Apollo never wanted him to wake up.

Waking up would've meant returning to a nightmare. It didn't start off that way, as the earth beneath his feet was warm, and the sky was a clear, jubilant blue. Nothing was out of place in the beginning; everything was fine, untouched by even the smallest drop of darkness. Even after the sun clocked out for the day, the light remained brilliant, shining, warm, overflowing. It was the same luminescence Apollo found in every one of his smiles. But in no more than the blink of an eye-

That light faded, and all that remained were embers. The euphoria Apollo found was a shadow of its former self, no longer painting the earth in joyous shades of Summer. They were forced to forfeit sunshine and instead claim darkness, helpless as night's silence tore away at sanity.

Night had fallen upon the Wright Anything Agency, and it was inside that haven Apollo and the others faced the unknown. He was asleep, the young redhead Apollo just rescued from murder charges. No more than a few seconds ago, the young attorney and Trucy stood before the judge, before a jury ready to boil them alive, all to defend a baseball player. The same baseball player sleeping on the agency's sofa, safe, far away from an unknown future and all of its dangers. The young man that had stolen both of their hearts, like a thief making off with gold in the night, had not one of his teammates rushing to his defense. Attorney and magician were quickly informed on how his team wanted nothing to do with him, all confirmed by how none of them even lifted a finger to defend him. Determined to prove their new friend's innocence, Apollo and Trucy eventually broke the chains that bound him.

But even stronger chains replaced the ones they snipped.

Apollo couldn't help but look at him, sleeping when just a few seconds ago, pain wouldn't let him go. He, in what must've been no more than a few seconds, wove his way into the attorney's life, glowing and glittering like a meteor. A bright star soaring on wings of innocent dreams. It was strange, how he suddenly ended up on the agency's doorstep, telling a grumpy, half-asleep attorney to 'come watch me sing', but their tale began, all the same. Apollo couldn't suppress a chuckle in remembering their first conversation, which started off with:

"Come watch me sing!"

"...huh?"

"Oops. Not like you can really watch me sing. You LISTEN to me sing. Okay then, come listen to me sing!"

"...look. I don't know WHO you are-"

"That's okay, you'll find out more about me once you come to the Wonder Bar!"

"Why don't you just tell me who you are right now?!"

"Why, and lose the element of surprise? I know who YOU are. You're the famous attorney, Apollo Justice, right? Right! And I want the famous attorney Apollo Justice to come watch me sing!"

"...I thought you wanted me to LISTEN to you."

"Oh yeah. Sorry. My friends always say I'm an airhead."

"...surprised you have any."

"Hey! No need to be a creep! Just come and listen to me sing! Promise you'll be there!"

"...how many hours do you spend being THIS annoying, knocking on the doors of strangers with stupid requests?"

"It's not stupid. It means everything to me."

"Then be more careful with it. What you're doing is dangerous, whatever-your-name-is. Randomly knocking on doors could get you killed."

"Thanks, but you don't hafta worry about me. I've got a dream t' fulfill! I'm not gonna let anything stop me!"

Apollo winced, his face wreathed in darkness while a knife drove itself deep into the attorney's heart.

Night had fallen, but peace evaded them like a ball of stardust, slipping through their fingers. Trucy, Chihiro, Athena and Aoi were nearby, watching over him even as dreams carried them further away. Candles danced through the sanctuary, turned on by Hagakure and showering their tiny world in much-needed warmth. Their tale started off on a much brighter note, enveloped in sunshine, with a baseball player's smiles and Hagakure's fortunes. With Phoenix teaching Hagakure poker, realizing he missed the game that carried him through seven long years. With Sayaka, Aoi, Sakura, even Togami. It all started off so suddenly, so strangely, but bonds borne from unexpected twists and turns were fountains of smiles. Unfortunately-

None of them expected to hit a dead end.

Apollo's mind reeled over the last couple of weeks. He and Trucy were able to rescue the sleeping baseball player from murder charges, but the chaos snowballed. Case after case struck the agency, with the culprits of all cases talking about 'despair'. All of them led up to that night, a vortex enshrouded in mystery. Alive with a baseball player's screams. He cried himself into unconsciousness, hands clamped on the sides of his head, thrashing against demons no one could see. With only two words reaching the sky:

"Stop! Please!"

Apollo watched him sleep, and hoped he'd never wake up. Losing one friend that had bewitched him was bad enough. Losing another was something that simply couldn't happen, no matter how dark the world grew. It was a nightmare he couldn't follow, at the risk of losing himself. Or whatever was left of himself. "It took long enough, but things have finally calmed down," his mentor told him, gently settling a hand on his shoulder. Phoenix's warm, compassionate eyes met Apollo's, just as tender as the candle flames warming their tiny home. The veteran attorney's smile was just as fragile as those same flames.

"Hopefully, he'll sleep through the night."

"He should," a younger voice chimed in, his eyes as bright as the stars brushing against the sky. Apollo turned to him, his eyes lit with the embers of hope. "Hagakure's candles always do the trick," the warm voice added, striking out against the darkness that threatened to envelop everything. He was a gentle light, a frail ray of sunshine, but he was a ray nonetheless. One that looked after the sleeping baseball player with immense fondness, as though they were bound together at the start of time.

"They work even better than his fortunes. Aoi and I always tell him to go into business making candles, but he never listens. He just goes on and on about how he has to save lives and everything. Too bad though, because they sure do smell nice."

Phoenix sighed, sitting next to Naegi. "I'm still worried about him, you know," he told the baseball player's friend, shaking his head. "You keep telling me he'll be fine, but I'm not sure he should be hanging out with my buddy Larry. Two peas in a pod might not be the best thing, in this case."

The boy with light caramel brown hair waved away his concerns. "You worry too much, Mr Wright," he chuckled. "Those two can take care of themselves. I'm sure Mr Butz isn't all that bad. Besides, they're much better off than we are right now, trying to figure out a puzzle when we barely have any pieces."

Both of the attorneys bowed their heads, lost in the hours leading up to that moment. Happiness colored their world just a few seconds ago, but every bit of that light faded, leaving them breathless. Helpless. It started off easily enough, with a smiling baseball player showing up at the agency's front door, promoting his new single. But there they were, trying to untangle a tale seeped in despair. A tale the redhead slept far away from. "We've got some pieces," Phoenix rebutted, his words softly striking the night's uneasiness.

"Each and every case we fought had culprits screaming about 'being in despair'. As if they were all infected by some strange virus-the same virus that inexplicably struck him in the middle of a baseball game. But while he fell victim to it in the middle of a game, witnesses said the culprits were asleep while screaming about despair. I don't know how much significance lies in that fact, but it's got to lead us somewhere."

"No, you're right," Naegi added, rubbing the underbelly of his chin. "He's been really nervous about sleeping lately. Kept telling us that whenever he'd try to go to sleep, he'd have nightmares. Hagakure tried to beat the nightmares out of him with his charms, but…I guess the charms didn't work the way we wanted them to."

Phoenix became grim, a figure of solemnity bathed in candlelight. "Perhaps whatever was chasing him in his nightmares finally caught up with him," he thought out loud, not only to Naegi and Apollo, but to himself. "It's like he's being hunted by demons or something, and they finally caught up to him."

Naegi took the baton and ran with it, not wanting the train of vital thought to be lost. "And the memory loss. Our memory loss," the young man said, head bowed, voice faint. "We can't remember anything before arriving in this city. None of us can. Not even him. And the culprits-they suffered some memory loss too. They said they couldn't remember anything before-Apollo, are you all right?"

Phoenix and Naegi turned to the other attorney, eyes alive with concern. Apollo had been uncharacteristically silent, head bowed, emitting waves of sadness so strong they could have shifted the oceans. "Sorry," the younger attorney murmured, his voice softer than the first kiss of dawn. "It's just that…he…he reminds me of…"

…

"Never mind. I just wish…just wish he'd never wake up. I know that sounds horrible, but…he's quiet now. He isn't…nothing's chasing him anymore. He probably hasn't slept like this in a long time. Right, Naegi?"

"Right," the boy with caramel brown hair nodded, warmth mixing with sadness. It was at that point Apollo lifted his head and turned to the one sleeping upon the sofa, surrounded by friends that loved him. Soldiers that would fight even the greatest darkness to defend him.

With a physical pang striking him, as an arrow would strike flesh and bone, Apollo sadly accepted the truth.

I think that darkness is on its way.

Author's note: Just an experimental idea, an Ace Attorney/Dangan Ronpa crossover in which the students of Hope's Peak Academy are sent to Phoenix Wright's world by Monomi, given another chance to find freedom in the light of hope, after their lights were swallowed by darkness. I've been running around with an Apollo Justice/Leon Kuwata itch forever now, with Apollo defending him. It is in this adventure Apollo not only defends him from murder charges, but from the darkness of despair Monokuma wants to entangle their entire world in.