It was a quiet, breezy late afternoon. The arm of the clock on the wall moved, just striking four. Phoenix Wright glanced at the clock before standing up, followed by his adopted daughter, Trucy Wright, and his employee, Athena Cykes.
"Are you sure you're not coming?" Phoenix turned to his other employee, Apollo Justice, who was still seated on the couch.
"Hey, you know how much I hate shopping, especially New Year's shopping. Too many people." Apollo let out a dry laugh. Phoenix, however, didn't need Athena's special hearing to know Apollo probably just wanted some time alone.
"Anything you want us to get for you?" Trucy offered.
"Nah. Maybe just a snack or something." Apollo averted his gaze to stare at the wall.
"Okay then! See ya Apollo!" Athena gave Apollo one of her signature "peace" signs, before the three of them headed out. It was only when the Agency was completely empty did Apollo sigh, sitting up slightly straighter to look at the piano.
"I didn't expect New Year's shopping to be this crowded!" Athena commented. The three left the shopping mall at eight in the evening carrying at least two shopping bags each. It was also raining rather heavily. Thankfully, they were taking a taxi, so they need not worry about the shower of rain.
"Thank you." Phoenix paid the fare for the ride. The three of them alighted the taxi and retreated under the shelter of the apartment building the Wright Anything Agency was.
"I wonder what's Polly doing now?" Trucy said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her finger.
"Knowing him, he's probably just reading boring old case files or practising his Chords of Steel." Athena shrugged.
"Maybe we can take a picture of him! He's bound to be doing something silly!" Trucy giggled, joined by Athena.
"Come on, girls. That's enough teasing Apollo." Phoenix smirked. "But okay, we can take pictures. But make sure he doesn't delete them!" He added with a wink.
"You're the best, Daddy!" Trucy grinned. Together, the three of them piled up into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor.
The instant they stepped out of the elevator, they were greeted by the faint sound of a piano. It wasn't very loud, but the melody was lovely; slow, soothing and sweet.
"We need to find out where that's coming from, boss!" Athena gasped. "We need to know who's playing that! It's beautiful!" Phoenix nodded, and thus they hunted around the corridors for the source of the music.
After a short while, they finally stopped in front of the door where the music was the loudest. They read the address, and-
"Daddy...This is our Agency!" Trucy gasped softly.
"Does that mean Apollo's playing the piano?" Athena asked quietly.
"Only one way to find out." Phoenix whispered. As quietly as possible, he retreived his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. He pushed it open slowly so as to refrain from disturbing Apollo.
Sure enough, Apollo was seated in front of the musical instrument, his fingers playing across the keys. It seemed to be an original song, considering the melody didn't sound like any other existing songs.
If that hadn't already been surprising enough, Apollo started to sing as well. But instead of his usual loud screeching he was so fond of doing, his voice was quiet, perfectly fitting the soft and calming melody.
"A star, the brightest one of all, has fallen into the depths of darkness this very night...
A star, the brightest one of all, a glimmer of truth and hope, is no longer here...Amongst us tonight..."
As Apollo stoped playing the piano and peered heavenward, it took not half a second for the three to figure out what the song is about. Apollo's head bowed down suddenly, his shoulders and back hunched, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
They probably would've been completely unnoticed if Athena hadn't started clapping.
Though unsure if that was the right course of action, Trucy joined in, and Phoenix soon after. Apollo jolted up in his seat, turning to the door. He was clearly trying hard not to cry.
"S-Since when were you guys there?" Apollo blurted. His face was as red as his vest, probably both from embarassment and sadness.
"Well, we caught the last part, when you were singing and playing the piano." Athena walked in, placing her shopping bags down onto the couch before striding over to Apollo. "I never knew you could play the piano or sing!"
"It's not something I really do a lot in public." Apollo replied sheepishly.
"But Polly! It was a wonderful performance!" Trucy argued, bounding over to join he and Athena.
"Yeah." Apollo's eyes had a faraway look, "while you guys were gone, I spent those hours alone practising, trying to find the lyrics and melody that fit. It needed to be perfect."
"Apollo..." Athena pursed her lip, unsure of what to say or how to comfort him. Tears brimmed in his eyes, and he seemed to be losing the fight against controlling his tears.
"It's fine, Apollo." Phoenix had placed his bags down as well, and now he was standing behind his employee, "you can cry if you need to. We're here for you."
"It's not f-fine, it's pathetic. Cl...Clay wouldn't want to see me like this." Apollo let out a small sob which he had failed to keep at bay when he mentioned his best friend's name.
"Clay would understand. You're grieving. A new year without him would definitely be different. I can't promise you it'll heal, but the pain will dull someday." Athena chipped in. Of course she had the head-on experience, her mother had been a victim herself not seven years back.
"We're here for you, Polly." Trucy said softly. "We're all like a big family. We'll never leave you-"
By the time the word "family" escaped her lips, Apollo's control shattered like glass. He threw his arms around his mentor and buried his face into his chest, bawling like a child. Everybody was stunned at first, but soon, Phoenix gently wrapped his arms around Apollo, slowly rocking him back and forth. Trucy and Athena hugged Apollo as well, making it an enormous group hug. Nobody let go of one another for a long time.
That night, that was how they all slept; together as one big family.
Author's note: Yeahhh, post this ten days after New Year's Day when this is about New Year why not. As for the song, I have an idea for the tune, but I have no idea how to explain it. Also, I have no idea how to use words to describe music.