(A/N: I meant to post this on Christmas, but a lot of stuff happened so... posting two days late. Woops. Anyways, here's another unnecessarily long platonic fanfiction for y'all! XD It's not quite as intense as Fight Me [bless all of you that reaffirmed my confidence in myself by leaving nice reviews on that one] but it does get very fluffy. This fic takes place after Spirit of Justice, so obviously major spoilers abound. If anything is uncanon or OOC, it's because I haven't played the other Apollo Justice games yet. Anyway... enjoy!)

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It was December 25th. There were carols to be sung, garlands to be hung… and in my case, paperwork to be done. 93 case files, to be exact, at least two of which had to be completely solved by the start of the new year, or innocent lives would suffer the consequences. For the past few months I'd been working through the huge backlog of wrongfully accused clients, trying desperately to clear as many names as I could while also fixing the very legal system of Khura'in— my current country of residence— itself.

I rubbed my temples and stole a glance at the clock. It was only 9:30 AM, but it felt like I'd been working all day. Probably because I'd only gotten three hours of sleep the night before, and none for the past four nights before that. Sighing, I looked back at the mess of files before me. Documents, memorandums, and a couple pictures were scattered around a six-month-old-autopsy report, which would probably just turn out to be invalid once I got to court anyways. Murder cases were the worst, but sadly, the most frequent of the case files I had stacked up. It seemed like my childhood country wasn't quite as peaceful as it was cracked up to be.

I rubbed my eyes and took another look at one of the pictures in front of me. Something about it felt off, but I don't know what. Nothing was inherently wrong with it, nor could I find any inconsistencies between it and the other data. I stared at the accursed thing for a good five minutes or so, frustrated that it wasn't giving me the information I needed. More frustrating still was the knowledge that even once it was figured out, it would only lead me to another mystery to solve. And once I'd completely finished piecing together the puzzle and writing down my findings, I had another 92 cases to look forward to. Whoop-de-doo.

My eyes subconsciously wandered back to the clock hopefully. I'd agreed to give myself a break at 11:00 to go into town and buy and deliver presents, but alas, the clock still read 9:33. I groaned and wondered if there was a way I could make time go faster, although I knew I was running short on it. Still, even with the stress that would undoubtedly come with having waited until Christmas Day to buy presents, at least shopping would be a welcome break than trying to figure out how a fish could have been used as a murder weapon. I sighed and rubbed my temples again to ease my headache, which had steadily been getting worse for the past several hours.

After staring at the photo of the victim's body for several more minutes but gleaning no extra insights, I decided to take a five minute break and treat myself to an aspirin. As I left my desk to go retrieve the medicine, I allowed my mind to wander to what I should look for when I bought gifts later. First I'd deal with the presents for my friends here in Khura'in— little Ahlbi would probably like some fresh fruit, and Datz could do with a new pair of goggles, if I could find any. I'd already given Princess Rayfa her present yesterday, on account of it being her birthday, and thankfully, Nahyuta's gift had already been taken care of as well. The gang back home, on the other hand… I wasn't sure what to get any of them, especially considering my financial constraints and the fact I'd have to ship over whatever I bought. I'd actually intended to get their gifts weeks ago so they'd arrive by Christmas Day, but then I'd kept putting it off on account of the horrible feeling of heartthrob that arose every time I allowed myself to think of the U.S.… which, although I hated to admit it, was often.

Nothing in Khura'in was quite the same as the States. The sunrises came later, the coffee tasted more bitter, and goodness knows the bird calls were anything but ordinary. My current office was a full two blocks away from the marketplace and I'd still woken up to the War'baad's cry more than once. Not to mention the larger, probably more important differences, like the thin mountain air that caused my body to grow weary even faster than normal, and the fact that I was literally thousands of miles away from the nearest adjacent country. Just thinking about the distance made me feel somewhat ill. Apparently, when I was in California I was homesick for the mountains, and when I was in the mountains I was homesick for California. It wasn't even the "good old days" of home that I missed, though— I would've given anything to have been stuck in a murder trial with no prep and no evidence, as long as it meant having Mr. Wright or Athena by my side and Trucy cheering me on from the Gallery. It had been months since I'd seen any of them… I wondered if they'd changed at all since our parting. My stomach suddenly hurt intensely at the thought. I couldn't imagine losing Athena's laugh, or Trucy's smile, or Mr. Wright's wild yet confident bluffing.

I shifted my thoughts to the aspirin bottle— which, to my dismay, only contained a grand total of one (1) pill left, which lay sadly at the bottom missing its companions. I debated for at least three full minutes whether or not to take it, since I didn't know when I'd have enough money for another bottle. Medicine was more expensive in Khura'in since it had to be shipped in, and I was extremely tight on cash anyway. If I'd thought my college days were bad…

Deciding my headache couldn't possibly get worse than it already was, I poured a glass of water from the bathroom sink and took the pill, hoping desperately that it actually did something. Then I reluctantly trudged back to my seat, returning my gaze to the papers containing the details of the tragic murder of Mr. Nawn Immpore the 10th. I reread the autopsy report for probably the millionth time since I woke up, begging it to tell me something useful. It seemed like the longer I worked on a case, the harder it became to think of new ideas. I considered switching to one of my many other cases for a while, but I doubted I'd have better luck with any of them… especially because Mr. Nawn Immpore was already serving as a distraction for Ms. Cammy O.'s case, which I'd started over a week ago. Maybe if I just analyzed that picture that was bothering me a little longer…

Suddenly, I caught my vision dimming. I quickly gave myself a sharp slap on the face to prevent the onslaught of sleep, although I would've highly preferred to let it take me over, even if it meant my head hitting the desk— that was how I'd fallen asleep the night before, anyway. It occurred to me that if I didn't do something to wake up, I'd probably end up giving into the temptation again, especially since after getting a taste of sleep I wanted it even more than before. Well… it can't hurt to go out shopping early, I decided. At any rate, the walking might get my blood pumping, and I haven't been out of the house for at least four days. Not needing to coax myself any further, I slipped on a coat and walked out the front door at a brisk pace, feeling the cold, snow-flecked wind mess up my half-styled hair as I made my way to the shops a couple streets away.