Summary: [AU] Athena and Apollo actually met before they were adults. Justicykes (friendship), oneshot.

-10 years ago-

She didn't really have many friends growing up.

See, Athena had this special power. She had sensitive hearing. This caused her to hear everyone's inner emotions without their knowledge. Which made her go very dizzy in public places. That's why she didn't go to school often. Unbeknownst to her at the time, she didn't know what good it could do. For now, she hated it.

Because this power made her wear these ridiculous, heavy headphones.

Her mother, the creator, gave her a very technical and detailed explanation on what they were for. Hearing it from an 8 year old girl who didn't really know the world around her, she was utterly confused. What she got out of the explanation was that it was supposed to act like headphones and do 'something'. This 'something' made her head ache badly yet let her go through a somewhat ordinary life.

So, back to the beginning. Athena didn't have many friends as a child. She had a few, alright, but not as many as you would've thought. One of her closest friends, in fact best friend, Juniper Woods, was one of them. She constantly had this sickness that meant she could hardly attend school, just like Athena. They bonded over their absence of school in their individual lives.

Athena also had these robots – Ponco and Clonco. They were particularly new, yet worked wonderfully. Her mother Metis and her co-worker Aura Blackquill created them together. Also unknown to Athena, they had the same ability as her – sensing emotions. However, she didn't see them as robots. She saw them as friends, and sometimes thought that they were like humans. As mentioned of her lack of friends, she was confused with the idea of robots and humans. She treated them the same.

She also had this other friend. She didn't really know why he would speak to a quiet and shaded girl like her, but he did anyway. He was much taller and older than her, and had a very loud voice. He also had this friend of his around a lot. And a very weird hairstyle that had two horns. There was also a special bracelet he always wore on his left wrist, although Athena had no idea what it was for. She found it very weird that a boy would be wearing jewellery. She hadn't been allowed to wear any jewellery yet, but her mother had told her that once this special piece of rock comes back from space, she would get a necklace. She was very excited for that necklace.

Anyway, this friend of hers was called Apollo Justice, and he was 13 years old, 5 years older than Athena. They had actually met when they were both lost – he couldn't find his friend, Clay, or so she remembered, and she was lost from Simon. Simon was in fact 10 years older than her, but seemed to be hanging out with her frequently.

She was running around the space center, and Simon was chasing after her. She giggled and hid behind a chair. She lost track of time, and soon she couldn't see Simon. She wondered if he had forgotten about her, or just couldn't find her. So Athena came out from behind the chair and shouted out his name.

No response.

Feeling sad and worried, she began to walk around the space center, clutching her bunny bag that Junie had given to her. Junie actually knitted it herself, with the help of her grandma.

Apollo had left Clay with Mr Solomon Starbuck for one second and went to the bathroom. Once he had returned, they were gone. He decided to actually let himself explore the Space Center, and perhaps meet a few people of his own. There he was, walking around the center, not knowing where he was heading until a little girl, probably around 8, bumped into him.

She wasn't used to talking to strangers, so when she bumped into Apollo, she was shocked. Then, she mumbled softly "S-sorry…"

He was taller than her, not too much, say she was up to his shoulders, but he still bent down to be at her level. "It's fine. Are you alright?"

"I… um… I'm okay."

"You know, when I'm hurt or sad these days, I usually shout out 'I'm Apollo and I'm fine'. It usually makes me feel better. Do you want to give it a go?"

"S-sure."

"Ready? 1, 2, 3 – I'M APOLLO AND I'M FINE! Now you try."

"Uh…" she paused, taking a small breath. "I-I-I'M THENA… AND I'M FINE!"

He laughed. "There you go. You feeling better now?"

She giggled back at him. "Yes… so you're Apollo?"

"You catch on pretty quickly. And I'm guessing you're Thena? That's such a nice name."

"Hehe… my real name is Athena, but Junie calls me Thena. You can call me Thena."

"Is Junie your friend?"

"Yes! She's my best friend!"

"That's good to hear. Are you looking for her right now? Because I'm trying to look for my best friend, Clay."

"No… I'm looking for Simon. He's another friend."

"Do you want to go look for him together?"

She nodded, and held Apollo's hand. They searched the whole space center and eventually found him in the Psychology Lab with Dr Metis Cykes. Athena thanked him for helping, and he promised to find her again tomorrow.

That was the beginning of the friendship between Athena Cykes and Apollo Justice. It lasted for three years.

One day, Apollo came to the space center. He couldn't find Thena anywhere, and decided to ask Mr Starbuck about it.

"Dr Cykes's little girl? I think she's gone."

He was actually sad for the next few days. He had lost what he considered a dear friend and didn't know where she headed off to.

But one by one, his memories of the little girl at the space center faded away. He followed his dream, and became a lawyer. He was so caught up in his life that he eventually forgot about Athena.

Maybe fate would bring them together one day.

(x)

-Present Times-

Mr Wright had told him to go look for Athena Cykes, their agency's newest member. For some odd reason, that name ringed a very distant bell. Apollo didn't notice it though.

He entered Nine Tails-Vale and quickly noticed a yellow-suited girl arguing with a policeman. Then the girl was throwing the man and it was directed straight at him.

(Crap.)

And thus, for the first time in his life, Apollo Justice was crushed by an officer.

Athena lifted the officer off of the bystander and helped him back up. For some reason, he looked familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

(Maybe watch out for bystanders next time?) "I'm fine, but that police officer is out cold."

"I'm SO sorry! It's just a natural reflex when someone touches me without warning."

(Reflex? That's like ninja moves, honestly.) "Are you, by chance, Athena Cykes?"

"Yes, that is me. Why do you ask?"

"You're supposed to be the newest member of the Wright Anything Agency, right?"

"Wright… Anything Agency?"

"Even with its name, it is a law office. Didn't Mr Wright tell you?"

"..Oh!" she smiled. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you!"

(I could say that to you too.) "I'm Apollo, Apollo Justice."

Her eyes grew wide, then went back to normal. (Wait a minute… is this that boy… all those years ago… at the space center… who was my friend? Is this the Apollo Justice?)

After some small talk about Athena (in which he unknowingly learnt why she had disappeared seven years ago) and the case, she pegged the question. "I'm not entirely sure, but have we met before? You might not even remember because it was years ago, at a space center."

Now there were many, many bells ringing. This was the girl who he had be-friended! This was the girl he went on adventures with! This was the girl from the space center! Apollo came to the fact that this was the Athena Cykes from many years ago, and now he was meeting her again.

"Wait, you're Athena? Or Thena, should I say? The girl from the space center, years ago?" he asked.

"And you're Apollo? The one who I bumped into when I was like 8?" she replied with.

(Well, this is interesting.) "Wow… never in a million years would I've thought I would see you again. How have you been?"

"I could say the same thing. I guess my life has been pretty hectic, but you know, that's how it goes."

Then, at the same time, they both asked each other, "You became a lawyer?"

Athena laughed, then answered first. "It's because of a friend I know."

"Being a lawyer was a childhood dream of mine. Mr Wright, who's our boss, was my idol."

"Really? What a coincidence! We're meeting again after years gone by, and your childhood idol is now your boss! This is really incredible."

After having a long conversation about their different lives, they finally got to investigating.

But there was one thought at the back of Apollo's mind that he couldn't shake off. (I remember her being very shy and distant, and she also disappeared for a while. Why?)

Seeing a friend again after many years meaning having to make each step slowly. He would have to find out later.

A/N: Because I 'clearly' have zero time on my hands, here's another fanfic to throw at you! I actually should be getting to sleep right now but writing is fun.

Hope you all enjoy this cute, short(ish) oneshot!

-PurplePanda12