There are not words to properly express my gratitude to PseudoTwili for causing the spark that started this story, coming up with brilliant ideas, and helping me make sure everyone is in character, and to my anonymous friend for helping me polish the beginning. Thank you SO much, you two!

Slight canon divergence from the very end of Spirit of Justice's DLC case. No romantic pairings.

Disclaimer: In case it wasn't already obvious, Ace Attorney belongs to Capcom. If I owned AA, Trucy would have canonically been at the wedding, and we'd have DGS as well as an official translation for AAI2.

I'm Taller Than Yooooou!

By Daffodil Fairy

The cards fell to the floor yet again. Trucy huffed and picked them up. Her initial idea was to scatter them far and wide right before they burst into flames, but Daddy wouldn't allow that. He insisted that having burning cards, or the remains of them, potentially falling on the audience was too dangerous. Consequently, she was trying to find something else to do with them, but it wasn't going very well. It was immensely frustrating that she couldn't figure out what do with one of the simplest parts of her upcoming act.

Recently, whenever she tried to think up and practice new magic tricks, memories of having Apollo as her assistant would barge in uninvited, interrupting her brainstorming process. She'd tried to recruit Athena, but even when the older girl didn't flee with some absurd excuse, it wasn't half the same.

Even if Apollo were to refuse to assist her, nothing would make her happier right now than seeing him. He'd been gone for four months! The agency wasn't right without him.

She heard the office door open. It was probably just Athena back from her jog.

"Hi, Trucy."

She knew that loud voice anywhere.

"POLLY!"

Trucy barreled into Apollo, almost knocking him to the ground as she squeezed him into a vise-like grip. "I missed you SOOOOOOO much!" A few tears threatened to escape, but her joy at being reunited was so great she barely noticed.

"Can't… breathe…. Trucy!"

She loosened her hold just slightly. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Shame on you!"

"Supposed to be a surprise," he muttered. "Still can't breathe."

Trucy finally let go, then skipped into the next room where her father sat doing paperwork. "Daddy! Daddy! Look who's here!"

~V~

"C'mon, Apollo!" Athena said, "You have to come with us! You need a new outfit too!"

"Why?" He protested, "Mr. Wright is going to wear his suit to the wedding."

"Pleeeeeease, Polly?" Trucy clasped her hands together and made a puppy-dog face. "It'll be more fun if you come with us!"

Apollo was about to reiterate a negative response, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to.

"….Alright, alright," he huffed, "I'll come." Why was it so hard to say no to Trucy? Sometimes it seemed as though she'd cast a magic spell on him.

After taking a taxi to a nearby mall, the girls dragged Apollo to a store with nothing but apparel that looked like it would cost two years' worth of his earnings. True to their appearance, the price tags nearly gave him a heart attack. He spent several minutes arguing with his companions before they agreed to go to a different shop.

Fortunately the next store contained garments that were more affordable. Going over to the section with gowns and the like, Athena selected a couple different yellow dresses that looked appealing and also added a blue one with a purple sash. Trucy's choices included the colors sky blue and the shade of midnight.

Athena skipped off to the dressing room, but Trucy appeared to be contemplating something. After a few moments, she spied a knee-length, vibrant red dress with flared sleeves and a violet-colored sash.

Grinning, she grabbed it. "I'm going to try out your color, Polly! You should try mine, too."

Apollo raised his eyebrows, and then frowned. "If I dressed in blue, my clothes would look too much like Mr. Wright's."

"Ooh, I know!" A devious smile crept onto the magician's face. "You could buy a suit exactly like Daddy's, and you could also wear it for Halloween!"

"No. I am not dressing up as your father. I'd never hear the end of it."

"Aaaaw…" Trucy pouted. She contemplated further attempts to persuade him, but one look at his expression told her that no amount of wheedling would change his mind.

Trucy went to try on her selections, and a little later, both she and Athena emerged wearing their final choices. Trucy had decided she looked great in red, while Athena stuck to yellow.

"Now we look like siblings, Polly!" the younger girl exclaimed, twirling around and practically glowing with excitement.

After his companions changed back into their regular clothes and Apollo insisted they hang the rejected garments on the unwanted merchandise rack instead of leaving them lying on the floor, he expected their shopping expedition to be over.

He was wrong.

First Trucy insisted that he looked absolutely smashing with a purple bow tie. Then the ladies revealed they felt that none of the numerous pairs of footwear they owned would go with their dresses.

Girls. Why on earth did they need so many shoes?

His co-worker was about to try on a pair when Apollo noticed her feet were bare.

"Athena, if you don't have any socks with you, there's a box with disposable ones over there."

"Pfft. Who needs them? My feet aren't diseased or anything."

"Even so, you're still breaking the rules—"

Athena slipped the sandals on, ignoring him. When Trucy saw the older girl's actions, she decided to yank off the socks she had been wearing before trying on the next piece of footwear she was considering.

Realizing his protests were useless, he gave up, but continued to glare. "If you get into trouble, none of this is my responsibility."

Athena said nothing and proceeded to stand up in a pair of white sandals with heels that gave her a couple extra inches. A mischievous thought suddenly stuck her and she walked closer to Apollo.

"Ha ha! I'm taller than you!"

"Yeah, by what? A whole inch?" The older attorney attempted to sound nonchalant, but his irritation didn't escape Athena's special hearing.

Deciding to tease him further, she donned a different pair of sandals with heels so tall the soles were almost vertical, and then pranced back over. That is, she tried to, but her stride was rather awkward.

"Hey Apollo, I'm waaaaaay taller than you now!"

He crossed his arms and scowled. "Those don't look very safe."

"Pooh. You just don't want me to wear them because they make you feel like a shorty."

Trucy pursed her lips, looked at Apollo, then Athena, then back at him again.

Apollo and Athena continued arguing about the safety of the shoes, but she remained stubborn and insisted she wasn't leaving the store without them. Unfortunately, letting her win still didn't get him a ticket home. Both girls maintained that his outfit was too casual and he simply must buy something else.

First they goaded him over to the men's shoe section and suggested a pair with an astronomical price.

He responded by saying, "Do you know how long it would take for me to pay for those?! I'd have to take on at least a hundred cases or milk a thousand yaks!"

It took forever to convince them he didn't need to buy any footwear, but even then his troubles weren't over; the girls insisted a new suit was essential. Apollo stubbornly refused, but Trucy kept on pestering him.

Finally, he'd had enough. "If I buy that, I won't ever be able to fly back here to visit you again."

Trucy gasped. "Never mind, you don't need it! You can wear your tired old rags."

He drooped. "Excuse me? My suit is fine, thank you very much."

"You should at least spruce it up with something. That bow tie I showed you earlier would look great on you, and it's cheap!"

"Fine." Anything to get her off of his back.

Trucy constructed of mental image of Apollo wearing his suit with the new addition.

"You need to change something else too," she decided. "You should wear your jacket so you'll look more formal."

Apollo frowned. "I'll roll my sleeves down, but I'm not wearing that thing."

"But they'll look all wrinkly if you don't cover them up."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll iron my shirt, okay?"

"Hm… You're still lacking something." Her gaze bounced back and forth as she eyed different accessories.

"Remember, I don't have a bunch of money to throw around."

She couldn't figure out what else to add to his outfit, at least not without spending too much, so after Athena picked out a pair of gloves and white headband, both of which had bows, they purchased their items and headed back to the office.

In the taxi, both girls were whispering and giggling. Apollo shrugged it off, figuring it wasn't something he needed to worry about.

He should have known better.

~V~

Shortly before it was time to leave for the wedding, Apollo joined the rest of the agency members at the office. His sleeves, which were rolled down, were ironed crisp and flat, with his left one tucked under his bracelet. His bow tie was perfectly symmetrical, and his bangs extra sharp and perky.

Maya, who was snickering at something Trucy and Athena had said, was wearing a purple kimono and a floral hairpiece.

Athena had a few pink sweet peas tucked into her light blue sash, which was tied in a bow at the back. Much to Apollo's dismay, she had not changed her mind about wearing the sandals she'd previously bought.

Trucy was wearing her new purple pumps, which fortunately only had a short heel. She also had several violets tucked into her hair, and her loose ponytail of sorts was contained with a red ribbon instead of the usual gold band. She also wore a diamond-shaped earring that matched the flowers.

Almost as soon as Apollo entered the office, Athena crowed, "Loooooooook, Boss, I'm taller!"

Phoenix smiled, but then said to her, "Better be careful. Prosecutor Blackquill won't be happy with us if anything happens to you."

Athena rolled her eyes. "You too, Boss? I can look after myself."

"You're such an old worrywart, Nick. Now come over here." Maya dragged him to a different corner of the room.

Athena grinned and nodded at Trucy, who walked up to Apollo with an innocent smile and her hands behind her back.

"Hey, Polly! You look great, but don't you think you should replace that boring badge with something else?"

A flash of annoyance crossed his face. "It looks fine."

Trucy moved her hands so they were visible, showing the small bloom she held. "You should put this violet on your lapel!"

"Are you kidding me?!" He jerked back slightly. "Flowers are for girls!"

At that moment Phoenix came back over. He wore a stern expression, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. "What did you say, Apollo?"

The younger man started sweating when he noticed the white gardenia that now sat in his boss's buttonhole. "Uuuuuuuuh… What I meant to say was… violets are girly!"

The females in the room giggled, and Phoenix's twitching lips broke into a smile.

Trucy picked up a different flower. "In that case, Polly, maybe a bachelor's button will suit your tastes better. It's perfect for a lonely old bachelor!"

Apollo scowled. "Hey! I'm not old!"

Reluctantly, he unpinned his badge and allowed it to be replaced with the purplish-blue bloom. After the group finished their remaining preparations, they hailed a taxi to take them to the wedding.

Everything went well until the bride, Ellen, threw the bouquet.

Unfortunately for the girls, it sailed right over them. (Phoenix didn't want his daughter thinking about getting engaged yet, but she'd insisted she could attempt to catch the bouquet just for fun—he was the one who needed to think about getting married.)

When Athena realized who had caught the bundle of flowers, her blood boiled and she set off in hot pursuit. Apparently she wasn't the only one who was furious at Larry, because Ema, Maya, and Trucy were right behind her.

The irate redhead only made it a few steps before she tripped and fell flat on her face. There were a few surprised gasps, which turned to chuckles after she quickly stood up. Her face turned the color of raspberries.

Apollo looked incredibly smug. "They're safe, huh?"

Athena could think of nothing to say, so she remained silent.

Trucy had a thoughtful look on her face. "I think I've finally decided, Polly. It really is best that you be the second tallest member of the Agency. You pull it off better."

Phoenix chuckled, and even Edgeworth almost looked amused.

Athena groaned. As soon as she was home, she was going to take these monstrous shoes off, bury them in an abandoned corner of her closet, and never, ever wear them again.