[November 9th, 3:44 pm, Ereb District Court – Defendant Lobby]

Robin threw himself down in a chaise lounge, his skeletal structure only just barely holding together. Morgan stood right in front of him, and Anna joined her, not far away.

"I can't believe it, Boss!" Morgan gushed. "You fought through the whole thing, and the whole summary at the end, and, plus, you were so cool when you told Gangrel off! It was amazing!"

"I'm glad I was around for this one, for sure," Anna agreed. "I don't think I've seen a trial that exciting since Fado's time."

Robin massaged his forehead. "When we get home, I'm taking a couple of aspirin, and avoiding that kind of excitement for as long as I can for the rest of my life."

"Aw, it'll find you again, Boss," said Morgan.

Robin's head rolled back. "You're probably right." He smiled anyway.

Renault appeared and broke in between them all. He stared straight at Robin, and the girls gave him room. "Mr. LeBlanc… feels funny to call you that now, but I want to give you my sincerest thanks."

"I think you can call me 'Robin' from now on. And you should be thanking Fado, if anyone. He knew just what was going to happen to you, and he prepared every last detail I needed."

"But you put it all together, lad. And he knew you could. That's why he called you."

Robin nodded wistfully. His expression turned a little more curious: "So, what are you going to do now, Renault?"

"After I told you what I knew, I made arrangements with an old army buddy to leave the country. There's no doubt Plegia will be seeing some political upheaval after all this, so I'm going to take that as my cue to bow out."

"Smart move. I imagine you want nothing to do with this place anymore."

"Not entirely. I have some fond memories here, in spite of everything that happened… but memories are all they are. I've got quite a future yet to think about, and none of it is happening here."

"I wish you all the best. Is there anything more the LeBlanc and co. Law Offices can do for you?"

Renault laughed. "I don't think so. I think Fado and his associates have done more than enough for me. But, if you'll allow me, there is something I'd like to do for you."

"Oh?" Robin's eyebrows jumped. "And what's that?"

"Well, we never really covered the matter of payment for acting as my defense…"

"Oh, you don't need to worry abou—Ow!" Robin's voice was muffled as Anna slapped her palm over his lips.

"What my lovely employer means is you don't have to pay us anything outside your immediate price range, sir," Anna said.

"Well, I've got quite a bit of money from my old jobs, and I won't need all of it for my retirement," Renault continued. "I think you folks ought to have some, as payment for an extraordinary case, and as a gift to my truest friend." He scribbled a figure down on a check and handed it to Anna. "How does that look?"

Anna's eyes swelled. She grinned gleefully as she held the check. "Looks like a winner to me!"

"That's very kind of you, Renault," Robin said, now free from Anna's grasp. "Thank you so much."

"It's exactly what you deserve, my boy. Keep living up to Fado's legacy. That's what the world needs now."

"Yes, sir," Robin replied.

"But… don't forget to keep being your own man along the way, all right? You didn't come this far just by imitating him."

"Right. Yeah… I think things are going to be very different for the firm going forward."

"I look forward to hearing of your future success," Renault said. With that, he waved them all farewell and proceeded out the courtroom doors—as a free man for the first time.

Before the group could even settle again, Heather came forward, Matthew behind her. "Well, hello, Mr. Hero."

"Heather," Robin greeted her warmly, "I figured you'd just be on your way after the ruling."

"I may be secretive, but that doesn't mean I'm callous," she said. "You're owed a congratulations after an ordeal like that. Especially because… well, I think we've all gotten a lot of closure outta this whole situation."

"No kidding," Matthew agreed. "To think, all along, the guy behind Leila's murder was so easy to find—damn! It makes my blood boil a little. But that's not what matters right now—that guy's gonna fry anyway. Like Heather said, I figure I owe you my thanks, at least, for helping to sort this whole mess out."

"You got me my witnesses," Robin told him, "and you risked your job. It never would've happened without you."

"That does make me feel a bit better… Oh, and, speaking of jobs, I've been asked to invite you to join the Ostian Bureau of Investigations. What do you think? We could use a guy with your critical thinking skills."

"Tempting, but I'm a little too attached to my law practice now."

Matthew nodded. "I figured you'd say something like that. Oh, well. Can't say I didn't try."

"What'll happen to you two now?" Robin asked. "Heather, I imagine you can go back to work, but Matthew…"

"Don't cry for me, Mr. LeBlanc," Matthew said, "I'm not dead yet. I will have to retire my mantle as a spy, but, from now on, I'll have a job in a more official capacity with the OIB."

"I hope it's safer than your last one."

"You and me both. Now that it's all over… I could use a little break from this kind of action."

"I'll have some other affairs to attend to as well," Heather said, "but I'll never be too far away. Do keep in touch, all right?"

"Sure. Definitely."

"Oh, and… um… I'm sorry I was so short with you when we first met. If I'd had any idea how this was all going to turn out, I'd have never—"

"It's all right. Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. Just promise to take care of yourself, and we'll be all square."

"I can do that. Oh, and, when I get a moment, I was going to place some flowers on Nephenee's grave. I've been telling her all about you, I'm sure she'd like it if you came along."

"I'll be there."

Both spies walked away in unison.

"Hehe," Anna giggled, "and here I thought she stopped in because she had a crush on you."

"Yeah… I don't think I'm quite as pretty as Nephenee."

"Certainly not."

Robin frowned.

Anna laughed. "Oh, come on, you know I'm just messing with you. You've got your own charms."

"Oh?" Robin leaned forward. "That's new. Go on, what are these charms of mine?"

"You're charmingly naïve, for one," Anna said, sticking out her tongue.

Lloyd Reed cleared his throat. The trio looked up at him.

"Oh, Lloyd!" exclaimed Robin. "I thought you'd taken off already."

"Thought about it, but I decided I wanted to size you up one more time before I left," he said. "I was wrong about you. And that's not something I say often."

"Did it bother you to lose again? It's obvious you weren't fighting me as hard as before," Robin replied.

"Nah. I'm done with that 'winning' and 'losing' stuff. We're lawyers, LeBlanc. We win when Lady Justice gets her due, and lose when she doesn't. That's all there is to it."

"Well said."

"It was you who helped me remember that. You wouldn't know this, growing up in Plegia, but my dad, Brendan Reed, was one of the most feared prosecutors in Ylisse during his time. For a while, I tried to follow in his footsteps. He was a good lawyer: stalwart, but honest, and even empathetic. But a convict he put away got loose and came after him… after that, my brother, Linus, and I fell in with a bad crowd. Linus got caught up in some drug business, and he ended up dead, too. That's when I returned to the prosecutor's office and swore that I'd bring down every scumbag they brought in there.

"I'm sorry…" Robin murmured. "I had no idea."

"Like I said, you wouldn't," Lloyd answered. "But that was my fault. I saw defense attorneys like you as mere extensions of their clients—cowards trying to wriggle free of justice's grasp. But you… damned if you didn't kick my ass back into reality. My dad would be ashamed of me for only caring about locking people up instead of finding out it they really did the deed."

"He sounds like a great man."

"He was… and I'm going to be just as great. Which is why the next time you and I meet in court, it's not gonna be quite so easy for you, understand?"

"As long as it's a fair trial, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Lloyd Reed smiled once more. "Stay safe." He disappeared as quickly as he'd managed to materialize.

Robin watched him leave and checked the windows as the door closed. The sky was growing red, and cool air was washing over the building. The chatter from members of the gallery had died down to only a soft stream of white noise. Gradually, Robin picked himself back up. "All right, let's get back to the hotel and rest. We've got a bit of a drive ahead of us tomorrow."

[November 9th, 6:03 pm, Roncontra Hotel]

Robin was draped over the sofa. Morgan rocked side to side in a chair across from him, her eyes glued to the TV, which was currently tuned to the news. Of course, all the information was about the trial. Morgan watched the sketch of the defense bench flash on screen. She touched her hair. "It's not that frizzy…"

Anna was on the phone, speaking with the utility companies for the office. Now that the case was over, her real work had begun again. Robin was all too pleased to leave that aspect of the job to her.

"Boss," Morgan said through a yawn, "how long do you think it'll be before I'm ready to stand trial with you for real? Like, as a lawyer?"

"It might be a while," Robin scratched his head, "you'd need to pass the bar, and I don't have the money to send you to law school. I'm happy to teach you what I know, but you'll probably need better tutelage than I can give…"

"Oh…"

"Er, but don't feel bad! We'll get you there, I promise. Besides, you've got plenty of growing up to do and fun to have before you turn boring like me."

That made Morgan giggle. She turned her attention back to the TV.

Seconds later, there was a knock at the door.

"That's probably our food," Robin said, slowly dragging himself off the sofa. He walked to the door and opened it, only to find Eirika behind it. "E-Eirika?" he started. "Oh, uh, come in!"

She did as she was invited and pulled up a chair from the dining table so she could sit between Robin and Morgan. "I wanted to stop by and give you my regards before I get back to work."

"Thanks, Eirika. But you didn't need to worry about us. You should focus on what you're doing. I mean, how's Ephraim?"

"It's probably better not to go into detail, but… he's safe. He won't be prosecuting for a little while, but I don't think he'll mind an extended vacation after all this."

"I hear that. Oh, and, um… have you, er… made arrangements for Fado yet?"

She nodded. "Getting there. I spoke with mom about the cemetery and the funeral. Oh, and, I hope you don't mind, but we're going to use a separate firm to execute his will."

"I don't mind at all. I doubt my work would be any good with my head still spinning like this."

Eirika smiled. "I'll be sure to pass along the details as they come in. As long as mom has me, and I have the kids, we'll get through it."

"Good to hear. If there's anything you need… anything at all…"

"I'll call in any favors I need. One more thing I'd like to know, though…" Eirika turned her head around to face Morgan. "How have things been with you, young lady?"

"It's been great, mom!" Morgan reported. "Mr. LeBlanc is a great boss, and he's been teaching me so much about law, even when it's late and I can tell he's super tired! Plus, he only asks me to clean the toilets once a week, and he lets me read his entire library of books as long as I put them back in order! And, of course, being in trials has been amazing!"

"Okay, okay!" Eirika laughed. "I think I get the picture. I'm glad you're happy with what you're doing. You think you wanna be a lawyer like Mr. LeBlanc?"

"You bet!" Morgan clenched her fists. "Seeing how amazing he is, I can't imagine doing anything else!"

"Good, sweetie," Eirika said, "that's very good to hear. Make sure you're nice to Mr. LeBlanc, and that you do what he asks of you, okay?"

"You say that like I'm not nice to everybody, mom."

"That's because I knew you when you became a teenager."

"Okay, so I had a rebellious phase…"

"I'm glad to see you're doing well, sweetie. I'm glad to see that everyone is doing well." She stood up. "But I think it's probably time for me to get going."

Robin rose, too. "It was good to see you, Eirika. Do you want me to walk you out?"

She blushed. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I can find the door on my own, thanks."

Robin scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, yeah, of course. Sorry."

"Take care, everyone."

As soon as Eirika walked out, another figure slinked into the open doorway. Robin looked down at it: "Tharja?"

"Uh, hey," she mewled.

"Were you just… waiting out there?"

"Well, I was gonna knock, but then I heard so many voices and I figured you were busy, so I wasn't sure if I should just wait around, or knock, or come back another time, or…"

"Thank you," Robin said.

"Oh," she stopped, cheeks growing red. "Um, yeah. N-No problem. I'm glad that scumbag finally got what was his."

"No doubt. So, er… did you want to say something, or…?"

"Oh! Um… I just wanted to, uh… ask you… Um, you're heading back to Ylisse, right?"

"That's the plan."

"I just wanted to say, uh… I'm getting a new apartment in a few weeks. I figured I'd ask… um, are you sure you don't want to stay in Plegia?"

"That's a very kind offer, but… well, I can't just give up my law practice now. Plus, as much fondness as I have for Plegia, I think I can safely say that Ylisse feels more like home now. Not to mention, Plegia's going to be experiencing some changes soon. So, as a matter of fact, are you sure you're okay staying here, Tharja?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," she said. "I figured you'd want to leave, but I just thought I'd ask…"

"Let me know when you're all moved in, though, okay?" Robin said. "I'd love to come visit and talk about the old days."

She beamed up at him. "I-I'd like that, too." Her eyes darted away as she thought about something. "Um… just, for good luck, until I finish up… could I…?" She stretched out her arms.

"Oh, yeah." Robin reciprocated, wrapping her in an embrace. Tharja pressed her face into his chest and sighed contentedly.

As they broke the hug, Tharja looked up at him again, face even redder than before. "I'm glad I got to see you again… despite the circumstances."

"Likewise, Tharja," he said, "and I'll see you again soon, okay?"

"I'll hold you to that…" She drifted giddily back out the door.

Robin flopped back down on the sofa and looked at the TV. More trial news. Flashy red graphics covered the screen. Anna walked in as she hung up her phone. She eyed the door. "That delivery had better get here in five minutes, or they can forget about a tip."

[November 10th, 12:48 am, Roncontra Hotel]

Robin rolled his head over to the other side of his pillow. It was no use, of course. How could he possibly sleep on a night like this? His heart and head were still racing, albeit, perhaps, in different directions. To one end, he had avenged Fado—no, more accurately, he'd gotten justice for Fado. That was more important. He'd set the law upon the cretin who hurt Fado, and, in that way, demonstrated that justice could still prevail in this world, mad as it was.

But the victory felt hollow, too. Fado's case had been solved, but much still had not changed. It might not ever change. The fears that plagued Robin's mind would never leave. Plegia was erupting into anarchy at this very moment. And the categorical injustice of the Substitute Culpability Clause still remained in place, despite the repeated demonstration of its ineffectiveness. Robin sighed, supposing he couldn't hope to fix all the world's ills in one night. Still, it would've made him feel better to know that there was something he could do.

As his mind wandered, he also found himself thinking of what Renault had told him, and of the glimpses Gangrel had teased him with. It wasn't possible that they were lying—Gangrel wouldn't have done what he did if he wasn't who they believed he was. And now he would forever be saddled with that knowledge. The rightful heir to the throne of the Reformation government was lying on a sofa in an average-quality motel just a few miles outside the capital. And in a few hours, he'd leave the country.

Part of him considered going before the world and revealing the truth, and he supposed that someone might discover that information if they looked hard enough, but the more rational part of his brain told him he would never embrace that life even if it was offered to him. Gangrel was a man corrupted by anger and hated, but the reasons underlying that hatred were not entirely unfounded: the Reformation government was made up of the most callous kinds of opportunists at best and genuine backstabbers at worst. A throne held up by injustice was not one Robin had any intention of sitting on.

It might mean anarchy now, but Plegia would be able to determine its own fate. That was surely for the best.

Robin rolled his head around again and saw the green block numbers of a digital clock leering back at him. Four hours' sleep would probably be enough, right?

[November 10th, 8:12 am, LeBlanc & Co. Law Offices]

Robin turned around and pushed the door open as gently as he could with his rear as Anna came down the hall behind him. He swung through the door, balancing Morgan carefully in his arms. As soon as they entered, he took her to the spare room where her bed sat, and gently lowered her onto it. He waited a moment to ensure she wasn't disturbed, and when he heard her breathing softly, he backed up and shut the door to the room slowly behind him.

Anna walked over to her desk and sat down in her chair, propping up her laptop and phone, as well as their chargers. She looked back at Robin. "Well… I'll spare you from having to hear 'congratulations' again, but… you did well, Robin."

"Thanks." He let out a sigh. "It wasn't easy, but… I did it. We did it. I was so afraid, when I got that call… it seems like forever ago. I was afraid I was never going to find out why it happened. Never going to learn what happened. I would've just missed his last call, and—poof."

"But now you know. He trusted you with his life, Robin."

"I wish I could've—"

"Ah-ah. We're done with the wishing and the being sorry. He called you, knowing exactly how far away you were, knowing that you couldn't stop it, but that you could fix it after the damage was done. That's the kind of faith he had in you, Robin."

"Right… Every time I think of him, I still see him like I did when I was a scrappy little kid with no idea what was happening, when it seemed like he was ten feet tall. The idea of him relying on me for anything seems so remote…"

"Well, you've got people of your own relying on you now," Anna glanced at the spare room, "so there's no more room for doubt."

"Point taken." Robin paused and then smiled. "You know, for as much as Fado did for me, you're probably the biggest reason I'm still here, Anna."

"Oh, c'mon. That can't be true."

"It is, really. That night, after Pelleas's trial… that was easily the worst night of my life. And if you hadn't been there, who knows what kind of thoughts might've festered in my head. But you were around, even when you didn't need to be, and because of that… I had the courage to get through the night and make it to the next day. I can't express my gratitude for you always being there for me, Anna."

"O-Oh… um, d-don't worry about it. Happy to do it."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just… you're not usually quite so… expressive? Is that the word? You're usually more reserved about your feelings and all. You hide it under sarcasm and stuff. I can tell."

Robin took a few steps closer to her desk. "If I ever made you feel like I didn't care about you, I'm sorry."

"N-No! That's not what I meant! I was just trying to say you're not usually so… vulnerable."

Robin smiled. "It's a weird time. Forgive me my weird behavior while it's happening."

"I don't mind the change of pace." Anna laughed.

"This has to stay our little secret, though," Robin went on. "Can't have anyone thinking the head attorney is a nice guy."

Anna laughed more. "Oh no. Coldest bastard I ever met. Even his… hands… are…"

Robin looked down, noticing Anna's slip. In getting ever closer to her during their joking, he'd placed his hand on top of hers. The small, slim fingers beneath his own didn't resist, and they didn't surrender. He became very conscious of the warmth of his own palm pressing onto hers.

He turned his head back to Anna, finding her returning his stare.

[November 18th, 12:07 pm, Flower Airlines Flight 207]

Renault LeBlanc reclined back in his seat. He picked up a glass of room-temperature champagne from the tray table in front of him. He sipped it and thought of Robin and Fado as the bubbles fizzed down his esophagus. The legal world in Ylisse had a lot of growing left to do, of that he could be sure. Fado knew that. And Fado also knew that it would be in good hands with Robin LeBlanc leading the charge. Renault glanced out the window and saw the skyscrapers and rocky shores of Ylisse slipping away underneath him. It had been a while since he last felt so light.

Fado would be proud. Robin had proven himself worthy. Everything would be all right. That kid was so bright he could shed light on even the darkest corners of the legal world, no doubt.

A soft tone informed passengers there was to be an announcement. "Attention, passengers. This is your captain speaking. We should be looking at a comfortable flight for most of our voyage, although we may run into some clouds as we make our descent. Make sure you have your jackets and umbrellas ready, because the weather is looking rainy on the other side. We'll arrive at our destination of Krakenburg in approximately six hours."

[Turnabout in the Tower ~ End]