"Okay! Bye! Have fun you two!" Athena waved heartily to the departing duo of Apollo Justice and Juniper Woods. She kept a smile on her face, her hand waving, until the door closed and their footsteps disappeared down the hall.
Then, she crumpled onto her desk and let out a long groan.
"… Hey!" Trucy leaned over beside the desk so she could meet Athena's eyes. "That's bad for your posture, you know. Daddy said a bent back makes for crooked lawyers."
"I'm in trouble, Trucy," Athena muttered, as one of her cheeks was crushed between her face and a pile of old paperwork. "Apollo has found a cute girlfriend. Why can't I have a cute girlfriend? Where are my cute girls?"
"Oh, I know the answer to this one!" Trucy pulled off her hat, spun it once around her finger, then flipped it sideways so Athena could see inside. Right up to the mirror on the other side.
"Okay, that's pretty good." Athena had to admit that much. And sit up, because she did not look attractive when her face looked half melted. "But I'm serious, Trucy. I didn't realize how much free time I'd have once my life goal was complete. With Simon out of jail, I can finally date! But I don't know how!"
"Daddy hasn't had a date in years," Trucy said. "I don't think he ever has, actually..."
"No way is that right..." Athena frowned over at Phoenix's desk. "Doesn't he have a thing with that Edgeworth guy…?"
"Um… I don't know, actually. I've never seen them go on a date. But Daddy did say he used to go out with a woman called Iris."
"Have you seen her?" Athena asked.
"Hmm… Nope. Maybe he's just being sneaky." Trucy shrugged. "I guess we'll never know. But what we do know is what we're going to do today!"
"I've got a lot of lawyer stuff. I promised Apollo I'd cover for his..." Athena's gaze traveled over to Apollo's desk. Among his good qualities was that he liked to keep things tidy, so there was only a small stack there. It was a good thing he wasn't cut from the same cloth as Trucy, or there'd no doubt be all kinds of legal papers mixed in with her magical knickknacks.
"Nope. We're going to find you a cute girl to go on a date with." Trucy swept her hand across Athena's table and suddenly the paperwork disappeared. "Ta-da!" She beamed proudly while her cloak fluttered behind her. If Athena looked closely, she could see that the stacks of paperwork on her boss' desk had conspicuously doubled in size. So she decided not to look closely.
"Really? That's great, Trucy!" Athena hopped to her feet and pumped her fists. "With the two of us working together, there's nothing we can't do!"
"That's...Wright!" Trucy held her balled up fists in front of her.
"Didn't the boss say no to that catchphrase…?"
"Umm… No. He was bluffing." Trucy grabbed Athena's arm. "Let's go!"
"Hello, Miss Athena! Miss Trucy!" Pearl greeted the girls with an elegant smile and a bow of her head. "It's so nice to see you again."
"Yeah, you too!" Athena threw up a peace sign and a wink for good measure. "What are you doing back in the city, Pearl?"
"I'm visiting the market." Pearl gestured to the various stalls that had been set up on the street just to the side, rich with the colors of clothes, fruits, furniture, and all manner of art. "My room got bigger now that I'm a real lady," Her eyes followed Trucy, who had just set her hat on the ground. "And Mystic Maya said that I'm not to return without at least two cheesebu- Oh!"
Pearl's shoulders shook as Trucy's hat suddenly sprung up on a set of wooden legs, while the rest of it flattened out to form a circular table.
"Instant lunch!" Trucy swished her cloak over the table, and two pots of noodles were sat there. "Just add magic!" She tapped each of them with her wand, then the lids popped off and their contents filled the air with the scent of freshly-cooked noodles.
"Oh!" Pearl clapped her hands together while Athena stared at her boss' daughter. "How wonderful! But… Oh no! You haven't got one for yourself!"
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm not even here," Trucy smiled. "Abracadabra" She said, as she tossed a pink smoke bomb to the ground and, in the confusion, two stools disappeared from a nearby stall and appeared at either side of the hat-table.
"I think this is meant to be for my benefit." Athena wanted to gape at Trucy, but the magician had disappeared and left her in the middle of the street with hot lunch and a remarkably unconcerned cute girl. "So, want to share some lunch, Pearl?" She flashed her most confident grin. She was getting better at smiling when she had to.
"Oh, yes, please! I was getting hungry myself," Pearl said, as she demurely took a seat on the other side of the table. "How is Mr. Nick?"
"He's doing well!" Athena snapped the chopsticks off of the side of the pot and stared to dig into her ramen. "We're looking into taking some smaller cases right now."
"That's good. Has he mentioned anything about Mystic Maya?" Pearl asked.
"Recently? I don't think so. Have you been up to anything interesting, Pearl?"
"Well..." Pearl bit her bottom lip. "Nope. Does Mr. Nick still have that picture on his desk? I know he had it last time, but I was worried her might have just put it there because he knew I was coming..."
"The one with that old detective and Maya and you? Yeah, he does." Athena smiled. They continued to make pleasant small talk until she decided to bolster herself with one of Apollo's techniques: Telling herself she was fine. "So… Pearl. Now that you're fully grown, are you… Dating anyone? I bet there are a lot of cuties visiting Kurain Village with Maya in charge."
"Oh." Pearl blushed as she giggled. "Oh no! I would never start dating until Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya are married. It would be selfish otherwise."
Athena was a little disappointed, because Pearl was as lovely a girl as she'd ever met, and cute, too. But, she couldn't blame her if she had other priorities, and this was hardly the most romantic of interactions in the world.
"Do you think that's likely? I think they're just friends, aren't they?"
"No!" Pearl puffed her cheeks out in annoyance, then reached into her robe and pulled out a scroll. It unfurled… And unfurled… And unfurled, until the bottom rolled across the floor. "Reasons why Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya should be boyfriend and girlfriend. Number one: They both like cheeseburgers. Number two: They both have black hair. Number three: One time both looked at each other and smiled. Number four..."
"Trucy, are you sure about this?" Athena was sat beside Trucy on a park bench, watching the magician peer through a pair of binoculars. "It feels kinda stalker-y to be watching people from across the park. How did you know she'd be available?"
"It's not creepy to ask people if they're going to be available," Trucy said. "Okay, go! She's almost at the cafe! Go go go!"
"Wh- Now?!" Athena hopped to her feet. "You haven't even told me anything about her yet!"
"She eats a lot! Go!" Trucy punctuated her instruction with a jab of the finger and Athena set off running. It was a good thing she put so much effort into staying fit, or she'd have been sweating even worse by the time she got to the cafe on the other side of the park.
It would have been hard to miss the woman she was meant to be meeting. For one thing, she was beautiful, with soft features and pretty blue eyes. For another, she was wearing a lab coat in the middle of the day and a pair of white and pink sunglasses. Plus, she was throwing snackoos at the cashier.
"Of course I want caffeine! I'm a detective!" Ema Skye reached for the bottom of her bag, found no snackoos, then crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash. "And a bag of snackoos!"
Widget trembled around Athena's neck.
"Hey, why don't I get that for you?" Athena leaned up against the counter beside Ema and introduced herself with a wink and a peace sign.
"Go ahead." Ema gave Athena a once-over as the latter paid for the fresh cup of coffee and bag of snacks. Once the money was exchanged, she started to walk away.
Athena glanced between where Ema had been standing, then where she was going, then hurried up to the detective's side.
"I'm Athena Cykes. attorney-at-law."
"I'm...hungry." Ema said, as she took a seat at one of the tables in the corner of the cafe. Athena went to sit on the other, but Ema's foot hooked into its leg and tucked it into the table. Fortunately, Trucy had warned her about this.
"I work for the Wright Anything Agency," Athena said, as she proudly puffed out her chest.
Suddenly, the cloud over Ema's features made way for a bright smile and a light in her eyes.
"You work with Phoenix Wright?"
"Yep!" Athena flashed her attorney's badge, just like Phoenix had taught her.
"Oh… Then I guess you can join me." Ema kicked the chair the rest of the way out, so Athena could sit. "Thanks for the coffee. I guess he told you about saving me a few years back?"
"I have heard the story. It's one of my favorite cases! Maybe not as exciting for you, though..." Athena shook her head. Bringing up murder accusations would not be a good idea if she hoped to score a date. "So! Nice day, huh?"
"Nice?" Ema huffed. "It's the same as any other day. Wake up, go to work as a stupid detective doing stupid detective things and deal with stupid people." She took a sip of her coffee. Athena stared at her. "What?"
"Nothing." Athena shook her head. "So, what are you up to today? I like to go for a brisk jog on a day like this. Really cheers me up."
"I'm meeting my sister." Ema shrugged. "Here she is now."
Trucy had told Athena about Ema's sister, so she wasn't surprised when she turned her head to see an elegant woman rocking an outfit with so much authority even animals would salute her. What she wasn't expecting was a woman over twice her age.
"Good day, Ema," Lana nodded at her sister. "And you, don't know." She offered Athena a polite smile. "I am Lana Skye."
"Athena Cykes," Athena was all too aware of the fact that she had the only other seat at the table. She also knew that Ema, beautiful though she was, was probably in no mood to be courted. "I'm an attorney for Wright Anything Agency, and I was just leaving,"
"Bye." Ema took another sip of her coffee as Athena stood up.
"Wright Anything Agency?" Lana raised an eyebrow. "Tell your boss Lana Skye said hello."
"No problem! Have a nice one!" Athena made a hasty retreat from the table and was just about to run all the way back to Trucy when the girl appeared out from behind a tree.
"You're quitting already?" Trucy asked, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "I thought for sure that you'd be interested in one of them!"
"Trucy, Ema is… I don't know, but Widget had a bad feeling about her and she seemed kinda grumpy. And Lana was gorgeous, but she was old enough to be my mother."
"Old enough to be your mother, huh..." Trucy tapped her chin with a gloved finger. "Okay, I think I get it. Don't worry, I have the perfect person!"
Athena found herself sitting in a dull gray room, separated from the other half by a wall of glass and a couple of wooden panels that barely qualified as privacy. In fact, Trucy was sitting on the chair beside hers. Why she'd even let Trucy convince her to head into a prison meeting, she didn't know, but she wasn't about to give up hope after just three flukes. So she adjusted her hair, sat up straight, and…
"WHAT?!" Athena yelled as soon as she saw the woman who'd just sat on the other side of the glass screen.
"Hello, princess." Aura Blackquill met Athena's eyes with cool regard. "Come to see poor old me, have you?"
"Trucy!" Athena rapped on the wooden panel between her and Trucy. An innocent face poked around it. "This is Aura Blackquill!"
"I know!" Trucy looked through the screen. "Hi Miss Blackquill!"
"Hello." A smirk graced Aura's lips.
"Trucy… She's…" Athena gaped between the pair, both of whom were far calmer than she thought she'd approach for the next week, if her heart was any indication. "She kidnapped you!"
"I know, I was there," Trucy giggled. "It wasn't so bad. And she did say sorry, so… I have no hard feelings."
"You were my favorite captive." Aura nodded at Trucy.
"How is..." Athena rubbed her fingers against her temple and shook her head. "Trucy, she is literally old enough to be my mother. Just like Lana Skye."
"I know! That's what gave me the idea."
"That's… Don't you know any other old women?" Athena asked. "There must be dozens of them that I also wouldn't want to date, by the way."
"Um," Trucy pushed her index fingers together. "I actually thought Pearl or Ema would work, so I kind of ran out of ideas. But Miss Blackquill is perfect for you."
"WHAT?!"
"I'm looking forward to hearing this." Aura leaned back in her chair, as comfortable as a woman who wasn't in a prison uniform on a stiff wooden stool.
"Well, we know that she was in love with your mom," Trucy explained. "And you and your mom have a lot in common. For example, you're her daughter. You both have ponytails, and like moonstone accessories, and you both like machines and AIs and psychology. You're Miss Blackquill's ideal woman!"
"How can you argue with that logic?" Aura laughed.
"See? Miss Blackquill agrees with me!"
"She's just laughing at me getting flustered!" Athena waved a dismissive hand at the glass. "This is..." She centered herself and sighed. "This just isn't working."
"But… I really thought it'd work." Trucy frowned.
"Yeah. Me too."
A throat was cleared on the other side of the glass panel and both girls turned their eyes to look at Aura.
"If I may?" Aura said. "It seems that you were looking for a girlfriend for the princess?"
"Yeah." Trucy sighed. "None of them have worked out, though."
"And what were the criteria for a potential date?"
"Um..." Trucy held up her hand. "Cute girls..." She raised one finger, and that was the only one that was raised despite her brain rattling for another answer. "And that's it!"
"Really?" Aura raised both of her eyebrows. "Well, have you not considered dating each other?"
"Dating each other…?" Athena turned to stare at Aura.
"That's what I said. I see two cute girls in front of me." Aura gestured with both hands. "The solution is almost too obvious."
Trucy blushed as she looked at Athena, whose cheeks were turning similarly rosy.
"I, um, hadn't thought of that. Would you wanna go on a date with me, Athena? If I'm cute enough."
"Yeah, you're cute." Athena laughed, half out of how ludicrous it would to be to say Trucy isn't cute, and half out of nerves. "But… You're my boss' daughter."
"Bah." Aura waved a hand. "Any father worth the title would approve."
"Then… I guess we could try a date," Athena said. "Just once. Just to try it."
"O-Okay." Trucy nodded. "Let's go on a date!"
"Right!"
"That's Wright!"
Athena would have groaned, but she was just realizing just how endearing Trucy was…
"Well, what a wonderful day this was." Aura dusted off her hands. "I expect you to take good care of the princess, Trucy."
"Always!" Trucy put her hands on her hips. "I really like that nickname, actually. Can I call you Princess Cykes?"
"Can we not?" Athena asked.
"She's right," Aura said. "I expect it to be Princess Wright the next time I see her."
It didn't take a Mood Matrix to see that Athena was blushing.
