A/N: Okay, guys. I've done some thinking, and I realized… Aurora wouldn't automatically adjust to being back home after everything she's been through. So, here's a little one shot to show what happened between the end of Turnabout Hearts II and Turnabout Connection/Turnabout Hearts – Distance. And remember, if you haven't yet, pop on over to the last chapter of Turnabout Hearts II and vote!

Now, ONWARDS!

…

Aurora ran as fast as she could. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest as she bolted through the darkened trees. It was only because of her senses being sharpened by adrenaline that she managed to dodge each one.

Her bare feet smacked the ground with the force of her running, and the undergrowth scratched her legs, snagging at her shorts and the blue, oversized Themis sweatshirt she wore. She glanced back.

The man chasing her was tall, swathed in a black coat with a hood. In his hand gleamed a dangerous rapier, the black blade flashing in the patches of moonlight that filtered through the trees.

"You won't get away that easily, Aurora!" the man snarled, slashing his rapier through the air. Darkness sprang from it, grabbing her ankle, and she hit the ground with a thud.

"No!" she cried. More darkness wrapped up her leg. Then a tendril grabbed her arm, then her other wrist, and she was dragged from the ground, held in the air.

The man walked around her, standing directly in front of her.

"The rest of your heart is mine," he said. The rapier changed into a black and silver, double bladed Keyblade with a demonic, blue eye at the tip of the blade. He pointed it at her chest.

…

Phoenix Wright was, admittedly, a heavy sleeper. His daughter, Trucy, would tell anyone who would listen about how she used to draw on his face when she was younger when he'd fall asleep on the couch.

However, there were a few things that could draw him out of his sleep. The sound of something breaking, his girlfriend, Maya's, footsteps (he's been the butt-end of too many of her jokes to sleep heavily around her anymore), and—

-The blood curdling scream that just erupted from his daughter's and cousin's room. Phoenix lunged out of bed, slammed through his door, and barged into the girls' room before his eyes were even fully open, only to come to a halt.

"It's okay, Aurora, it's okay. Breathe. You're home. You're safe." Trucy was kneeling on the edge of Aurora's bed, her arms tightly wrapped around the shaking girl.

Aurora was gasping for air, almost like she was struggling to breath – (Panic attack?) – her arms wrapped tightly around her chest. Phoenix crept over to the bed, so as to not startle the girl.

"What happened?" he asked his daughter in a low voice. Trucy shook her head.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I woke up to her muttering in her sleep and thrashing around. Then… that scream…"

Phoenix frowned slightly at that, rubbing Aurora's back. Finally, the girl started calming down between the two of them. Her arms loosened around her chest, and her breaths came easier.

Finally, she lowered her head, resting it on Trucy's shoulder.

"You okay?" Phoenix asked.

"Yeah… sorry for waking you two up," she muttered, exhaustion evident in her voice.

"It's okay," Trucy said, giving her a squeeze. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No." Aurora's voice was firm. Final. Phoenix and Trucy glanced at each other, worried about that, but didn't press the matter either. Phoenix finally stood.

"You two go back to sleep, alright?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Alright."

Phoenix nodded to the two, and walked out of the room. Rather than going to his own bedroom, he walked into the kitchen, grabbing his phone from where it was charging on the counter.

Tonight was the first night Aurora was staying at the Wrights' since she returned. For the past two weeks, she had slept in the hotel room her parents had rented. They had just left earlier that day though – Phoenix glanced at the clock: 2:30am – or, technically, yesterday.

He brewed a pot of coffee, then looked back at his phone, going into the texts, and sending one to his Aunt Gwen.

'aurorajust had aNIGHtmare. normal'

Phoenix frowned at the little blue device in his hand. He had wanted to send 'Aurora just had a nightmare. Normal?' but he could never get the stupid thing to write what he wanted to say.

Hoping his aunt would figure it out (and that she was awake, since they'd just be getting home from the airport at this time), he sent the butchered sentence.

He didn't have to wait long before his notification sound went off. Although, rather than its usual chiming, it made a familiar sword slashing sound effect from a certain samurai show.

(Maya…) he thought in mock exasperation, opening the message. His girlfriend always did this with his phone, knowing that Phoenix had no clue on how to change it back.

'Yes, it's normal. It happened almost every night. We tried to get her to talk about it, but she refused. She also refused to seek professional help. If we try to force her, she'll just shut down, according to the doctor.'

With his old phone, Phoenix got her long text in sections. He was finally able to piece together what she said, though, and sighed.

'righ' he sent, pouring himself a mug of the coffee and going over to the couch. Between his worry, and the adrenaline still pounding through his veins at Aurora's scream, he knew he wouldn't get anymore sleep tonight. So, instead, he grabbed his bag from beside the couch and pulled out a file to study.

…

Aurora couldn't fall back asleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd feel the cold brushes of darkness against her skin. She'd see that cloaked figure, aiming that demonic Keyblade right at her chest.

Unable to take it anymore, and sure Trucy was asleep, Aurora stood and grabbed her book bag, slipping into the kitchen. She had just retaken the Themis placement exam the other day, which placed her in her senior year of school there.

So, every free moment Aurora got, she would study. She settled down at the table and pulled out her textbooks and notebooks, getting to work.

A few minutes later, a mug landed on the table in front of her, next to her notes. She jumped slightly and looked up, only to find Phoenix.

"Burning the midnight oil?" he asked, sitting across from her with his file and mug. Aurora glanced into the mug he sat in front of her. "Sugar and a little cream," he said. Aurora smiled slightly at that, taking a hesitant sip. The flavor that washed across her tongue was slightly sweet, but with a bitter undertone.

It instantly made her feel awake.

"Wow. I should have tried coffee before," she said. Phoenix chuckled, spreading the file in front of him. She glanced at him. "Seems like you're working late too," she added.

"Yeah," Phoenix said with a small smile. "I mean, it happened so late in the day that the first trial day isn't until the day after tomorrow, but I figured I'd get a jump on it.

"Hmm," Aurora hummed, looking back at her books. These were all the same books she had memorized while she was away. She hadn't gotten her new ones yet – the ones specific to seniors. So, rather than more study, she moved her chair over and settled next to Nick, nursing her mug and studying the file with him. Phoenix glanced down at her. Feeling his eyes, she looked up.

"Am I… not your intern anymore?" she asked cautiously. Phoenix smiled.

"Of course you are. I just think you need to focus on readjusting to school before helping me on any cases right now," he said. Aurora gave vent to a dramatic sigh, but grinned behind her mug as she took another sip.

(Coffee… is a god-send…) she thought to herself as the warm liquid moved through her body once more.

…

It's been two days since Aurora returned to school. In those two days, she had become something of a celebrity (the first to test right into senior year!), as well as an object of fascination.

In the time she had been missing, Juniper Woods, Hugh O'Conner, Robin Newman, and Myriam Scuttlebutt had all graduated, which means she didn't have them to hang out with. And whenever anyone else tried to talk to her, all they wanted to talk about was what had happened to her while she was missing. The story about the cult that she told her parents hadn't gotten out, due to 'the confidentiality of the investigation,' but each and every one of the students tried to test their interrogation/cross examination skills on her.

Thankfully, Aurora knew how to keep it quiet.

Now, on the second day of being back, Aurora was sitting by herself at school. She had finally got her new books, and was attempted to study them. However, her mind kept wandering, going back to the new video game that just released today. Her and Trucy were going to go to the mall after school so that Aurora could replace her hand-held game system (which got destroyed when escaping the Organization), and pick up the new game.

(Heh. Old habits die hard, I guess…) she thought, taking a sip of her coffee from the disposable cup. The stuff they sold on campus at Themis was even better than what Phoenix drank… It was probably a lot more expensive, too…

"Hi!" Someone said as they suddenly sat down beside her. Aurora looked up and spotted a boy, wearing the red uniform of the prosecution track.

"Hey," he said in her best deadpan voice. The boy looked at her in shock, rubbing the back of his neck. Aurora studied him a bit more. He was a year older then her, which meant he was probably a senior as well. He was tall and lanky, with long, slim fingers. He had kind, dark brown, almost black eyes, and messy, pale blond hair that stuck up in all kinds of directions. While she was studying him, she could tell he was doing the same to her.

"So…"

"Before you even ask, no, I do not want to talk about what happened, where I've been, or how it affected me," Aurora said, turning back to her book.

"Wh-what?" the guy asked, shocked. "No, I just wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed kind of lonely over here," he said. Aurora slowly turned her head, looking back up at him.

"I… what?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah. I mean, I know whatever happened had been rough, and, well, since you've been back, you've been sitting by yourself at lunch…" he trailed off awkwardly. Aurora smiled at that.

"I'm just getting tired of all the questions, that's all," she said. The boy chuckled.

"I figured, from your greeting," he said.

"Heh, sorry about that."

"It's cool. No worries. Here, how about we start over?" The boy jumped up and thrust his hand towards her. "Hi, my name is Mark Enders. May I join you?" he said. Aurora laughed harder at that, shaking his hand.

"My name is Aurora Wright. And sure," she said. Mark sat again, then noticed one of the pins pinned to her shirt.

"Hey, is that from Bree: Legends of Myths?" he asked. Aurora looked down at the pin, before looking up with a grin.

"Yeah. I think you're the first person my age to recognize it," she said.

"No kidding! That's a really old game. It came out on, like, the first gaming system, the Irata 3000. I haven't been able to play it, but…" Mark seemed to realize he was geeking and chuckled. "Sorry. I'm a huge fan of retro games. Once I start making money, I plan on collecting," he explained. Aurora smiled.

"That's really cool," she said brightly. He smiled, before shrugging. "Yeah. Not that I've gotten to play Bree though…"

"Really? I have an Irata emulator on my laptop," Aurora said, brushing her food and books out of the way and pulling out her laptop. She quickly loaded up the emulator and the game, before pushing it towards him. "Here, give it a try."

Mark glanced at her, then looked at the screen with a grin, trying out the old game. Aurora watched, fiddling with the silver locket around her neck.

(Maybe things here can finally start returning to normal…)

…

Phoenix knew Aurora wasn't sleeping that much. How quickly his coffee was disappearing was a clear indicator of that. However, the girl was bright and lively during the day, kept her grades up, and reengaged in her hobbies again, so he couldn't find a reason to talk to her about it (or her parents).

The issues, however, came on the nights that she did sleep. Without fail, she'd wake up, screaming. And, again, without fail, she'd refuse to talk about it.

After about the fifth day of this, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Athena," he said, going over to the ginger. Apollo and Aurora were out, investigating a case, leaving Phoenix alone with his younger understudy.

"Yeah, boss?" Athena asked, looking up. Phoenix rubbed the back of his head.

"I… need your advice. Psychologically speaking," he said. Athena grinned, sitting up straighter.

"Go on," she said. It wasn't often that her boss would ask her something psychologically related.

"Well, Aurora's still having nightmares, when she sleeps. She refuses to talk to anyone about them," Phoenix explained. Athena looked thoughtful.

"Right. I thought so… She hasn't been sleeping well either, huh?"

"I… how'd you guess?" Phoenix asked, thinking that Aurora was doing a phenomenal job at hiding it.

"Boss… I also had a lot of nightmares growing up, and I did a speed run through school, majoring in both law and psychology. How much sleep do you really think I got? I can tell she's hiding the bags under her eyes using cover up. I did the same thing," Athena explained, motioning to the space just below her left eye.

"Oh…" Phoenix muttered. He never noticed.

"What helped me with the nightmares, though, was a dream journal."

"A dream journal?" Phoenix asked. Athena nodded.

"Yeah. She went through something that traumatized her, and… she's pushed it down, into her subconscious. She knows it happened, but hasn't acknowledged it. The nightmares are her subconscious's way of trying to force her to deal with her fear. Face it, and move on."

"But to do that, she'd have to talk to someone about it," Phoenix said.

"Or… write it down. Tell her to start one. She should write down what she remembers of the dream, what she thinks it connects to, and the emotional charge she has from the dream. But you have to swear to her that no one else will see this journal, or else she won't be willing to do it," Athena explained. Phoenix smiled, nodding.

"Alright. Thanks," he said, standing. Aurora grinned, going back to her work.

"No prob, Boss. Heh, I should charge for my psychological services," the ginger said, tipping her chair back onto two legs and propping her feet up on her desk. Phoenix, who had started walking over to his office, chuckled, glancing over his shoulder.

"Don't push it," he said, closing his door. Athena huffed at that, before suddenly losing her balance and falling back with a loud crash.

…

Phoenix gave Aurora a notebook, with a lock, and told her to start the dream journal. Aurora wasn't sure how this would help, but really hoped it would. She knew she couldn't keep going the way she was. The human body just wasn't made for it.

So, she went to bed that night. And then she woke up screaming. Trucy and Phoenix comforted her until the tightness in her chest lessened. Then, she dug out an locked, empty notebook and wrote.

At first, she didn't know what to write. She spent almost twenty minutes hesitantly putting words down on paper, scratching things out, and rewriting.

Finally, she decided to start with the man in the cloak himself. By focusing on one aspect of the dream, rather than everything, she found she was able to easily describe it, from beginning to end. She knew exactly happened that made this dream surface, and wrote about that, before moving onto how much it freaked her out. Especially since that man was still running around. He had never been found.

After about two hours of writing, she found her hand was cramped. But… she didn't have anything else to write. And that was the important thing. She carefully closed the book, putting it on her nightstand, and laid down. After a tense moment, she closed her eyes.

There was no chilling slither of darkness over her skin. No images of the man in the cloak behind her eyelids. The dream journal had worked.

She smiled slightly at that and reached her hand up, putting it on the stuffed dog that now sat on her bed.

(Riku…)

She pictured her boyfriend in her mind, and smiled even more, snuggling into the pillow, and falling asleep to the comforting image of him smiling at her.

…

Months went by. At first, Aurora was still having her nightmares every night. And every night, she would write in her dream journal. But soon, the nightmares grew less frequent, and the entries grew shorter, until finally, Aurora went an entire month without a nightmare.

She continued her studies at Themis, as well as interning with the Wright Anything Agency. Aurora would get Athena and Trucy to play video games together when they weren't busy, and she'd even hang out with her closest friend from school, Mark.

Phoenix was relieved. It seemed normalcy was finally returning to his cousin.

Although, he noticed, when she thought no one was paying attention to her, she'd unclip the locket from her choker and study the picture. And, he noticed, longing would appear in her eyes when she did this, or when she looked up at the night sky, when the stars were visible.

As much as those moments worried him… he couldn't blame her. After all, he knew she made many friends on her travels.

…

A/N: I think that's a good place to end it! Now we know why she'll seem to have a coffee addiction in the later books