I originally wrote this for the Phoenix Wright Kink Meme, but I cleaned it up a little, added some stuff, and decided to put it over here as well.
It was the smell of chocolate that woke Ema up. She rolled over in her bed and picked up her head. The walls of her sister's guest bedroom stared back at her. After she was released from prison, Lana had moved from L.A. to Washington, D.C. Despite her newly minted criminal background, she was still accepted for a job working for the Department of Justice (they had initially laughed off her application, that is, until one sympathetic interviewer looked into her background and discovered that her charges weren't her fault, and that she had been acting under duress the entire time). Every now and then, Ema came down for a weekend to visit her.
The D.C. area was nice, actually. It was urban, but not overwhelmingly so (in most places, anyway), and the monuments were just as amazing as they were in pictures. Ema couldn't say she cared much for the tourists, though. Always pushing and shoving like they were late to something…
Ema frowned and looked at the clock. 4 AM? Why did Lana's apartment smell like chocolate at 4 AM? Ema decided to investigate.
Lana's new job was stressful. Under the Department, she found that she still encountered as much corruption as she had under Gant, albeit in a different way. The politics of Washington were simply not her way of life. She didn't like the rat race for power going on around her. Although she herself kept her nose clean (she didn't want a repeat of last time, after all), many of those around her didn't. It made Lana a little sad to see all of that. Didn't they know what could happen?
Her workload often piled up, and at times, Lana wasn't even sure who ran her life anymore: her or her work? Not to mention the fact that she was always on the edges of the public eye, working in such a political city and all.
Back when she was a little girl (back before the accident, but she didn't think about that anymore), her parents would always make her and Ema a nice big bowl of chocolate pudding when they were upset. Even now, Lana found herself eating chocolate pudding when her stress levels got really high.
Tonight just so happened to be one of those more stressful nights where she stayed up all night and resorted to chugging coffee on the way to work. Even so, she decided to take a break. Opening her fridge, she frowned as she discovered she was out of chocolate pudding. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She'd just make some instead. She looked up a recipe and searched her pantry for all the necessary ingredients (thankfully, she had ingredients left over from when she'd had co-workers over last week). After putting all the ingredients in one place, she started making herself a bowl of chocolate pudding.
She poured milk into a pot, added the rest of the ingredients that she needed to, and brought the mixture to a slow boil. The delicious smell of chocolate soon flooded the kitchen, and it made Lana relax just a little.
About three or four minutes after she started, her concentration was interrupted by her sister's sleepy voice.
"Lana, what are you doing?" Ema asked, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn.
Lana looked over at her sister but continued stirring the pudding. "Making chocolate pudding," she answered. Ema looked confused at this.
"It's four o'clock in the morning!" Ema exclaimed, "Why on earth are you making chocolate pudding?"
Lana sighed sadly. "Because I've lost control of my life," she said, pouring her now done pudding into a bowl and sticking it into the fridge.
Having been Lana's sister her entire life, Ema knew than Lana only really cooked when she was over-stressed. She remembered ten years ago, when Lana suddenly started coming up with new and delicious meals many times a week. Turns out she was being controlled by a corrupt man who was using her as an unwilling pawn. Go figure.
Ema sat down at the kitchen table and looked up at her sister. "Tell me what's wrong, Lana," she prompted. Lana took the seat across from Ema and started massaging her temples.
"Nothing's wrong," Lana said, obviously lying.
"Lana, I've known you for twenty six years. I'm your sister. I know when something's wrong," Ema said, looking at Lana sternly.
Lana sighed again. "It's just… I think work is running my life. I don't think I've had a peaceful night's sleep in weeks," she answered, looking away from Ema and at the wall behind her.
Ema looked at Lana curiously. "What do you mean?"
Wordlessly, Lana turned away from Ema, but then spoke up. "The politics and the rat race. It's just not me, Ema. You know this. And since I work in a world that's full of it, I feel so much more stressed. I have to keep up with everything. Even though I'm not directly connected to politics, I'm close enough that I still fall into the public eye sometimes. I have to keep my image up, and that's a lot of work, even if I keep my nose clean. Sometimes, I feel like I have no control over anything," she said, closing her eyes and looking down.
"Lana, everyone has times like that. The trick is not to let them get you down," Lana shot Ema a curious look, "I know that sound strange coming from me, considering what a grump I've become over the years, but it's true," Ema said, getting up, crossing the kitchen, and giving her sister a hug.
"I suppose you're right, Ema," Lana said, releasing her sister, "But I still feel a little overwhelmed. I mean, I suppose it's obvious."
Ema nodded. "Yeah. You always make chocolate pudding when you're upset," she said, stretching her arms.
At the mention of chocolate pudding, Lana perked up a little. "Do you want some, Ema?" she asked, "It's a little warm right now, but it should still be good."
Ema smiled. "Warm chocolate pudding is the best," she said. Lana walked over to the fridge and pulled out her bowl of chocolate pudding. It was a little cooler but not much. She put all of it into two equally sized bowls and handed one of them and a spoon to Ema, who took the first bite.
"This is great, Lana. Same recipe?" Ema asked. Lana nodded, mouth too full of pudding to answer. She swallowed her pudding and smiled at her sister.
"Yes. I always thought this recipe was the best," Lana answered. Ema nodded in agreement. "So, how is work back in L.A.?"
Ema frowned. "Okay, I guess. My foppish boss is driving me crazy, though. Ever since his stupid band broke up, he's had a lot more time on his hands, which he dedicates to annoying me."
Lana laughed. "Oh. His band did break up, didn't they? My co-worker Jessica has a teenage daughter and I heat she was heartbroken about it," Lana said, taking another bite of pudding.
"Why? I'm happy the world doesn't have to listen to that crap he tries to pass off as rock anymore," Ema replied, rolling her eyes. "I swear, the only upsides to my job are that it pays the bills and I get to see Mr. Wright every now and then."
At the mention of Phoenix's name, Lana smiled a little. "Oh, how is he doing? I heard about the disbarment and the Misham case… It's such a shame about what happened to him, but I knew all along he could never do anything like that," she said, taking another bite of pudding.
Ema shifted in her chair a little to get more comfortable. "He's actually doing pretty well. He's studying for the Bar again, so soon enough, he'll be out there in court again," she said happily.
"Good. It's what he's good at. … Tell him I said 'hi' when you go back, alright?" Lana asked.
"Okay, I will. Anyway, do you like the D.C. area? Is it nice to live in? It's really pretty here," Ema commented.
"It's actually really nice here. The Metro system is troublesome, though. For some reason, they're always doing track maintenance," Lana said, frowning.
The pudding was gone. Ema was a little sad about that. She could always try making it herself, but it never tasted as good as when Lana made it. "Oh yeah," she said, "It took me an hour to get here from the airport. You'd think they'd be more efficient and all. I mean, this is the nation's capital, right? Oh yeah, and the tourists are really annoying."
Lana nodded in agreement, finished her own pudding and put both hers and Ema's bowls in the kitchen sink. "Have you been to Smithsonian yet, Lana? I hear they have a great science exhibit," Ema said, her eyes lighting up at the mere mention of science.
Lana nodded. "Yes, and it's very nice. We should go tomorrow after I get off work, if you want to," she said.
Ema grinned. "Really? That'd be awesome!" she exclaimed.
At Ema's enthusiasm, Lana smiled. "Even after all these years, you're still the same old Ema," Lana said, ruffling Ema's hair a little.
"Hey!" Ema exclaimed, trying to put her hair back into place (but eventually gave up seeing as her hair was messy to begin with). "I'm not a little kid anymore!"
"You could have fooled me, Ema."
Just a bit of explanation: the Metro system is the D.C. area's subway system. And it sucks. It really does. I have to go on it on a regular basis and the waits are annoying. The Smithsonian is a large cluster of museums in the area.