A/N: I felt really bad when I played the Spirit of Justice DLC and Phoenix said he hadn't seen Larry in "years", so I had to include the poor guy in this for Christmas. I know he's annoying, but I like him!

Sorry for any mistakes, I rewrote this like ten times before finally deciding to just post it and get it out there. Originally I had even more characters but it was getting too confusing and crowded, so we'll save them for New Year's. :)

Enjoy!


December 20th, 2028, 5:00 PM
Downtown Los Angeles

"I cannot believe how cold it is tonight." Maya wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as she and Phoenix walked down the sidewalk past shop windows decorated with signs declaring Christmas sales and the newest great thing your loved one was sure to want. The temperature was just below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which was very unusual even for December. "I thought we lived in California. How is it this cold, Nick?"

He shrugged. He wasn't that cold, since he was prepared for the weather in a hoodie and a winter coat, plus a scarf and gloves. He was satisfied knowing that all this winter gear had actually been useful for once. Living in California didn't give him a chance to actually use it that much. Maya on the other hand was severely underdressed, wearing only a light sweater, but at the very least she did have jeans and sneakers on instead of her regular robes and sandals.

"Don't ask me," he said. "The news even said it could snow before Christmas, if it gets a little bit colder."

Maya groaned and stepped in closer to him to sap some of his body heat. "I hope they're wrong."

He looked down at her as she tried to be subtle about coaxing him into wrapping an arm around her by bumping into his side. He did, giving her some of the warmth he knew she was seeking. "Aren't you the one who regularly sits under freezing waterfalls for training? What's a little snow?"

"Oh ho, but who said I enjoyed sitting under freezing cold waterfalls for training? That was my least favourite type of training! It makes me want to avoid any sort of snow or ice in my regular day-to-day life!"

He rubbed his hand up and down her shoulder, attempting to warm her up with the friction. "You were the one who dragged us out here tonight."

"I need to get a few more gifts, and I also need to buy some things for Christmas dinner." She stepped away from him and out from under his arm before looking at him pleadingly. "Nick, trying to steal your warmth really isn't working. Can I please wear your coat? I'm freezing, and you have a sweater underneath."

"I warned you," he said, shrugging out of it, glad he was wearing the hoodie too. "I told you it was cold, didn't I? And you made fun of me for wearing all of this!"

Maya rolled her eyes and held out her hand for the coat. "Just give me the coat."

He handed it over and she slipped it on and zipped it up as far as it could go, closing her eyes and relishing the blissful heat it provided. "Mmmm that's much better. Hey." Her eyes popped open again. "Think you could spare a mitten or two?" It was his turn to roll his eyes, but he slipped them off too. "Thank you!" She put them on then slid her hand into his as they continued their walk.

"We can just head to the nearest mall. I don't think I need to go to any specialty stores or anything."

He, for once, was finished his Christmas shopping already and didn't have anything left to buy, so he let her lead him around by the hand once they made it to the closest shopping mall. She led him into multiple stores, buying things for Pearl and Trucy and even him. She'd tell him to go to the other side of the store to look at something or to simply cover his eyes until they were checked out when that happened, and then dumped the bags on him to carry after.

They were wandering the mall still when they passed by the spot where "Santa's Workshop" was set up. The typical picture-with-Santa thing people always brought their kids to. It was getting later now so there was only one kid in the line, and another was just then scrambling off Santa's lap. Neither of them paid it much attention and were walking on by when the Santa suddenly stood up, frightening the child approaching.

"HEY NICK!"

Phoenix froze an Maya raised her eyebrows at him when he looked at her.

"NICK! HANG ON, I'M ALMOST DONE!" Then quieter. "C'mere, kid."

They both turned back towards the Santa, now rushing the child through the usual "what do you want for Christmas? Be a good boy and I'll think about it" spiel. After the camera flashed and the boy was off his lap, Santa wasted no time bounding over to the boundary, not even waiting for the children to leave before removing his hat and fake beard.

Phoenix couldn't help the groan that escaped him before Larry Butz was close enough to hear it. Maya snickered. "Cheer up, Nick, it's Christmas," she mumbled.

"And here comes the equivalent of Buddy the Elf to ruin it." She snorted, but didn't say anything else as Larry was already close enough to hear them.

"It's good to see you!" Larry said, wiping some sweat from his brow. "Phew, it gets hot under that beard, you know?"

"I'm sure it does."

There was silence. Even the usually chatty Maya didn't know what to say. It was hard to have any sort of adult conversation with Larry, who still reminded Phoenix so much of the Larry he'd last talked to now ten years ago. Was the man ever going to grow up? Even the silly and childish Maya was able to take her job and family seriously nowadays, and she was younger than Larry.

"So uh, how's life?" Larry said, obviously uncomfortable with the silence and seeming to realize he had caused it just by approaching.

"Well, we bought a house," Maya said. Larry looked at her, surprise on his face.

"Wow, really? That's cool, that's cool."

"Yep… So, Santa, huh?" Phoenix smirked. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Larry dressed in a Santa getup. Hadn't he been wearing the same thing way back when he and Maya had investigated Gourd Lake? The same time Larry had first mistaken them for a couple, despite how young Maya was at the time.

Larry scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Hey, it helps with Christmas shopping. Just a little extra cash."

Phoenix nodded understandingly. "What are your plans for Christmas? What girlfriend are you buying for this year?"

"Ah, actually, there is no girlfriend at the moment. Ever since Ellen I just haven't been feeling like going out on the dating scene."

It was hard to take Larry's feelings about Ellen seriously, seeing as he had never been engaged to her and had completely misunderstood her intentions after only knowing her for a day. It normally didn't take Larry long to bounce back after a break up though, so Phoenix couldn't help wondering what was different about it this time.

"That's kind of a surprise."

Larry shrugged. "I know it's stupid but I actually did want to marry her. I felt like maybe I'd put my life together if I got married."

"Larry, you know that's not how a relationship should work."

Maya raised her left hand, which she had removed the mitten from long ago and was clasped tightly in Phoenix's right, to show off her lack of a ring. "Yeah, Larry, look. Nick and I still aren't married but we're doing great."

Phoenix wasn't sure if that was a subtle hint or not, and decided to ignore it. Larry pouted. "But you guys are different."

Phoenix and Maya couldn't deny that. Their relationship wasn't exactly something other people could emulate. It wasn't the same for normal people who met each other under normal circumstances. They had been through too much together to even compare to others. "He does have a point," Maya conceded.

"Yeah, so…" Larry continued. "It's just me all on my lonesome this Christmas."

"What about your parents?" Maya inquired.

"Nick never told you? I don't associate with them. Or they don't associate with me, I guess."

Maya hadn't been expecting such a blunt or sad answer. Larry looked really downcast as he stood in front of them, and she felt a pang of sadness for him. Phoenix felt bad too, especially when he realized that he'd forgotten all about Larry's parents. The first and only time Larry told him about them was when they were teenagers, still in high school. He had never met them personally, but apparently they were both upper class snobs who had resented Larry for not conforming to their ideals, and once he was old enough to take care of himself, they kicked him out of their home.

Phoenix felt his resolve weaken as he remembered the very old but still vivid memory of a sixteen year old Larry showing up at Phoenix's childhood home during the summer break to tell him he had nowhere to stay and didn't know where else to go. Luckily for him, Phoenix's mother had always been a caring and sweet lady, and had gladly invited him in. Larry had stayed with them for almost two weeks until he found a job and left to find somewhere of his own, despite Mrs. Wright's insistence that he stay with them. He dropped out of school after that, leaving Phoenix to graduate high school alone, without either Larry or Edgeworth by his side. Since then Larry had always bounced between jobs, apartments, and girlfriends.

He sighed. It was Christmas after all, he couldn't let his friend be alone for it. "Hey, Larry?"

Larry looked back up. "Yeah?"

"We weren't really planning on doing much, but if you want to come see the new house, why don't you come over on Christmas Eve for dinner? Trucy and Pearls will be there, and the other lawyer at my agency is coming too. It's not going to be a party or anything, but you're welcome to come."

Maya glanced up quickly at Phoenix, surprised at this offer. She didn't mind at all, she was almost proud of him for inviting Larry, who he seemed to be more annoyed with nowadays than anything else.

Larry perked right up. "Really? I'd love to come! Old Edgey isn't going to be there?"

"No. He said he has plans with someone else."

"He has friends other than us?"

Phoenix shrugged. "Apparently. He wouldn't tell us who it was, but he said we may be able to meet this mystery guest on New Year's if any of us get together. They're staying with him throughout the holidays."

"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" Maya asked, looking at him as if it was a crazy suggestion. When it came to Edgeworth, it almost was.

"Edgeworth with a girlfriend? I don't know. I don't even know if he likes women… or anyone in that way."

"Now that you say that, I don't know either," Larry said. "Huh. Guess he and I never talked about girls much. That was always with you. Remember Betty Crusher?"

Maya looked at Phoenix, a smile playing on her lips. "Crusher? Who was she, Nick? Your first love or something?"

Phoenix grimaced. "No, she had a crush on me."

"You took her to the semi-formal dance in ninth grade! Don't tell me you didn't like her back!" Larry exclaimed. "You so did, I caught you two making out at the back of the gym behind a pile of gym mats!"

Maya laughed out loud and Phoenix blushed furiously. "I felt bad for her, okay? She didn't have a date." He cleared his throat. "Besides, she was actually a pretty good kisser, so all the guys that rejected her just because she wasn't the prettiest girl at school missed out. I'm pretty sure she taught me a thing or two that night." He looked down at Maya. "I was not always the amazing kisser you know me as, Maya."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Good to know some girl in ninth grade taught you how to kiss, Nick. Ever wonder how she got so good? Girls don't have to be pretty to get around."

Larry was smiling at the banter, but one of his 'elves' from the workshop started yelling his name. "Hey guys, I've gotta help clean up the workshop for the night. Thanks for inviting me. Can one of you text me your new address?"

"Yeah, I'll send it to you once we're done shopping," Phoenix said. He held up the hand not occupied with Maya's, filled with plastic and paper bags from the multiple stores they'd been to already. "My hands are kind of full right now."

"No problem. I hope you guys have a good night."

Maya smiled, waving with her other hand. "Bye Larry! See you in a few days!"

They walked away, leaving Larry to clean up the mess from the children that had been visiting all day. They were quiet as they made their way to the next store.

"I feel bad for him, Nick."

"Me too…"

"I mean, he has parents, and they don't want anything to do with him? That's just… awful. My mother left us because she was ashamed of herself and didn't want her image reflected on us, but I know she loved me and thought she was doing what was best, at least. His just don't care."

"Yeah. I'd honestly forgotten. It's been years since he told me. I feel like such a jerk. You realize I hadn't spoken to him for years before the Sprocket case in September? He had no idea about my disbarment, or about Trucy. Nothing."

"Why didn't you ever contact him while you were disbarred?"

He felt his face flame with shame. He really didn't want to tell her. If she thought about it hard enough she could probably guess anyway. "A stupid reason. A really, really stupid reason."

She could see that he didn't want to say anymore, so she decided not to pry. "He doesn't seem to hold anything against you though… Why don't you just start over? Invite him over more often, go out places with him. Be his friend again."

"Yeah. I'll try."


December 24th, 2028
Fey-Wright Residence

Larry showed up first and way too early, with a plate of miniature hot dogs wrapped up in bacon that he handed over to Phoenix as soon as he stepped in the door. After removing his coat he went straight for Maya, giving her a friendly hug and telling her how lovely she looked in her ugly-on-purpose Christmas sweater, and greeted Trucy and Pearl who were in the kitchen doing most of the cooking for the night.

"Hey, Nick, where should I put these?" Larry asked as Phoenix entered the kitchen with the tray of food Larry had brought, which surprisingly looked edible. He set it on the dining room table and glanced at the paper bag in Larry's hand.

"What is it?"

"Presents of course! One for you, Maya, and Trucy and Pearl!"

"Wow, really?!" Maya exclaimed at the same time as Trucy and Pearl turned around from their respective cooking projects in excitement.

Larry beamed. "Yep! It's nothing much, but I wanted to get you all something for inviting me."

"Wow, Larry," Phoenix said, for once impressed with his friend. "You didn't have to bring anything. I feel kind of bad, no one was supposed to bring gifts so we don't have anything for you."

Larry clapped him on the shoulder. "It's okay, Nick. We hadn't talked in years until this September, so I'm just glad you thought of me. And truthfully, it's been a tough couple of months for me, so I'm just happy to be here."

"Well, I'm glad you came. Really, Larry. Come on, you can put those under the tree."

Larry looked around as they made their way into the living room. "This place is pretty nice, Nick. I'm so jealous! First you managed to snag Maya, you have two awesome kids, now this place."

Phoenix smiled. "I'm lucky. You can put that over there."

After setting his presents under the tree, they began heading back towards the front of the house. "Do you think the girls will mind if I help out in the kitchen a bit?" Larry said. "I know I'm kind of early so I don't want to be a nuisance by just sitting around while you wait for your other guest. I'm a pretty good cook, not to toot my own horn or anything."

Phoenix couldn't keep the surprise off his face. Where was the crying, emotional Larry that had shown up to his office just three months ago, or the sad Larry from the mall the other day? Suddenly this new, mature, knew-how-to-cook Larry had taken his place.

"Are you really our Larry Butz? Not an alien that's taken over his body or something?" Phoenix said.

Larry made a face at him. "Hey, don't be mean, Nick. After Ellen and I broke up, I thought maybe my actions are the reason I can never keep a girlfriend?" Phoenix bit back a sarcastic comment and let Larry continue. "So I've started taking cooking lessons, and I'm trying to find an actual steady job and just do the artist stuff on the side. Things like that. Gotta make myself husband material if I want to find a wifey, you know?"

Phoenix raised an eyebrow at him. "You really want to get married? You?"

"Why not?"

Phoenix shrugged. "You just don't seem the marrying type."

"Well I am! If I could find the right girl. You're sure you wanna keep Maya, because I could take her off your hands if you want."

Phoenix rolled his eyes. Larry had calmed down with the outright flirting with Maya he used to do, and refrained from calling her cute anymore, but he still sometimes made comments that made Phoenix want to throttle him. "No, I think I'll keep her, thanks."

Larry smiled good-naturedly. "I'm only joking, Nick. You're still so protective of her."

"I always will be. Especially when I know how you think."

Larry looked scandalized. "Nick! I would never think that way about your girlfriend! You know I still remember when you tried to run across that burning bridge for her? That's when even I could tell you loved her. How long was it after that you two finally figured things out?"

"About a year, I think. After I was disbarred… Maya helped me out a lot, and things went from there."

"I kind of wish I had been around back then. I could've helped you too!"

Phoenix stopped. They were still in the hall just outside the kitchen doorway. "Larry, listen. I wanted to apologize-"

"Nah, it's okay, Nick. Please. Inviting me over tonight was good enough, and you defended Ellen when I just showed up out of the blue… It's fine." He looked around, trying to think of some way to change the subject. "Say, are there any other hot girls coming tonight?"

Phoenix rolled his eyes. Good old Larry. "No. Athena is only 19 so don't even think about it." Even if Athena was an adult that could make her own choices, there was no way Phoenix was going to let Larry of all people flirt with her.

Larry sighed. "Aw. Oh well." He went back into the kitchen and made his way over to the girls. "Do you have anything I can help with, Maya?"

She put a hand to her chin. "You and Nick can take over the cooking while the girls and I rest in the living room? Cooking for six people is tiring."

"I'll stay in here Mystic Maya," Pearl said. "I actually like cooking and no offense, Mr. Nick, but I don't trust your cooking skills."

"Thanks, Pearls."

Trucy grinned. "She's right, Daddy. For some reason you're really good at making homemade bread? But that's about it."

"Aaand, thanks, Trucy. You girls know how to make a guy feel good about himself, that's for sure."

Maya smiled and leaned up to peck him on the cheek. "We'll eat whatever you manage not to burn. But I am going to sit down! It's about time the men do some of the work."

Trucy bounced down the hall with Maya, leaving Phoenix and Larry with Pearl. Pearl turned to them, hands on her hips. "Let's get down to business. We've only got a few hours before Athena gets here!"


Maya and Trucy headed into the living room and straight to the Christmas tree, each of them picking up wrapped boxes and shaking them to see if they could figure out what was inside. Maya did take notice of the fact that there were hardly any boxes under the tree with her name on them, but a ton for Trucy and Pearl, and even the ones she had picked for Phoenix were there already wrapped.

"Trucy, did your dad tell you what he got me for Christmas?"

Trucy thought for a moment. "Nope, sorry. But there really isn't much here for you, is there? Only the things Pearl and I got you. I swear, if Daddy forgot your presents!"

"No, he wouldn't. He probably hid them somewhere I couldn't sneak a peek at them and won't even risk putting them under the tree until Christmas Day. But I've looked all over the house and can't find anything."

"Maybe they're not at the house? You don't go to the office that much anymore, they're probably there somewhere."

"You're right. Why didn't I think of that?! I guess it's too late to try looking for them now. But when is he going to go pick them up?"

Trucy shrugged, and looked around when the doorbell was rang. "That must be Athena."

Maya stood up. "I guess I'll get that since the guys are busy."

She opened the door to Athena, standing on the porch with a bag over her shoulder. She would have looked much like Santa Claus delivering gifts if she had been dressed for the part. "Hey, Maya! Uh, where's Mr. Wright? I have to give him this stuff."

Maya stepped aside to let her in. "He's just in the kitchen, go ahead." She headed into the kitchen while Maya closed the door. It was still chilly and Phoenix liked to pull the 'are you trying to heat the outside?' with her if it was left open longer than necessary. She was going to head back to the living room when Phoenix and Athena came out of the kitchen. He was mumbling something quietly to her and pointing at the stairs.

She approached him when Athena was gone up them. "Hey, Nick, what's Athena carrying? She had a big bag of stuff."

"Oh, uh, that was nothing."

She grinned. "Trucy was right. Those were Christmas presents! Don't tell me you had Athena hiding all of my gifts at the office?"

"No… She was hiding them in the old apartment, where she now lives. I couldn't even risk keeping them in the office because I know how you are, you sneak."

She wrapped her arms around his waist to rest her chin on his chest. "What'd you get me, Nick?"

"You can wait one more day to find out."

"Or maybe I can't," she said, pulling back and sprinting for the stairs before he had a chance to stop her.

"Maya! Stop! Don't harass Athena!" He ran up the stairs after her, only to find her a little ways down the upstairs hallway attempting to wrestle the bag away from a very determined Athena.

"Uh, Boss, little help here?" Athena said, still managing to hold Maya back from the bag of gifts. Luckily she was taller and stronger than Maya, so it wasn't a hard feat to accomplish. Phoenix made his way between them, taking the bag from Athena's hand and holding it out of Maya's reach.

"Maya, if you peek in here, I'll be very mad at you."

She pouted. "Fine then, I guess I can wait one more night."

"Good. Athena, you can head downstairs now."

"Sure Boss." She couldn't help the look of suspicion that crossed her face, but decided she didn't want to know why her boss and his girlfriend were staying upstairs alone.

Phoenix turned back to Maya when Athena was gone. "Maya, I'm gonna go hide this somewhere. But in the meantime, do you have anything we can give to Larry as a gift? Did you get me anything we could give to him instead?"

She put her finger to her chin in thought. "Maybe."

"I mean, who knows what he got us, maybe it's something completely stupid, but still. For all four of us? We need to give him something."

"I got it, Nick. I'll go check out the stuff I got you and see if there's anything."


Trucy was alone in the living room when Athena found her, looking surprisingly glum. She had put a Christmas album on the radio, and the slow melody of 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' floated quietly throughout the room.

"Hey Trucy," she said, sitting down beside her on the couch.

Trucy looked up at her, her usual sunny smile back on her face as soon as she realized she wasn't alone. "Hi Athena! How are you?"

"I'm not a fan of this cold weather we're having, but aside from that I'm fine. I'm sorry I haven't been able to assist you at your magic shows lately, I've been kind of busy outside of work with Simon. Believe it or not he's a big baby who can't do anything on his own."

Trucy giggled. The imposing Prosecutor Blackquill didn't come across as the type of guy to ask anyone for help, but he had been in prison up until a year ago. He was probably still getting used to his freedom. "That's alright. Where is Prosecutor Blackquill anyway? Why aren't you with him on Christmas Eve?"

"He's visiting his sister at the prison tonight. I'll be seeing him tomorrow for Christmas though."

"I'm glad you won't be alone tomorrow. I'm sure you'd be allowed to come here if you were though!"

Athena grinned. "Thanks. Mr. Wright was really nice to invite me tonight. Anyway, how are you doing... without Apollo I mean?"

Trucy shrugged noncommittally, and Athena realized she may have hit a nerve by mentioning Apollo when Trucy's emotions suddenly took a downward spiral into sadness. She should have known better. Trucy was usually so happy to talk about her magic and her shows, especially now that they were becoming bigger and bigger spectacles. She had moved on from the Wonder Bar to larger venues, and the money was really rolling in, all to the savings account Phoenix had set up for her back when she was nine years old. Now she was surprisingly quiet.

"I miss Polly," she said, confirming Athena's suspicions. "You're a great assistant to practice with, and I really like Bonny and Betty now that we're all friends and they finally decided to join the show again, but it's just not the same without Apollo. Even though he always seemed reluctant to help me and he complained a lot, he was really good at being a magician. I swear, it was like he was born a Gramarye himself. He had a knack for it. Now he's gone."

"Yeah. The office really isn't the same without him around, is it? I actually miss those Chords of Steel exercises. He was so loud, my sensitive hearing could barely stand it sometimes."

"I miss him especially right now," Trucy said. "He always had dinner with us at the office on Christmas and New Year's after Daddy hired him. It was fun. It was like having a big brother." She sniffed, and Athena realized she was trying to hold back tears. "The time difference between here and Khura'in Kingdom is so big that it's hard to talk on the phone or do Skype chats with him, and letters take so long to arrive, so I hardly ever talk to him."

Athena reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "I know. Hey, maybe we can go visit him in Khura'in soon, as long as it's okay with the boss. I'm sure he could use our help."

"I'd like that. It'd be fun! I could go watch him in court again. I miss being his assistant too."

She sat up, seeming to be in better spirits, and sniffed the air. "Something smells good! Uncle Larry really must be a good cook! At least compared to my dad and Maya. Don't tell her I said that."

She smiled. "My lips are sealed."

They were quiet for a few minutes, listening to the Christmas music, when Phoenix approached from behind. "Hey girls. You guys okay?"

"We're fine, Daddy. Just enjoying the music and the really great smells from the kitchen! You've gotta get Uncle Larry over here to cook more often!"

"I'll be sure to do that," he said. "I should probably go check on him and Pearls. I'm kind of surprised the smoke detector hasn't gone off yet."

He was turning to leave when the doorbell rang again. Trucy looked up at him. They had no close neighbours that would be visiting and Larry and Athena were already at the house. They weren't expecting anyone else. Phoenix glanced at his watch quickly and smiled.

"Trucy, go get the door, please. Athena, you should go too."

"To answer your front door? Uh, okay. Let's go Trucy."

Trucy jumped up, curious to see who could be coming to their door on Christmas Eve without an invite.


When Trucy pulled the front door open at first she thought her dad had hired someone to deliver gifts to the house, since whoever was on the front porch right then couldn't even be seen over the stack of boxes they had in their arms.

"Hello…" Trucy said, trying to peer around the stack. Athena was standing behind her, listening to the sound of the visitor's emotions. Whoever it was was practically giddy with excitement.

"Do you want me to take some of those boxes?" Athena said, coming forward and removing the first two from the person's arms. She almost dropped them on the floor when she saw the smiling face peering back at her.

"Hey Athena."

"Apollo?!" "POLLY!"

Trucy and Athena shouted almost at the same time. Trucy ran forward to embrace him, and Athena managed to snatch the other box from his arms before he dropped it. She set it on the floor with the others and watched Trucy bury her face in Apollo's chest, squeezing him so tightly he could barely breath. "Polly! I missed you! No one told me you were coming to visit us!"

Athena had to take a step back, Trucy's emotions were so overwhelming. Athena herself was ecstatic to see her friend again. It had been months, and like Trucy, she and Apollo didn't get a lot of time to talk on the phone or chat online. They'd only exchanged a few letters over the months he'd been gone.

Apollo grinned and hugged her back. "Mr. Wright told me not to tell anyone. He wanted it to be a surprise. A sort of early Christmas present. Me coming here was all on his dime."

Trucy finally let him go and stepped back, letting him enter the house. She grabbed the suitcase he'd brought with him and dragged it inside behind him. "How long are you staying?"

"A few weeks. Mr. Wright said you have a guest room I can stay in and I can stay as long as I want. I'll probably have to head back to Khura'in sometime in early January."

"I'm gonna get him for not telling me," Trucy said. "Now I'll have to redo my whole New Year's Eve routine at the Wonder Bar!"

"Redo? Why's that? And I thought you were doing shows at bigger venues now?"

"I like to go back to my roots every now and then, and it's easier to sell out a smaller venue. And… because you're going to be my assistant again that night, Polly! One night only, the great Polly will return! Get your tickets now!"

Apollo groaned and looked to Athena for help. "Really? I thought you would've taken over the magician's assistant act by now."

Athena grinned at him. "I did for a few shows, but I've been busy with my actual job lately, since we're still a lawyer short."

Apollo grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that, but you should be happy you still have two lawyers. There was only one lawyer at my law office for the longest time: me."

"Have any of the previous defense attorneys come forward yet?"

He nodded as he took his jacket and shoes off. "Yeah, a few. A lot of them are still nervous or just don't want to do it anymore though, so there still aren't many. We have a lot of work to do still." He looked around, finally taking in the house he'd had yet to see. "Nice place, Trucy. Where is Mr. Wright anyway?"

"Hmm." She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled. "DADDY!"

He was out of the living room and down the hall in a few seconds. "What?! What's wrong?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Someone is here, and I'm mad at you for not telling me he was coming!"

She pointed at Apollo, and Phoenix grinned. "Sorry, Truce. This was your first Christmas gift."

Apollo couldn't help smiling right back at his former mentor. "Hey Mr. Wright! It's good to see you again!"

"Same to you, Apollo," Phoenix said, grabbing Apollo in a tight hug and slapping his back a few times. "Wow, I've really missed you around the office. The toilet hasn't been nearly as shiny since you've been gone."

Athena waved a hand. "Um, Boss, I clean the toilet just as well as Apollo did!"

Apollo pulled back, blushing again. He reached up to scratch his hair, which popped right back up into place. "Heh. I was always the best toilet cleaner, Athena."

"But you've always been an amazing lawyer too," Phoenix said, suddenly serious. "How is the Justice Law Office doing?"

"Really great. I was telling Trucy and Athena that a few of the detained defense attorneys that were released are starting to come forward, so I'm looking into hiring a few for the office. At the moment I only have one other lawyer, and they're taking over while I'm here. Datz and Nahyuta will help them out."

Athena smacked him on the back. "Well, you've had lots of practice mentoring me, Apollo, so I'm sure you'll be great with any new Khura'inese attorneys you hire."

"I hope so. I hope I can live up to your image, Mr. Wright."

"You already do, Apollo, don't worry."

They stood together in the cramped foyer for a minute or so, everyone just happy to see the group back together, up until Larry popped his head out of the kitchen. "Hey, Nick, you gonna introduce me to the new kid or what?"

Apollo turned towards Larry, his eyes widening. "You're Larry Butz!"

"Er, yeah that's me. Didn't know I was famous or anything though."

"You're the first person Mr. Wright ever defended! In his first trial as a rookie lawyer! I read all about that trial in the papers after he managed to win!"

"Really?" Larry looked over at Phoenix. "I didn't know Nick had fans either."

Phoenix couldn't help smirking at Apollo, who only blushed harder and stared at the floor. Phoenix had known from the very first moment he met Apollo that Apollo knew who he was, even though he hadn't been a lawyer for seven years when they first met. Apollo had been so loud and nervous, like he was meeting a celebrity or something. Phoenix still felt bad for being so disappointing.

"Larry, this is Apollo Justice. He was the junior defense attorney at my firm before he left to open his own office all the way over in Khura'in Kingdom, and it's thanks to him I wasn't found guilty of murder and executed two years ago, too," he said cheerfully, like it was no big thing.

Larry came out of the kitchen and held out a hand for Apollo to shake. "Nice to meet you, kid. Dinner's almost done, guys, so you should all probably head to the dining room now."

Pearl poked her head out where Larry's had been a second ago. "It's going to be delicious everyone! Uncle Larry here is actually an amazing cook. You should get some lessons from him, Mr. Nick."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, Pearls, I'm not a good cook."

She looked around. "Hey, where's Mystic Maya? She's usually the first one at the dinner table."

"I'm coming! Let me just bring this box into the living room!" Maya called from the stairway.

"I've got some boxes of Christmas stuff too, Ms. Fey," Apollo said, picking up his boxes again and handing them over to her.

"Gee, thanks, Polly." She was just able to carry them all to the living room herself.

By the time Maya got back, everyone else was settled into the dining room. She scooted around the table to find her place in between Apollo and Phoenix on one side of the table. She gave Apollo a motherly pat on the head as she passed him by, as if he wasn't only a few years younger than her. "It's good to see you again, Polly."

Apollo reached up to fix his hair spikes. "You too, Ms. Fey."

"Oh, Polly! I'm not some old lady! I already told Athena and I'll tell you too, please call me Maya."

Larry, who for some reason had taken the place at the head of the table instead of Phoenix, reached forward to start cutting the turkey. "You guys are gonna love this, just ask Pearl here."

"It looks really good, Mr. Butz," Athena said from the other side of the table where she sat with Pearl and Trucy. Widget was lit up in a strange reddish colour Phoenix had never noticed before. When Larry had finally managed to cut a few slices, chatter resumed around the table as everyone started filling their plates.

Phoenix felt Maya entwine her fingers with his under the table while they waited for the next dish to come around and she leaned over to him to speak quietly. "Nick… I'm really happy right now."

He turned to her and smiled. "Me too."

"It's like, the whole family is here. Larry included."

"Yeah. We're only missing Edgeworth."

"Well, I'm sure he's having fun with his guest, whoever they are. We'll have to convince him to show up for New Year's with them though."

"Definitely."

Maya felt a slight poking on her shoulder and turned to see Apollo attempting to pass her a dish.

"Come on, no lovey dovey stuff at the table, you guys!" Trucy said from across the table.

"We weren't!" Maya said defensively, taking the dish from an eye rolling Apollo and starting to shovel mashed potatoes onto her plate.

"Save some for me, Maya," Phoenix said.

She stuck her tongue out at him and handed the dish over.


When dinner was finished and everyone had eaten a piece (or three in Maya's case) of Pearl's homemade apple pie, the kids headed downstairs to the basement. Apollo hated being included in the 'kid' group, being older than all of them by at least a few years, but when Athena told him she was going to kick his butt in Mario Kart he decided that he couldn't let that challenge go unaccepted. That left Maya, Phoenix and Larry to retire to the living room. The Christmas album Trucy was playing earlier was still softly playing in the background.

Larry settled into the one armchair in the room, allowing Maya and Phoenix to sit together on the couch.

"Larry, I really don't know what we would've done without you here to help cook tonight," Maya said, leaning back and patting her stomach to make a point. "It was honestly delicious. Nick and I definitely would've botched it and it wouldn't have been half as good."

"Aw, it was nothing. Just glad I could help." He glanced over to the Christmas tree then, and noticed the gifts he'd brought with him. "Hey, how about you guys open the things I got you? Trucy and Pearl can open theirs later or tomorrow for Christmas." He stood up to grab the two items from under the tree and passed each of them over.

Maya's was thin and wrapped in some red striped wrapping paper. "You go first, Maya," Larry said.

Maya tore into the paper, revealing two pieces of plain cardboard. Between them so they wouldn't bend were a few sheets of paper with various drawings on them. There were some flowers, animals, and nature scenes. At first Maya thought they were just things Larry had drawn to give to her, until she came to a drawing of a magatama, glowing green the way Phoenix's did.

"Larry…. What are these?" she asked, her voice almost in a whisper.

"They're Elise Deauxnim originals... I figured it was best that you have them. I just found them a few weeks ago when cleaning out my artist supplies and hadn't had the chance to bring them to Nick's office. I thought you could put them in frames or something."

She could only stare at them, her hands trembling ever so slightly. It'd been over nine years since her mother's death, and even before that she hadn't really known her mother that well and didn't have much to remember her by aside from the Master's talisman.

She set the pictures on the coffee table and stood up, letting a single tear slip down her cheek. Larry jumped off his chair as well. "M-Maya! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset!"

Phoenix reached for her, but she rushed at Larry, and grabbed him in a warm hug. "Thank you so much, Larry. I wasn't expecting something like this… Thank you."

He returned the hug, letting her go after a few seconds. For once he didn't have much to say. She wiped at her eyes and returned to the couch.

Phoenix wrapped an arm around her to give her a gentle squeeze. "You okay?"

"Yeah, Nick. I'm good. Thanks. I'll definitely buy some frames for these."

Larry nodded, glad that she had reeled herself in so quickly. "Well… open yours, Nick."

Phoenix was a little more reserved opening his than Maya was. He'd never been a fan of opening presents in front of people and having to pretend to like whatever they got him. But when he saw what Larry had purchased, a genuine smile found its way onto his face. "Wow, Larry. Really? You remember that?"

"Of course!" He dug into his pocket, pulling out his keys and showed off his own yellow Signal Samurai keychain. "I wasn't sure if you still had yours, but I figured not, since it's been about twenty-five years since we last watched it. I did remember you were always partial to the blue guy."

"Signal Samurai?" Maya said, her interest piqued at hearing the word 'samurai'. She leaned over to look at the box in Phoenix's hand. Inside on a little tuft of foam was a keychain of a blue samurai helmet.

"You never told Maya, the Steel Samurai fan that she is, about Signal Samurai, Nick?!" Larry said. "What have you been hiding from her all these years?"

Phoenix lifted the keychain out of the box and handed it to Maya to let her look at it. "When Larry, Edgeworth and I were kids there was a show on TV kind of like the Steel Samurai, called Signal Samurai. I think it was about obeying traffic laws or something?"

"There were three characters! Signal Red, Signal Blue, and Signal Yellow!" Larry said, clearly remembering more about it than Phoenix. "We used to know their catchphrases and poses and everything."

"Wow, Nick. You've been making fun of me all these years for liking the Samurai series, but you've been a closet fan all this time?"

"Not exactly," he said. "I did grow out of it by the time I was ten years old, unlike someone I know. But I will admit that watching Steel Samurai and all its spin-offs with you always did make me nostalgic. Not sure why I never told you."

"You know I'm going to have to find the old episodes online to watch, right?"

"Maya, it's a show from the late 90s."

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. If it's got 'Samurai' in the name, I've gotta watch it." She handed it back over to him. "Put it on your keychain."

"I will. I did lose the other one. I had it for a long time, but when I was disbarred I got rid of a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have. I kind of regret it now. That keychain was probably among the stuff I threw out." He looked at Larry. "You really put a lot of thought into these gifts, Larry. Thanks."

"No problem at all, Nick! I owe you anyway."

Maya got up and grabbed the box she'd brought downstairs earlier to hand over to Larry. "Sorry Larry. It was sort of last minute, but we couldn't let you go without."

Larry ripped his open just as quickly and excitedly as Maya had. He opened the box and pulled out a booklet tied together with string. His eyes quickly widened when he read the first page. "Um… guys if this is your subtle way of asking me to participate in a threesome, I'm flattered but whatever you might think of me, I'm not really into that-"

"WHAT?!" Maya almost jumped to the other side of the room to grab the gift out of Larry's hands. "This isn't for you!"

"'Good for one free lap dance'," Larry said, repeating what had been written on the homemade coupon. "Nick, you lucky dog. She made you a sexy coupon booklet."

Phoenix could only lean forward and put his face in his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Larry," Maya said, backing out of the room, her face beet red. "I-I mixed up the gift with one of Nick's! Whoops! I'll go get the right one!"

Larry was attempting not to laugh for his friend's sakes, they were both clearly embarrassed. "Wonder what else she's got planned for your Christmas night, huh, Nick?"

An embarrassed groan was the only response he got.


A/N: The Signal Samurai thing is from the AA anime (in case you haven't watched it). I loved that filler episode so much, it was so cute, so I had to include it in this.

And the next few chapters are probably going to be interconnected instead of one shots, just so you know/can look forward to it?

To my guest reviewers:

lol-ypop: Thank you and we shall see what the future holds. ;)

OneReviewThug: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it and find everyone in character! Sometimes it's hard to make sure I'm keeping them that way.

To everyone else, thanks so much for the reviews (if you were logged in I should've replied personally) and the favs/follows!