Disclaimer: I would NEVER own the characters of Ace attorney, they belong to Capcom.
The first gift of winter.
It was a particularly nice and quiet day in the town of Khura'in.
The warbaa'd birds let out their thundering roars in the distance, the trees and their branches were gently being cradled by the soft and mildly chilled breeze that only the beginning onslaught of winter could bestow.
It had been around five months or so since Apollo Justice had started on his mission to mend the Justice system in Khura'in, to fix the damage that Queen Ga'ran had done when she had instilled her insane Defence Culpability Act for the twenty years he had been alive; it had been a hard road and, at first, he had found himself to be extremely busy since he was the only lawyer until a few months into it that one or two people had become brave enough to try and step into the profession. The spiky-fringed attorney in red would had preferred it if it were more people stepping up than this, but he supposed that baby steps were needed for these sorts of things.
Admittedly, he felt quite marginalised when it came to how much he was contributing at times compared to Nahyuta.
He walked through the bustling, busy market streets whilst getting the occasional friendly greeting by passerby's as he absentmindedly tugged the collar of his crimson red winter coat to keep himself warm against the harsh slivers of cold air. He took in the marketplace atmosphere such as the calls of the merchants selling their wares and services intermingling with the chattering of the crowd, the strong yet soothing scent of incense flowed through his nostrils as he heaved a heavy sigh of relief that manifested as a thick fog and the jovial atmosphere that always carried a certain joy that always uplifted his mood, whatever type it was in.
The bazaar was as busy as ever.
He almost couldn't believe that it was the first winter he was spending living in the kingdom of Khura'in (or at least the first winter he was spending since his childhood years, given that he had spend a small part of his childhood years being raised in Khura'in), he had never thought that his fledgling career would have soared so high since he'd started just two years prior.
But he couldn't help but feel a tad lonesome.
This year was going to be the first Christmas without Trucy, Phoenix, Athena and everyone else back in Japanifornia...and he had also lost the man who had raised him since he was a baby.
The lawyer in red couldn't help but feel nostalgia hit him like a ton of bricks and it took him a few moments for him to realise that he had stopped in place and was standing in the middle of the marketplace. He blinked a few times to bring himself back to his senses. How could he have forgotten where he was, even for a moment? He had considered the fact that he had been feeling a bit out of sorts lately...had he been working a bit too much? He had been really busy with being the only lawyer in the entire country but he didn't think that he was working himself to distraction.
Now, Apollo was normally the type of person who would be the absolute definition of "A Scrooge" but he couldn't bring himself to be a spoil sport...not this Christmas time...
He felt his shoulders bunch up when a sudden chill overtook him, goosebumps marching across his body. He couldn't recall the last time he'd felt this colder-then-ice numb, but he supposed that he should have been used to it —the winter climates of Khura'in were fierce and brutal, after all.
The thickly-meshed-together, dark gray clouds started to shift and change shape as the soft winds blew in small slivers of icy coldness that created the occasional noise of high-pitched whistling. Small white specks of snow started to drift down from the stormy skies that made it appear as though a strong and fierce blizzard was to arrive within the next week or so.
He blinked in a mix of slight disbelief and recognition.
The first winter snow.
And the climate was to only plummet from there...
But, even still, the cold he was experiencing now was nothing compared to what it was like when he was a child. He could vividly remember when he was little; he adored spending the winter days in the mountainous home that had been inhabited by him and his adopted older brother, Nahyuta, and his adopted father, Dhurke. The three would catch some fish and spend the nights sat by a warm campfire whilst huddling together to keep warm, Dhurke discussing how they wished to spend their Christmases — Apollo and Nahyuta were quite hot-headed and argumentative young boys and would sometimes argue about whether Santa existed or not and poor Dhurke would have to gently admonish them and the only way to stop their petty squabbles would have to sternly lecture them in the only way a lawyer and former king hailing from Khura'in knew how:
A Defiant dragon-style lecture about how "A dragon might breathe flames hotter than the sun, but they always be prepared to share those flames no matter what," or —in other words— people should always be kind to each other...especially during the holidays.
The horn-haired lawyer in red exhumed a deep sigh from the bottom of his overly-used lungs.
He couldn't think about this now, he needed to find shelter from the oncoming blizzard that was bound to engulf the country soon.
Gripping on to the red winter scarf which had been knitted just for him by Juniper Woods, decorated with little pink hearts and tugging at it so it covered his mouth in an effort to keep himself warm against the sheer cold. He tried to scan his surroundings to try and find a way out of the scenario of being stuck outside in a bitterly cold draft.
He went to take a step forwards but froze mid-way when his eyes fell upon a sight that had become quite common in Khura'in:
A Khura'inese butterfly.
The horn-haired lawyer currently wrapped in red winter clothing always regarded the graceful insects with wonderment and intrigue. He would normally see some of the insects flutter around idly and, although they were a slight rare sight, seeing them just made the atmosphere more peaceful and even delightful and it was said that these bugs represent the spirits of the deceased.
It had an ominous lilac glow as it flittered through the air and this one was an unusual blue colour rather than purple, unlike the other Khura'inese butterflies.
Apollo watched the beautiful bug flutter right in front of him, almost touching the tip of his nose, and being frightfully close as it invaded his personal space. He insincerely took two steps backwards as his unfaltering gaze followed the uniquely-winged butterfly all over the place until it drifted down atop a grate leading to the underground sewers whilst it continued fluttering it's frail, conjoint wings.
He blinked.
Was the butterfly trying to...lead him to that place?
He supposed that if he wished to avoid getting caught in a blizzard then this was the opportune moment. Without another thought, the lawyer immediately walked straight towards the manhole. He knelt down alongside it and proceeded to brush off some residue shards of ice before he lifted up the lid. He could feel the strain of the muscles in his arms while he gripped the circular piece of metal in both hands and pried it up into the air, exposing the hole it had been covering. He was shocked that nobody seemed to pay him any mind and even ignored him as he started to have the hole in his sights. When the lid had been removed and placed aside the round hole it had previously been covering, the butterfly flew down the hole in a dive whilst the former student of the legendary Phoenix Wright had proceeded to heft himself up to his feet.
Then he threw himself down into the deep, black void of the hole that led underground.
He clambered down a ladder, which was propped right up against the circular hole, until he finally landed at the bottom of it. Plunging both legs into the water, he let go of the bars of the ladder and hardly wasted time to started to trudge through the murky sewage water without much of a care, he hated how bad it smelt in the leaky pipes but he also didn't mind; even catching a whiff of the raw sewage made his nose curl but he ignored it as he waded through the knee-deep sludge. He could even hear the skittering and scampering of aquatic lizards rush right by him.
He scanned his surroundings and noticed that there were some ice seeping through the rusty, metal that surrounded him.
It didn't take too long until he climbed the ladder and finally reached the hideout.
The hideout where his adopted father concealed himself for many, many years.
The former home of the Defiant dragons...
Apollo meant to start cleaning it after he got the legal permission to own it, but he hazarded a guess that former queen Amara had visited and did a slight spot of spring cleaning because the last time he had visited the old hideaway there were a few notable differences since last he had looked upon it.
The place had been tidied up a bit and there was minimal dust particles floating around; the cobwebs had been swept away, the furniture had been rearranged slightly, if there were any old case files then they had been more then likely stored away elsewhere in the room in a much tidier manner and if there were any leaky pipes then they had been fixed too. What else was different was that a row of Nahmanda flowers perched atop the coffee table probably as a tribute to Dhurke. Though, the only things that had not changed were the little row of skewered lizards on a stick sitting on a nearby tray —something that Datz had probably left out— and the self-made dart board meant for throwing blades, darts and other such weapon that so happened to have had a sharp point at photographs depicting the lunatic tyrant, Queen Ga'ran.
He was happy that someone was taking good care of this place.
The spiky-fringed attorney-at-law continued to survey his surroundings until his eyes landed on the same blue Khura'inese butterfly that led him there in the first place.
Apollo observed as the butterfly hovered above a small, old, creaky and rickety desk that had been tucked away into a corner. It was probably Dhurke's old desk that had been there since the days he was a defence attorney; it was the only thing still covered in cobwebs and had a heavy layer of dust covering the top surface.
He slowly strode over towards the old desk and visually studied it.
It didn't look that special, it appeared to have been just an ordinary desk. It look so cold that it appeared as though if one were to merely lay a finger on it then the whole structure would collapse into a big heap of rotting wood. He carefully loomed over the old bureau and eventually he stopped right when he found himself standing behind it. He noticed that the butterfly had perched itself on the old, rusty, silver handle of one of the drawers.
Apollo started to reach down to grab at the handle of the drawer while he simultaneously started to consider both his own actions and his sanity; he followed a butterfly into the old hideout and now he was about to dig through some of Dhurke's belongings which were stored within a previously-concealed desk that he had no idea existed until now. He had no idea why he was doing this yet, at the same time, his whole body was pounding with anticipation. It was as if his body was forcing him to do this.
He gripped the handle, minding the butterfly, and pulled the drawer open and exposed its contents.
He felt his heart skip a beat.
There was nothing except for a package wrapped in tattered red wrapping paper; the package had probably been in there for a really long time, maybe even years, just sitting in there to simply collect dust until the person whom intended to give it decided to take it into his hands again and mail it to its proper recipient and the horn-haired attorney-at-law could see that there was a label slapped on to it...with his name on it. His heart started to sink from his chest and into his stomach as he read the name to reveal who the person who was supposed to give this gift to him:
From Dhurke Sahdmadhi...
"I thought that I would find you here..."
Apollo felt his heart leap high into his throat as he jumped, startled after hearing the sudden new voice. He gripped his chest to clutch at his racing heart to avoid having a heart attack as he whirled around on his feet in order to face the direction of the source of the person whom just spoke up. He panted as though his lungs were about to explode as he gave the familiar person a wide-eyed glare.
"Jeez, Nahyuta! Don't sneak up on me like that!" He hissed hotly.
"My apologies, Apollo, I didn't mean to startle you." Nahyuta purred.
The fact that Apollo's bracelet squeezed his arm coupling with the regent of Khura'in's twitchy index finger told him a different story.
The attorney in red simply heaved a massive sigh. He knew that his adoptive brother was just playing with him, but he wasn't going to dwell on it; there were more pressing matters to deal with right now. He rubbed his own bracelet with the edge of his thumb absentmindedly as he gazed back down at the gift that still remained in the drawer. He felt almost reluctant to open the gift because (while he knew the gift was for him) he felt as though he was intruding on something...he felt like a blot of ink on an otherwise plain, white piece of paper.
But, that was until that same butterfly from before flitted it's wings as it crawled off of the handle of the drawer and perched itself atop one of his fingers.
It was something that hardly went unnoticed by Nahyuta.
The last rites prosecutor's teal eyes widened upon seeing the majestic insect, he watched in wonder as the butterfly flapped its frail, transparent wings to take to the air. He could tell that this was no ordinary Khura'inese butterfly —it had this unique aura that felt...oddly reminiscent of someone he knew, he knew that the aura reminded of only one person. He decided to ignore those feelings for now as he looked at the gift clearly meant for the lawyer in red.
His eyes lit up in recognition.
"Oh! That looks like...!"
Apollo took the gift into his hands and decided to take a seat on the nearby sofa. Curiosity took over and he tore open the wrapping paper with vigorous anticipation and soon found himself almost unable to take his eyes off of what turned out to had been contained within the gift. It lay on his lap as a heap of material that he stared non-blindingly at for several moments as the gears of his mind turned whilst he tried to think of what this could possibly be.
Upon gripping the green/blue/purple heap in both hands, he lifted it up and quickly discovered that the gift was actually a turquoise sash with purple zigzag patterns running across it.
Nahyuta beamed, closing his eyes as a contented grin swept across his lips.
"It is a justice ministers sash, meant for those who act as ambassadors for Khura'in. Father had always meant to give it to you whenever he would come to see you, to remind you of us in Khura'in, however..." Nahyuta shut his eyes as he seemed to be in emotional pain, "He was never able to, as you are already aware."
The spiky-fringed attorney in red swallowed hard. Deep brown eyes became teary and his throat hurt from how nostalgic he was feeling. He didn't wish to lose the man he had grown up with and now...that's what happened; he had been forced to come to terms with that hurtful fact he had lost the only fatherly figure (except for Phoenix) he had ever known. The man who saved him from suffering the same fate as his biological father during the assassination attempt so many years ago —during that ferocious fire. He didn't think Dhurke had a gift prepared for him, waiting for him for so many years...
Apollo stiffly raised the accessory overhead and slipped it over his own body until it hung neatly, overlapping his shoulder and his waist. It was a brilliant fit, he had to say.
The horn-haired attorney sniffled and quickly realised he was crying and raised an arm up and started to rub his eyes with his sleeve, trying to recompose himself and not cry in front of his brother. He always had been a crybaby and would start blubbering over the smallest of things that ranged from tear-jerking puppy videos to the most frightening nightmares.
"Heh...s-sorry." He muttered, admiring his new sash.
Nahyuta shook his head, he couldn't blame Apollo for getting upset.
It was mostly silent for a few moments until both pairs of eyes settled upon the insect once again.
This butterfly, this lost soul...could it have been related to Dhurke?
Could Dhurke's spirit have returned?
The two brothers watched without saying anything as the Cobalt blue Khura'inese butterfly fluttered out the window, taking to the air, letting the cold and icy winds carry it further and further away until it dissipated altogether in a puff of smoke and sparkles.
The lawyer and the regent of Khura'in both felt their hearts take a slight dip as nostalgia gripped them both like a vice as they both recalled the memories of how Dhurke had raised. They remembered the games they played together, the time they accidentally fell into the river and had to be saved by Dhurke, the joy and sorrowful times they shared with Dhurke and they even remembered their childhood dreams such as Apollo wanting to be a lawyer and Nahyuta a prosecutor.
That seemed like so long ago.
The two adoptive brothers felt their hearts ache simultaneously, as though their pain was connected, and they wordlessly glanced at each other and they each both knew at once that they were thinking the same thing. Apollo and Nahyuta approached each other, clung to each other and enveloped one another tightly in a brotherly embrace —the two held on to each other and their eyes flooded with tears of grief. The two brothers hung their heads in both remorse and grief whilst they held on to each other for the first time in years.
Apollo loved his gift and he couldn't believe that Dhurke had made him such a cool sash to celebrate where he came from. It made his heart crumble slightly that the man he looked up to since childhood and himself had been so distant for so many years, he couldn't believe he felt so bitter towards him when all Dhurke had done was try his best to make the country of Khura'in for his children to live in from behind the scenes.
He secretively slipped a brief look to his brand new sash and found that he did actually look quite cool wearing it. He, regardless, could only murmur one sentence as he softened his watery-eyed gaze and he turned his head to face out the window where the butterfly flew off:
"Hap'piraki Christmas, Dhurke..."
A/N: Here's an early sort-of Christmas one-shot of my favourite character in Ace attorney and him adjusting to his new life in Khura'in. Sorry it took so long to put up a story/chapter, everyone, I've just been busy and I'm still getting over a cold I had recently and there's writers block that kept messing things up.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this fic!
-Chloemcg