he wished to say stuck in his throat as he saw that her eyes -those captivatingly enchanting brown eyes that made him feel warm and cozy as if he were in a comforting embrace- and he couldn't move even if he wanted to, Apollo struggled to make his usually loud voice work but he eventually forced himself to speak, even though he felt like his own heart was constricing from inside outwards.
"I...I...I think you're the most bravest and courageous girl I've ever met. Juniper, I know I'm only a lawyer and I don't have much to offer and, heck, you may not even like me anymore after this...b-but I...I-!"
Apollo was stopped mid sentence when Juniper put a finger on his lips to silence him.
It shut him up and Junie smiled softly as her cheeks started to go rosy, her hair starting to blow in the slight gust of wind. The young lady smiled gingerly at the young man whom she deeply admired. "...Apollo. Ever since I first met you when you and Thena saved me at the Themis legal academy trial, I always admired you because of how much of an amazing man you truly are," she softly removed her finger from his lips and held his cheek gently as she started whispering to him. "Even though I'm a weakling and I'm probably not of any use, I always will believe in you. You're like the sun over a woodlands; you're strong and bright and warm, and you always make my heart soar."
Juniper could see tears start to well up in Apollo's eyes as she cradled his head in her hand. Her heart fluttered and she knew her mind was reeling. Finally, after giving a long pause, the aspiring judge admitted with her own tears making her eyes water and she wore a very warm-hearted smile. "I l-love you..."
Apollo was silent for several moments. That was beautiful...! She loved him? Was that the honest truth? His bracelet wasn't reacting -that proved that she was speaking naught but the truth- and yet he still couldn't bring himself to believe it. He smiled for what felt like a lifetime and he slowly wrapped his shaking arms around the young lady's neck and pulled her in for a small embrace, he sniffled and smiled through a secretly quivering bottom lip whilst he tried to hide the fact that he was crying.
"J-Juniper, are you sure? Chords of steel isn't the most romantic thing in the world...and I doubt that I'm 'prince charming' material..." He said, trying to make sure she wouldn't reconsider her words upon recalling this fact. He realised that he wasn't sounding incredibly cool right now and he hoped that he wasn't sounding like a crybaby to her.
Junie giggled quietly and looked the brownish coloured, horn-haired lawyer in red right in the eyes. She smiled gently at him whilst she used a thumb to wipe away some tears running down his face "I don't care, you're a prince in my eyes."
Apollo Justice couldn't help but lean towards her and nuzzle her long hair affectionately as he gently laid his head against Juniper's shoulder whilst a blissful smile flickered on his lips. He wrapped his strong arms around her delicate form, enveloping her in this tight embrace that he hoped wouldn't hurt her. His heart was bursting and pounding as loud as his Chords of steel inside his cheys as he gently wrapped his arms around her, holding her back and cuddling her close to him.
But it was then that Juniper flinched at the cold when the wind started to pick up.
Apollo pulled away upon feeling his date shiver like that and he frowned momentarily. It was a bit cold out in the nighttime, it always was at around mid autumn and it seemed that even though she was fully dressed, Juniper was probably still feeling pretty cold.
The young man suddenly unbuttoned his red jacket, leaving his scarf wrapped around his neck as it fluttered in the breeze, and he shrugged off the warm material he wore to protect himself from the cold. When he pulled it off of himself, Polly stood up from his seat and walked over towards the young lady and stood behind her. He held his jacket at the ready and very softly lowered it and wrapped it around Juniper's shoulders, his lingering body heat seeming to seep through the jacket and into her pale skin.
She smiled gratefully and snuggled against the warmth of the jacket that was placed on her shoulders, then she sent Apollo a timid smile and observed as he wandered back towards the stool he was previously seated on: Upon sitting back down, Apollo let lose a smile warmer than a winter fire roasting chestnuts as he looked down at the bowl full of unfinished noodles and he grabbed the chopsticks up into his fingers whilst clicking and twirling them expertly in his fingers. He cleared his throat and suggested, "Why don't we just finish our meal and finish up, hmm?"
Juniper didn't need to be told twice as she promptly nodded and grabbed her own chopsticks before she started to grab up some noodles. Although she appeared to be wiped out since her eyes were heavy and she looked quite sleepy. She looked like she could fall over at any second and fall asleep on the spot. She smiled weakly regardless, "A-Alright, Apollo...and thank you."
Apollo was rather perplexed as to what the young lady was thanking him for but it clicked into his mind when he realised that she was referring to the dinner. He gently winked over at her as he scratched the back of his head, minding the two thorns of hair that stood proudly atop his hairline, and he smirked with a blush overcoming his cheeks. He quietly chuckled to himself in a nervous tone but his voice managed to sound very soft and sincere.
"...You're welcome, Juniper."
A/N: This took awhile for me to complete but I'm proud of how this One-shot played out.
I'm sorry if Polly and Juniper were slightly out of character but I tried to put them into character as much as I could so if I failed in that aspect then please forgive me.
I also added Guy Eldoon in this fanfic because I thought it would be fitting if Apollo and Juniper had a date with our fav noodle vendor. I also made a comeback from Ace attorney Apollo Justice.
I hope you liked this one-shot, it was the longest I've ever written.
Please review.
-Chloemcg