College has started, but despite that, the motivation to write I had once lost has finally been found again, hence why I've been updating more recently! I still can't believe I posted two chapters before this!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Ace Attorney series characters!

Chapter 19 – Turnabout Christmas

"Apollo, no! Don't put the red bauble there!"

"Why can't I put it here?!"

"Because then there'll be two red baubles right near each other. We need to distribute the baubles evenly over the whole tree!"

"And that's important because?"

"Because the tree needs to be aesthetically pleasing."

"Aesthetically pleasing? It's not like we're having someone like Mr. Edgeworth coming over," Apollo muttered under his breath as he put down the red bauble and picked up a green one out of the box of ornaments. "How about this? Is green okay?"

"Green…wait. Let me check…yes. Green is absolutely perfect."

Apollo placed the ornament on the tree and stepped away. Examining the tree, a frown formed on his face. "Uh…Athena?"

"Yes, Apollo?"

"You said that the baubles were supposed to be distributed evenly over the whole tree, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, is it just me, or are there a lot of yellow baubles on the tree?"

Although one could spot the occasional blue, red, and green baubles, the Christmas tree seemed to be dominated by yellow ones.

"Actually, the better way to address them is gold baubles, but…I guess so."

"Was that intentional?"

Athena remained silent, wondering how she should answer the question. "Maybe."

Apollo stared at her for a moment, his expression practically screaming 'really, Athena?' He walked over to the tree. "I'm changing it."

"Hey! Don't change it! Yellow is a pretty color, and I think it gives the tree life!" Athena proceeded to bicker with her coworker.

"I can hear you two over my music." Trucy pulled one of her blue ear phones out so she could hear them better. She'd been writing in her diary when she caught wind of their argument. She grimaced at the two attorneys, having gotten their attention. "Come on, you two. Can't you stop fighting for once? It's Christmas, after all!" She shook her head, and in doing so, a jingling noise could be heard.

"Trucy. Are you...jingling?" Apollo asked her, his brows furrowing.

"Jingling? Oh! That's my antlers." She touched the brown reindeer antlers that were attached to her headband. "There are little bells in them. That's the jingling sound." To prove her point, she tilted her head from side-to-side, the bells jingling in sync with her head's movements. She had been smiling then, but her smile faded. "Nice try, Polly, but you can't easily distract me from what I was saying before." She stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "You two were fighting just now."

"We're not having a fight. We're having…a heated discussion," Athena explained.

"Debate. We're having a heated debate," Apollo corrected.

"What's this heated debate about?" Trucy walked over to them.

"Athena put too many yellow baubles on the tree," her brother accused.

"Well, I think yellow is a vibrant color, and they're gold, Apollo, not yellow."

"Is that all, Apollo? That can be easily fixed!" The young magician placed her left hand on her hip, her right hand tipping her top hat. She smiled determinedly at them. "Allow me to decorate the tree for both of you. You guys just sit back and let me do the decorating."

Trucy went right to work, pulling off all of the ornaments on the tree and organizing them into groups based on color.

Apollo and Athena watched as she began. "Shouldn't we help her?" Athena asked.

"I don't know. I think she's got it taken care of. I'm going to play some video games." With that, Apollo went over to sit on the couch.

"Hm…okay then. Hey! I should text Junie and wish her a Merry Christmas!" Athena followed Apollo and sat next to him, pulling out her phone.

Meanwhile, inside the office…

"It's too bad Pearl and Maya couldn't make it," Iris sighed, staring out the window of the Wright Anything Agency. She clearly missed her little sister and cousin.

She felt someone wrap an arm around her. "Yeah, I know. It would've been nice if they could've made it, but they'll have a good time at Kurain. Maya will make sure of that." Phoenix squeezed his girlfriend's shoulder, a gesture meant to reassure her.

She looked up at him, nodding. "You're right. They will. You didn't manage to get a hold of Maya on the phone, did you?"

"No. I'm guessing her cell phone must not be getting much reception there, if at all. I sent her a couple of texts though, and an email too. I'm hoping she'll see them soon. Now, come on. Let's go out and see what everyone's doing in the other room." He led her to the door out of the official office. Opening it, he motioned for Iris to step ahead of him.

As soon as Iris walked through the doorway and into the lobby, Phoenix followed. Crossing his arms, he smirked. "Well, well, well. Looks like you two were hard at work on the tree. Glad to see the effort you're putting into making it look amazing."

Apollo and Athena lifted their heads up from their respective electronic devices to see Phoenix standing in the doorway, and Iris nearby.

Trucy turned around, her hand extended out to put an ornament on the tree. "Oh! Hey Daddy! Iris!"

The two defense attorneys exchanged guilty glances before smiling sheepishly at their boss. "Heh heh heh," Apollo chuckled nervously.

"Oops!" Athena added.

The spiky-haired attorney merely shook his head. "Thank you for decorating the tree, Trucy. You did a great job! All you need to do now is-" He was cut off by an outraged gasp.

"Mr. Wright!" Athena exclaimed, shooting up from her seat to point at her finger at him.

"What?!" He was taken aback by her sudden reaction to whatever it was he'd done.

Trucy and Apollo frowned, confused as to what provoked the outburst from Athena. It didn't take too long for Trucy to figure it out though. A huge grin spread across her face as she turned to fully face Phoenix.

Uh oh…Trucy's got that grin on her face…that mischievous grin.

"Oh Daddy!" She called out in a sing-song voice.

"Wh-what, Trucy?" He asked, his voice a little shaky. I'm getting worried.

"Mr. Wright. What's up?"

"What's up? Um, nothing really. I just tried to contact Maya, but-"

"No, no!" Athena shook her head. "I didn't mean what's up as in what's going on! I meant what's up?"

"I don't get it."

"Yeah, same here," Apollo added, equally as lost as Phoenix was.

"What's up as in the direction up. Up above you!"

"Oh…oh!" Phoenix tilted his head back to see what was indeed up above him. "What's the big deal? It's just…oh."

"Oh is right." Athena had a cheeky smile on her face. She placed her hands on her hips. "Well?"

Phoenix could feel the blush in his cheeks. "Well what?"

"Well? Aren't you going to, you know?" Athena waved her hands in the air.

Blue eyes wandered around until they fell upon the person beside him. Phoenix noticed that Iris had her head turned away, although he caught the faint pink color painting her own cheeks.

"Come on now, Daddy. You know what you've got to do!" Trucy tried to encourage him.

I know what I have to do, I just don't really want to do…not in front of all of you guys… "Er…well…" He scratched the back of his neck, a nervous smile on his face. "Do I…have to?"

Another outraged gasp escaped from Athena's lips. "Mr. Wright! What kind of a question is that?! Of course you have to! It's a Christmas tradition! No, no, a law!"

"I don't think it's a law, Athe-" Apollo went quiet at the sight of Athena's glare.

The 19-year old attorney spoke to Phoenix. "It's not like you'd have to do it to someone else. It's with your own girlfriend! Don't be all shy about it."

"Yeah, Daddy! No need to be shy! Now pucker up!"

The blush on Phoenix's face only deepened when his daughter spoke up. Trucy…show some mercy on your poor old man. His gaze fell on Athena and then on Trucy. Looking back and forth between the two, he knew there was no chance of escape. I can get myself out of being cornered during a murder trial, but I can't avoid something as simple as this. *sigh* The things I go through…

Shoulders drooping ever so slightly, Phoenix turned so that he was facing Iris. She followed suit, but her head was still down. She's probably embarrassed too. Poor girl.

Of course, Phoenix didn't expect arms wrapping around him suddenly, causing himself to get pulled down. He didn't even manage to let out a yelp when a pair of soft lips pressed against his own.

He stood frozen for a moment, surprised by the bold move on his girlfriend's part; however, he soon relaxed into the kiss, his arms wrapping around her waist and holding her closer as he returned the kiss.

"Awww!" Trucy and Athena cooed, while Apollo just rolled his eyes at the two teens' reaction.

Iris was the one who pulled away from Phoenix, a small smile on her face. "Sorry, Feenie. I didn't mean to take you by surprise, but you heard what they said. It's tradition."

Phoenix stared into her eyes, only to return her smile. "Uh…no. It's alright. I didn't mind." Mind? I loved it! "I was just…surprised that you did that. That was quite spontaneous."

"I'm sorry." She angled her head away from his in shame, only for him to reach out to touch her chin. She returned her gaze to him.

"Don't be sorry. I loved it. Really. Thank you," he whispered.

"Yes! Finally, Iris takes initiative. I'm so proud of you," Athena lauded the woman.

"As much as it's nice to see all of this cute stuff," Apollo began, feeling a slight bit awkward about the situation, for what reason, he wasn't even sure. "How about we shift our focus back on the tree? There's something missing on it."

Phoenix, Iris, Trucy and Athena all stared at the tree. "Oh! Polly's right! We're missing the most important thing! The star!" Trucy went over to the cardboard box that was full of ornaments and pulled out a white star. "So…who wants to put up the star this year?"

"I will!" Athena and Apollo said simultaneously. They turned and started staring each other down.

"Let me do it, Apollo," Athena insisted.

"That won't be necessary, Athena. I'll gladly put the star on the tree."

"And just why do you think you should be the one to put the star on the tree?" She challenged him, clenching her fists in front of her.

"Well…hm…" Apollo struggled to come up with an answer at first, especially seeing that Athena was getting in her fighting stance, but then he came up with what he thought was the perfect reply. "I'm taller than you!"

"You're 165 centimeters tall, and my height is 162. I'm only three centimeters shorter than you!" Athena yelled.

"Centimeters is a unit of measurement in the metric system. We live in America, Athena, and here in America, we don't use the metric system. We use the US customary system."

"Oh yeah? So tell me, Mr. Let's-Get-Technical. What's your height according to the US customary system?"

Apollo puffed his chest proudly as he announced his height. "Five foot five." He should've noticed how Athena had posed the question rather confidently to him. His chest deflated when she started laughing.

"Ha, ha, ha! You didn't even realize it, did you? I'm five foot four, so according to the US customary system you're so fond of, I'm only one inch shorter than you!" She continued laughing, feeling rather triumphant.

Apollo reeled back. Shoot! She's right! I didn't realize that! But still. "Regardless of which system though, I'm still the taller one."

As the argument continued, Iris, Phoenix and Trucy stood there and watched. "We should stop them from arguing with each other," Iris suggested.

"Nah. It's actually kind of entertaining to see them argue," Phoenix mused.

"I just want to tell them to kiss already." Trucy looked from Phoenix to Iris and back. "What? I'm just saying."

Shaking his head, Phoenix took a step forward, clearing his throat loudly. "Well, since the two of you brought the matter of height into your argument, allow me to step in. The tallest one here happens to me, coming in at 176 cm in the metric system, and five foot nine in the US customary system. So I think I'll put the star on the tree!" The head of the office walked over to Trucy and accepted the star from her.

He went to the tree and reached up to place the star on. "Hm…this tree is pretty tall." With a slight groan, he extended his arm to the maximum extent, but he still failed to place the star on top of the tree.

"Daddy. How about you use the step ladder?" Trucy offered.

"Good idea, Trucy. Thanks."

As Phoenix brought the small step ladder over, Apollo spoke up. "Wait, but isn't that actually-"

"Do you really want to start that argument, Apollo? Do you?" Athena interrupted him. Knowing she made a good point, Apollo remained quiet and watched Phoenix's struggle with the star.

"Daddy. Do you need any help?" Trucy asked worriedly. Phoenix was balancing on one leg as he stood at the very top of the small step ladder.

"No thanks, Trucy. I think I got it." Phoenix finally managed to pop the star on the top. "There! Got it!" Smiling at his own success, he started stepping down.

"Feenie. Be careful. I think your sleeve might've gotten stuck," Iris warned him.

"Hm? Oh. Uh…you're right, Iris. No problem. I can get it unstuck." The attorney gently pulled at his sleeve, trying to get unattached from the tree. "Come on. This shouldn't be so hard." He tugged harder, but to no avail. He was getting more and more frustrated.

"Boss. Do you need us to help?" Athena offered.

"No. I can do this." Phoenix pulled his sleeve sharply away. "There! Did it!"

Of course, freeing himself wasn't the only thing he did. He and the others watched as the tree swayed a little from the force of his pulling on it. The attorney scrambled down the stepladder and distanced himself from the tree just in time to watch it tip over.

Everyone stood quietly, almost as if they were mourning the fallen tree.

"…Whoops" was all Phoenix could say, breaking the silence in the room.

"What do we do now?" Apollo asked no one particular.

"There's only one thing we can do!" Everyone turned to Trucy, who was grinning. "All of us are going to help get the tree standing again, and we're going to decorate it together!"

"Sounds like a plan to me! What do you say, Apollo, Iris, Mr. Wright? Let's do this!"

"It's a good thing we hadn't placed the presents underneath the tree. They might've gotten crushed." Iris was relieved.

"Yeah. We're lucky none of the ornaments got damaged too," Apollo added.

"Now that we've got the tree back up, what's the next thing on the agenda?"

"Well, Athena. I was thinking we could eat dinner, since it is getting pretty late. Then, once it's midnight, we can open presents," Iris replied.

"Oh! Sounds like a great idea! I'm starving! Let's get eating!"

So the five of them ate Christmas dinner in the agency, talking about current events and what was happening in their lives. Thankfully, Iris had made most of the food beforehand and brought it to the agency.

Finally, the clock struck 12, and they all gathered around the Christmas tree.

"So who's going to open their presents first?"

"I don't know, Athena. Anyone want to open their presents first?" Phoenix asked.

"I don't want to open my presents first. I want to give out my presents first," Trucy began, standing up and picking up the gift boxes that were from her. Two of them were the same size, and one a little bigger. The bigger one went to Phoenix. "Daddy, I want you to open yours at the very end, okay?"

"Alright, Trucy."

"Iris. I'll give you yours after they open theirs. Polly, Athena. You guys can open yours."

The two younger attorneys took no time ripping the wrapping paper off their gift boxes and opening them. They each received a beanie similar to the ones Phoenix and Iris had. Apollo's was red-colored. Across the front of it were the words "Big Bro" in yellow. Athena's beanie was like Apollo's, only the colors were inverted, and instead of "Big Bro," hers said "Big Sis."

"Aw! Trucy! These are so adorable! Thank you!" Athena hugged Trucy, who returned the hug.

"Yeah. Thanks, Trucy. I could definitely use this. I needed a new hat." Apollo examined the knit hat. "You made this yourself, right?" At her nodding, he grinned. "Of course you did. It's great." He popped it on his head. "It fits perfectly too! How did you get the measurements of my head?"

"Mine's a perfect fit too!"

"Good question, but as you know, a magician never tells her or his secrets." The magician wagged her finger.

For some reason, that statement has me very concerned. Apollo just nodded, not wanting to find out the real answer to his question.

"Iris! How about you have Apollo and Athena open your presents next?"

"Okay, Trucy." Iris gathered her gifts and handed them to the two attorneys. "Merry Christmas, Apollo, Athena."

Again, the two defense attorneys opened their gifts with no delay. Iris had made them each sweaters that resembled the one she had made Phoenix many years ago. Athena's was a pale yellow color. Inside the cyan colored heart was a large, red letter A. Apollo's sweater was the same red color as his usual suit. There was a heart on the front of his sweater also, only the heart was golden yellow-colored, and the letter A was cyan-colored.

"Wow! Now we have sweaters that matches yours, Boss!" Athena exclaimed as she began putting her hands through the sleeves.

"So that's why you asked us for our measurements a couple of weeks ago," Apollo stated, also putting his on. "Thank you, Iris. This is really great!"

"Yes! Thank you so much! It's so warm and cozy!" Athena hugged herself tightly, enjoying the warmth the sweater was providing her.

"I'm very glad the two of you liked it."

"Okay. Now you can open my gift, Iris!" Trucy smiled brightly at her.

Iris, unlike the two attorneys, was careful with unwrapping her gift. She let out a soft gasp. "Trucy…this…"

"Heh, heh. I know it's not nearly as good as the ones you've made, but…I still hope you like it."

"Trucy. I-I love it!"

"You do?"

"I really do!" Iris went on to admire the gift. Trucy had made Iris her own sweater. This sweater was the exact same shade of blue as Phoenix's suit. The heart inside was pink like Phoenix's own sweater, and the letter I was yellow. Once she put it on, she turned to Trucy. "How did you make this?"

"Well, I watched you make the ones for Athena and Polly, so I tried to imitate you."

"Well, you did a great job, Trucy. It came out beautifully!" Iris got up and gave the girl a hug.

The rest of the presents were distributed. Iris had given Phoenix a golden pocket watch with "World's Best Boyfriend" on it. Athena got Phoenix and Iris matching mugs. One said, "Mr. Right," and the other said, "Mrs. Always Right." It earned quite a few laughs from the others. Athena gave Trucy a purple password journal, which the magician promised to use as soon as possible. Apollo received a snow globe. Inside it was a scale like that found on his defense attorney's badge. The globe was on three law books with labels including ethics and constitutional law.

Apollo had gotten Iris a book that would help her with her paralegal studies. Trucy was given an iTunes gift card for $75. Phoenix was given a nice silver watch, and Athena received a jewelry box that had the sun and moon on it. She was quite moved with the gift.

"Apollo…This is amazing. I needed a jewelry box, and this one is beautiful. Thank you," she said sincerely, smiling at him.

Phoenix had presented Apollo with a new, red velvet journal, knowing that the attorney liked to keep a journal about his life and cases, and that his current one was nearly full and pretty old. He gave Athena a yellow-colored bag, since hers was worn out. Trucy's present was a brand new smartphone, complete with a sparkly purple case.

He gifted Iris with a silver necklace which had a purple iris locket on it. He removed it from its box and put it on for her. "Oh Feenie. This is so beautiful. I'll cherish it. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Rissy." The two proceeded to stare into each other's eyes with Trucy watching them, a dreamy, far-off expression on her face.

"You know. If Mr. Wright likes her so much, he should put a ring on it," Athena whispered to Apollo.

Apollo blinked and then turned to her with a deadpan expression on his face. "Did you just…? Did you seriously just…? No. Just…no."

Finally, it came time for Phoenix to open his present. Everyone watched closely as the older attorney opened the gift. "Trucy…this…" He looked up at her.

His daughter grinned at him. "It's a scrapbook filled with pictures of you and everyone in your life, Daddy!" She sat next to him on the couch. "See? This one was taken when you got Mr. Edgeworth his not-guilty verdict?" She pointed to the picture where Phoenix, Maya, Edgeworth, Larry, and Gumshoe all stood. "Aunt Maya gave it to me. Oh! And this one was the one Uncle Larry drew, after Iris's trial." She pointed out a few more pictures, including those that included Phoenix and Trucy. There were even some recent ones with Apollo and Athena and Iris in them.

"You…you made this yourself, Trucy?" Phoenix asked, flipping through the book.

"I did. Do…you like it?"

"Trucy…I love it so much. And I love you." He pulled her in for a hug. "Merry Christmas, my baby bunny."

Trucy giggled, snuggling against her father. "I love you too, Daddy, and Merry Christmas."

When Phoenix pulled away, he went through the book again. "I can tell you put in a lot of effort into this gift, Trucy." He frowned slightly when he noticed that some of the pages were empty. Before the empty pages began though, there was one page with a purple frame in it, but no picture inside. "Is there a picture missing, Trucy?"

"Kind of. I wanted us to take a picture now. A holiday picture, all five of us."

"We can do that," Athena replied, and Apollo nodded in agreement.

Trucy stood up. "Come on then, guys! We've got to take the picture for our New Year's card anyway! So let's take that picture! But first! Everyone put on your sweaters and beanies!"

As she directed them, Phoenix, Iris, Apollo and Athena put on their sweaters and beanies. Trucy pulled out her digital camera and set up the timer. She then directed everyone as to where they should sit. Once everyone was in their place, she went over and sat down in the middle.

"Wait! We're forgetting someone!" Everyone watched as Trucy dragged a pot to the sofa. "We can't possibly take this picture without Charley in it! He's a part of our Wright Anything Agency family too!"

Everyone chuckled and then got ready to pose for the picture. Trucy went to the camera and looked through the lens to check and make sure everything looked alright. "Wait! One last thing!" She rushed over to Apollo.

"Hey, what are you-?!"

"There! We need to be able to see those horns of yours, Apollo; otherwise, people might wonder, 'who's that little boy with the big forehead?'" She explained as she adjusted his beanie.

"Gee, thanks Trucy. I appreciate your concern," Apollo said dryly.

"You're welcome!" was Trucy's enthusiastic response. "Are we all ready?" When a chorus of yeses were heard, she set up the timer. "Smile on three everyone. One…two…three!"

That night, everyone stayed at the agency, occupying the sofas and sleeping on the floor with sleeping bags, since the weather outside didn't get any better. When everyone else was fast asleep, the young magician snuck into the office to get Phoenix's scrapbook. She had with her the photo they took, which they agreed they could use for the agency's New Year's card.

In the photo, Trucy sat in the middle. Charley was on the floor in front of her. On her immediate left was Iris, followed by Phoenix, who had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend. Apollo was on Trucy's right, and Athena sat on the arm of the chair, leaning close to Apollo. Everyone had a large smile on their face in the picture and were wearing their sweaters and beanies.

Upon taking the picture, Trucy downloaded the picture and printed it out. She hadn't gotten the chance to put it in the scrapbook earlier though. She placed the picture in the purple frame. She then took a marker and wrote below the image. She read it over and smiled to herself.

Our Wright Anything Agency Family.

Upon planning and writing this chapter, I came to the realization that I love the Wright Anything Agency family! I did kind of rush with the end of this chapter, which I'm sure is too obvious that I don't even need to point it out.

I wonder if any of you noticed a little hint I popped in there…Hm…

I rushed with the presents. I included some links on my profile for some images of the gifts, like the snow globe (because my description skills are severely lacking), if you'd like to check it out!

Just two more chapters left! I bet you guys are happy this mess of a story is almost at its end!