The next week was quiet around the office. No new cases, no investigations. He gave Apollo and Athena some busy work to keep them occupied, so it was a bit startling when Athena approached him one day with an eager glint in her eyes.

"Mr. Wright!" she exclaimed, pointing at his face.

He pointed at himself. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am."

"Mr. Wright!" she said again. "They're re-opening the renovated courtroom."

"Oh? Well that's good news," he replied, spearing his boxed salad with a plastic fork.

"And they're having a party!"

"A party?" he asked, looking up from his lunch.

"Well, it's not a party party. More like a ceremony. What would you call it? A christening?" She poked her cheek in thought.

He shrugged. "I guess so…"

"So Polly and I were thinking we should all go. I mean, there hasn't been much going on around here lately, so it would be really nice to get out. And under the circumstances, it might be therapeutic. Plus, it would look good for the Agency! And it's an excuse to get dressed up and maybe have a nice dinner afterwards."

Phoenix turned it over in his head, and then nodded. "Sure, why not?" He narrowed his eyes. "As long as you guys pay for yourselves at dinner."

Athena jumped in triumph. "Yes sir!" she exclaimed. "This is gonna be great! I can't remember the last time I got to dress up all fancy."

Phoenix chewed a piece of lettuce slowly. "We wear suits every day."

She cocked her hips. "Mr. Wright, you can't wear your work suit to something like this. You have formal wear, don't you?"

"I guess I could wear the suit I wore to take the oath."

"That's the spirit!" she said.

A moment later, Apollo walked through the front door.

"Guess what, Apollo? We're going to the christening." Athena grinned at him.

"Oh," he replied. "Goody."

She wiggled a little. "We get to wear fancy clothes and drink champagne!"

"How nice." He handed Phoenix a small brown parcel. "Package just came for you."

"Thanks, Apollo." He took the package and tucked it under the newspaper on his desk.

"Aren't you excited, Apollo?" Athena asked, her teeth showing.

"Yes. I am thrilled. I get to put on a stiff suit and go to my place of work during my time off."

She frowned. "Yeah? Were you planning on doing something more important with your time?"

"No, it's just the principle of the thing," he said, crossing his arms.

"So you get to go out and have a good time with your friends instead of sitting inside catching up on your comics," she said hotly. "How terrible."

He bristled. "Is that all you think I do in my time off?"

"Do you deny it?" she asked.

His cheeks flared pink and he raised his finger.

"Hey you two, save it for court," Phoenix chastised.

Athena harrumphed. "Anyway, you don't have to be a buzzkill. This could be really fun. Trucy's super excited too."

"Trucy?" Phoenix asked.

"Yeah, of course! Did you think she wouldn't want to go?"

He swallowed, tapping his finger on the desk. "I just didn't think about it."

Athena wagged her finger at him. "She's part of the Agency too you know."

"Of course." He smiled, holding his chin high. "She started it."

That night he told Trucy the news and she leapt up from the dinner table to hug him.

"This is gonna be so much fun, dad."

He chuckled. "I'm sure."

As soon as they were finished with dinner, she ran into her room and started looking through her closet for something she could wear. He stood in the doorway and watched her hold up dresses in front of the mirror, smiling to himself.

"If you want to go look for a dress I'll take you tomorrow," Phoenix said.

She nearly dropped the dress she was holding and stared at him.

"You're offering to go clothes shopping with me?" she asked.

Phoenix laughed. "Well, just the one time won't hurt. You look pretty excited."

"I've never been to something like this! My type of glamour is more along the lines of Vegas-chic."

Phoenix nodded. "Alright, we'll go tomorrow."

Trucy jumped up and hugged him tight. "Thanks dad! You're the best."

"Yeah yeah," he said softly as he ruffled her hair.

The next day he helped Trucy pick out an elegant pale blue dress with a silk sash around the middle. Phoenix grumbled about the price but in the end he wouldn't let Trucy pay for any of it.

"Call it an early birthday present," he said.

She hugged him extra tight and that night she made dinner for the both of them.

On the day of the re-opening, Phoenix got his suit out of the closet and hung it up on his door. It was a black suit with a thin blue tie, simple but just within his price range. After a bit of deliberation, he decided to wear his waistcoat with it. He styled his hair thoroughly, making sure his spikes were as spiky as could be. For a finishing touch he added the small silver cufflinks that Trucy had gotten for him when he retook the bar.

"Daddy! You look so handsome," Trucy said, grinning ear to ear in the doorway.

She looked like a princess in her new dress. He smiled back. "There's my girl."

He spun her around and helped her put on a little silver necklace with a turquoise diamond-shaped pendant.

The sun was just beginning to set when they stepped out of their cab and onto the pavement in front of the district courthouse. Athena was waiting for them on the curb and waved as Phoenix paid the driver. She ran up and gave Trucy a squeeze.

"Mon dieu! You look so lovely in your dress!"

Trucy ducked her head and giggled. "Thanks, Athena. You look beautiful!"

Athena was wearing a sparkling, slinky dress in yellow. The color worked surprisingly well for a gown. Widget had been transformed into a stylish chunky bracelet for the evening.

When Phoenix turned around, Athena squealed. "Oh Mr. Wright, you look fantastic! You should dress up more often."

Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "We talked about this. I wear a suit every day. Every. Day."

"Yeah, I know." Athena shrugged. "I just mean you should wear nicer clothes."

Phoenix scowled.

"Anything's an improvement over sweatpants, right?" Trucy added.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Athena said, tapping her chin. "You should've seen him walking down the streets of Munich next to me and Prosecutor Edgeworth. He looked like a criminal."

Phoenix shoved his hands into his pockets and grumbled, pushing past them while Trucy laughed. They walked through the lobby towards the stanchions that marked where they were supposed to go. Moments later, Apollo walked into the lobby wearing a tapered charcoal gray suit, tapping away at his phone.

Athena whistled and he lifted his head up and came over to them.

"Ooh Polly, how fancy!" Trucy cooed when she saw him.

"Thanks." He rubbed his head. "I got it back when I first started practicing. I guess it's nice to have an opportunity to break it out again."

"I knew you'd come around," Athena said, patting him on the back. "Let's go check out the digs!"

The newly rebuilt courtroom wasn't much different from the old one, but everything looked clean and crisp and shiny. Athena approached the defense stand and ran her hands over the new surface.

"This'll be perfect…" she said with reverence. After a long pause, she slammed her hands down onto the wood. "Listen to that impact! Perfect." A few heads turned towards her.

"Ahem," Apollo whispered, and proceeded to slam his fists on the stand. "Not bad," he said.

Trucy tried next, her tongue poking out in concentration as she stared down the gleaming wooden surface. Her impact wasn't quite as powerful as the others, but it was an admirable attempt. Athena golf-clapped for her.

Phoenix walked up between them. "Step aside, kids," he said. He closed his eyes and found his center.

The resulting lightning strike of flesh against wood echoed so loudly through the chamber that several heads turned to the ceiling in fear that it would collapse. After a few moments of awed silence, Trucy cheered. "That was amazing!"

He tried to smile but it came out a grimace. Phoenix peeled himself away from the table, holding his hands out in front of him.

"Oh god," he said softly. "Oh my god that hurt so bad. Holy crap, my hands."

"Are you okay, Mr. Wright?" Athena said.

Trucy inspected her dad's hands. "Yikes, poor daddy. At least you aren't in the middle of a case right now."

Small tears of pain were welling up in the corners of his eyes. "I think they're bruised. Or broken."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Athena asked, putting her hand on his forearm. "Do you need me to call someone?"

They heard a small snort and glared at Apollo. "What?" he asked, clearly trying to hold in his reaction. "I'm surprised this has never happened before."

"Who says it hasn't?" Phoenix said, his voice coming back a little less pained. He blew on his reddened hands and shook them out gently. "Well, they're getting numb. I don't know if that's good or bad."

The group huddled around Phoenix, each one advising him on how to get the feeling back in his hands. A soft murmur began to spread through the crowded courtroom. A moment later, several police officers and prosecutors filtered in through the large double doors.

Klavier strode inside first wearing a chic Italian suit with skinny lapels and a long black strap across his chest. He spotted Phoenix and his group immediately and winked at them from across the room. Apollo folded his arms and Trucy waved at him.

Simon entered behind a group of officers. He was wearing a black double-breasted jacket and an apathetic stare as he examined the new room. He whistled sharply and Taka landed on his shoulder. Simon scratched his head and removed his little striped bandana. In its place he tied another bandana that looked like a tuxedo front. Trucy looked to Athena, her wide eyes questioning, but Athena just shrugged.

Klavier came up to the defense stand and leaned over the side, his head resting on his hand. "How are you all doing tonight?"

"Great, Mr. Gavin," Trucy said. "Well, except for daddy. He had a little accide-"

"Shh," Phoenix said, giving her a small nudge.

Klavier raised his eyebrow.

"Um, never mind!" Trucy said quickly. She tilted her head, examining his clothes. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to his back.

Now that he was closer they could see that the strap over his suit was attached to something large, black and shiny.

"Ah, that would be my black tie guitar," he answered, pulling the guitar around to his chest with a flourish. It was painted a glossy black, with a silver Gavinners logo on the body.

"Wow!" Trucy exclaimed. "Why did you bring a guitar?"

"Why do you think he brought a guitar," Apollo grumbled.

Klavier grinned. "You are not wrong, Herr Forehead." He strummed out a few chords.

Trucy's eyes sparkled and she clapped with glee.

"Aren't we lucky," Apollo said.

Klavier turned to him. "And don't you look charming this evening. I don't think I've ever seen you wear a jacket, ja?"

Apollo kept his arms crossed tight but he looked a little flustered by the sudden compliment. "I-I don't know. I get hot easily."

"I'll bet you do," Klavier said with a toothy grin.

Athena giggled and Apollo turned bright red.

Another low murmur started up around them, followed by the entrance of one Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth. He was dressed in an elegant black suit with a maroon bow tie, a long gray scarf draped over his jacket and thick black gloves.

In an instant everyone's eyes were on him. He stopped and checked the fastening of his gloves. A small squeak emanated from the direction of the defense stand and echoed throughout the chamber.

Edgeworth looked up and spotted the gathering of defense attorneys. He smiled and walked over to them, politely sidling by a smattering of officers who tried to corner him for some small talk.

As he approached, Klavier let out a loud wolf-whistle. Edgeworth glared at him and Klavier looked around as though trying to figure out where the sound had come from.

"Mr. Edgeworth!" Trucy called out. "I didn't think you could look fancier than you usually do."

Edgeworth smiled bashfully.

"Thank you, Ms. Wright. Might I say you're looking quite beautiful in your dress."

She did a curtsy and beamed at him.

Klavier leaned towards Apollo. "What's happening right now," he whispered.

"Huh?" Apollo said. "Oh, right. He gets like that with Trucy."

"How strange," Klavier responded, rubbing his chin.

"Wright," Edgeworth continued with a nod. "You look nice. I assume Trucy helped you dress."

Phoenix straightened his shoulders. "Haha, you're a riot. Good to see you finally decided to dress up for court."

Edgeworth gave him a tired glance. They stared at each other and then broke out into a mutual grin. Edgeworth offered his hand and without thinking, Phoenix took it. As soon as they touched Phoenix yelped and pulled away. Edgeworth's eyes widened in alarm.

Phoenix stepped back and massaged his hand. "Sorry, I had a fisting accident earlier," he said as he rubbed his aching palm.

Everyone became transfixed on him. Edgeworth looked deeply concerned, and stared down at his own hand.

"Oh!" Phoenix shouted. "No no no that's not - I mean – I just pounded too hard!"

Athena burst out laughing, doubling over with the force of it. Trucy giggled behind her hand and Apollo's eyes started to water. Klavier stared at him slack jawed and Edgeworth turned ghostly pale.

"That's not! That's not what I-" Phoenix said, covering his mouth, his face a bright glowing red.

Trucy cleared her throat. "What daddy means is that he hurt his hands earlier while testing out the new defense podium."

Understanding finally dawned on Edgeworth's face. "Good god, Wright. One would never guess that you speak for a living."

"Sorry!" he said a little too loud. "It still hurts a lot. I'm a little out of it."

"Well, if you need first aid let me know. I made sure there were medics on stand-by, given the track record of this institution. If I'd known you were coming I would have doubled the number."

"Wait," Phoenix said, "you organized this?"

Edgeworth shook his head. "No no, I didn't organize it. I was asked to be the guest of honor."

"What?" Trucy said, her hands on her cheeks. "That's great! Um, what does that mean, exactly?"

"It just means I'm going to cut the ribbon during the opening ceremony. It's a symbolic gesture, but the judge asked me personally so I thought it only right to accept."

"How cool!" Trucy said, her eyes twinkling.

She and Edgeworth talked for a while, and everyone else migrating into a group at the other end of the stand.

"Have they always been like this?" Klavier asked when they were out of earshot.

"They've really started to bond recently," Phoenix said. "I think he took a liking to her because she's a brilliant young woman." He grinned.

"Well," Apollo said, clearly about to counter what Phoenix had just said, and Phoenix gave him a harrowing glower that would put the fear of god into anyone's heart. "I-I uh just, I was just gonna say she's also really talented too so that's probably what it is." Apollo smoothed back his hair nervously.

"Yikes," Athena whispered. "You know, Trucy kissed him on the cheek the other day."

"Who?" Klavier asked. Athena nodded in Edgeworth's direction. "What?!" Klavier exclaimed. "He allowed it?"

"He thought it was cute," Phoenix said happily.

"I…I can't even picture it," Klavier said.

A short laugh made them turn just in time to see Trucy make Edgeworth's glasses disappear with a wave of her hands.

"Ta-da!" she said, wiggling her fingers in front of her face.

"My goodness," Edgeworth said, examining her closely. "How impressive. Er, you do still have them, right? I'm afraid I can't drive without glasses."

She giggled and bounced on her heels. "Oh, I don't have them."

He looked concerned but she just wagged her finger at him.

"I don't have them; you do! Check your pockets!"

Stunned, he felt his jacket and sure enough his folded glasses were nestled inside the left pocket. He fished them out and stared at them. "H-how did you…"

She just grinned.

He perched the glasses back on his face and blinked. "Your slight of hand skills keep getting better. I couldn't find a single gap in the illusion."

Trucy gave a professional bow. "It's a little harder without my cape, but I think it's still pretty good."

"I'll say," Edgeworth said, returning her bow.

Phoenix looked like he was going to burst with pride.

A loud rumble came from the doorway and a familiar cloaked figure appeared at the entrance.

"Oh my!" the Judge said, examining the excess of people filling the room. "Look at everyone! Hello Martinez, how's your wife doing? Baldwin! You look like you're recovering well, thank goodness." He started shaking hands with just about everyone in his path as he slowly made his way up to the judge's bench. "Welcome, everyone! It's a fine evening for our grand re-opening, wouldn't you say? It's certainly not a fine evening for crime, but then, it never is!" He laughed at his "joke" and a few people in the crowd chuckled.

"Isn't that kind of a suspicious thing to say," Trucy whispered to her dad. Phoenix shrugged.

"Anywho, if we're ready to get started I'll have our officers bring in the ribbon." He signaled to a group of uniformed officers waiting at the back and they disappeared from sight. "We wanted to hold the ceremony inside the courtroom so everyone could bask in the stunning newness of our new room, so we decided to bring the ceremonial ribbon inside with us."

Several officers came in carrying metal poles with a large thick red ribbon strung across them. They set them down in the middle of the room, arranging them so the ribbon stretched out in front of the judge's bench.

"I've asked Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth to do the honors for us this evening. I believe he's going to say a few words and then we'll make this courtroom officially…official!"

Edgeworth smiled graciously and approached the bench as the Judge stepped to the side. Looking out onto the crowd, Edgeworth clasped his gloved hands together and cleared his throat.

"Thank you for allowing me the prestigious honor of reintroducing a bastion of morality to our great city. For we are the pillars of the law, the unflinching beacons of justice in an often cruel and merciless world, drawn together in the pursuit of truth and order." He extended his arm out towards the crowd in a smooth, elegant gesture. "Tonight we have come here for more than just a simple ceremony. We stand together in this room, a symbol of human endurance and our collective ability as thinking, feeling creatures to build ourselves anew when the world has crumbled around us." He lifted his chin and gazed pointedly at the judge's bench. "This institution is called upon every day as a forum for truth. To be fair and balanced. To protect the innocent. To exact the wrath of the law on those who seek to destroy our peace." He drew his arm back in and clenched his fist tight to his chest. "Such is the power of these hallowed walls around you, and so it shall be for as long as good, honest people are prepared to fight in the name of the righteous."

He finished the speech to respectful silence. Trucy almost started clapping, but Phoenix closed his hand gently over her fingers.

The Judge brought over a black box with a shimmering gold emblem of balanced scales embossed on the top. He opened it carefully and held it out to Edgeworth. A thick pair of scissors sat on the inlaid velvet compartment. Edgeworth removed them gingerly and walked to the middle of the ribbon. A couple of photographers were waiting near the stands, so he and the judge paused to let them get their shots. Then, without further interruption, Edgeworth cut the red ribbon.

The courtroom erupted in thunderous applause. Phoenix bit his lip to keep from smiling too wide.

"That was awesome!" Trucy whispered to Phoenix. "We should christen our office."

Phoenix leaned down. "Truce, I've been in that office for over a decade."

"Well, better late than never!" she said with a grin.

"I guess," Phoenix replied.

The crowd eventually settled down, and everyone went back to mingling. After an hour or so of small talk, light refreshments and several songs on Klavier's guitar, they decided to head out to dinner.

The restaurant was in walking distance of the courthouse, so they took a stroll through the neighborhood in all their finery. It was a rather fancy Italian restaurant, and several long tables with pristine white tablecloths were waiting for them at the back.

"Aren't there too many settings?" Phoenix asked, pointing at the table before they sat down.

"Oh!" Athena exclaimed. "Sorry boss, I forgot to tell you, I invited some other people to join us. I hope you don't mind."

"Let me guess," Phoenix grumbled as a small commotion broke out behind him.

"Fraulein!" came a shout from the other side of the restaurant. "There you are!"

Phoenix sighed and lowered his head. "Yup."

Klavier and Edgeworth crossed the restaurant, and Simon followed them after a brief "conversation" with the front desk about Taka and food safety issues. Taka was somehow allowed inside, and the manager cast a fearful glance after them.

Klavier steered Edgeworth to the remaining seats, one of which just happened to be right across from Phoenix.

"Herr Wright," Klavier said, tipping his head. "Apologies for imposing but when I heard from Fraulein Cykes that you were dining here after the ceremony I thought it would be perfect for a group affair."

Phoenix shook his head. "Don't worry about it. The more the merrier."

Edgeworth shot him an apologetic look and silently mouthed "sorry". Phoenix smiled and gave a small shrug.

Simon sat down next to Athena and the legs of his chair scraped against the floor. Taka squawked his displeasure, and Simon scratched under Taka's beak in apology.

They ordered their drinks and the table was quickly covered with baskets of bread. Pretty soon it was hard to hear anything above the many conversations happening at once. A few minutes later, a small electronic voice let out an excited squeal. Athena blushed and covered her wrist, and shot out of her seat.

"Oh my gosh, um, I think Widget is malfunctioning. I'm gonna go outside and take a closer look." She took off for the door, and the conversation resumed.

After a strong nudge from Klavier, Apollo patted his jacket. "Oops," he said in a suspiciously monotone voice, "I think I forgot my wallet somewhere. I'll be back." He left the restaurant too and Phoenix stared after him in alarm.

Immediately after that, Klavier snapped his fingers. "Forgive me but I just remembered I promised an autograph to some frauleins I saw next door. I'll be back!" he got up from the table and also disappeared from view.

There were a few moments of silence, and then Simon cleared his throat. "I think Taka is getting tired. My apologies, but I must accompany him back to his roost." With that, he was gone.

After another extended bout of silence, Trucy was about to say something when Ema came rushing into the restaurant.

"Oh boy, sorry I'm late! I missed the whole goddamn ceremony didn't I?" She took one of the empty seats and started to put her bag away. "I swear, it's all that stupid fop's fault. I told him I was-"

Across the table Trucy gave her a pointed look. Ema stopped and stared at them.

"Oh, uh, would you look at that, I think I dropped some chemicals on my way here. I better go - wait-" she said, opening her bag. "Holy shit, I think I dropped some chemicals. Fuck me, this could be bad, oh my god." Without a backward glance she ran out the restaurant as fast as she could, a look of genuine terror on her face.

Trucy glanced meekly at her father and Edgeworth, trying to gauge the timing of her deception. She leaned forward for just a second and then sat back in her chair. "Oh, my necklace! I think it fell off when we were outside." She touched her now-bare neck and got out of her chair. "Sorry daddy, I'll be back as soon as I find it."

Phoenix watched her walk out of the restaurant with a hint of betrayal in his gaze.

He slowly turned back to his drink. He and Edgeworth were now the sole customers at their extended table. They sat in silence for a while, giving the others time to come back if they wanted to. Finally, Phoenix slumped in his seat.

"Wow. I can't believe them," he said, scratching his neck.

"Hmm," Edgeworth responded, taking a sip of wine.

"Could they be more obvious?" Phoenix said, throwing his less-inflamed hand on the table in exasperation and wincing a little bit.

"What do you mean?" Edgeworth said, a carefulness belying his casual demeanor.

Phoenix sighed and stared at him. "You know exactly what I mean."

Edgeworth made another noncommittal sound in his throat and Phoenix folded his arms.

They exchanged glances and then gave each other a small smile.

"They're trying to set us up," Phoenix said.

"Indeed," Edgeworth replied coolly.

"And they're treating us like we're imbeciles."

Edgeworth took another sip of his drink. "Indeed."

"I'm a lawyer. You're a prosecutor. We deduce things for a living. I mean, do I look like an idiot?" Phoenix put his hands to his chest.

Edgeworth raised his eyebrow.

Phoenix laughed. "Okay, wrong person to ask. That's on me." He closed his eyes and rubbed his neck and didn't see Edgeworth looking him over shyly.

"So…" Phoenix said, leaning over the table and resting his head on his palm.

"So?" Edgeworth replied.

Phoenix grinned. "I guess the question now is, what are we gonna do about this?"

Edgeworth stared back, his face guarded, impassive.

Phoenix's grin grew wider, verging on manic. "You see, I've been thinking about it for a while, and I have a proposition," he said with coiled glee in his words and a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"And what would that be," Edgeworth asked, his voice small. The glass of wine in his hand was shaking.

Phoenix leaned in closer. "I think we should play a prank on them."

"A prank?" Edgeworth's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure I follow you."

"This could be fun," Phoenix said to himself, rubbing his hands. He looked back to Edgeworth. "We pretend that we're together. Get really lovey dovey obnoxious about it, and rub it in their lying faces."

Edgeworth chewed his lip. "And…why would we do that?" he asked.

"Because it's funny. And they have it coming for sticking their noses where they don't belong." Phoenix looked thrilled and a little unhinged.

"Hrm." Edgeworth rubbed at his fingers.

"You don't think it would be fun? I think it would teach them a lesson about messing with their elders."

Edgeworth sighed. "I'm not sure I understand the humor in it, but…I'm not against the idea. And I do agree that their meddling behavior has been inappropriate."

"Really?" Phoenix asked, his voice high. "I didn't think you'd actually go for it, but…you'll do it?"

Edgeworth looked into his painfully earnest puppy dog eyes and groaned. "I am absolutely going to regret this, aren't I."

Phoenix bounced in his seat and clasped his hands around Edgeworth's. "Just you wait, this is gonna be awesome."

Edgeworth's hands trembled beneath Phoenix's warm grip. "Yes. Awesome."

"Haha, yes!" He slid one hand between Edgeworth's and tried to shake on it, but Edgeworth's slow reaction just made it feel like they were holding hands. Phoenix flushed red and leaned back in his seat, laughing nervously.

"So, er," Edgeworth said, trying to shake the pink from his cheeks, "do you have a plan?"

"No, I'm thinking we'll just play it by ear. Improvise. I think we're both pretty good at that."

"Ah, I think you'd call that 'bluffing'," Edgeworth said. "And as I recall you're the more proficient among us."

Phoenix grinned, not at all insulted by the comment. "Thanks. I was a professional poker player, after all."

"That's not quite what I meant, but regardless, I'll concede. We'll see how this goes."

"Great," Phoenix said, grinning ear to ear. "I look forward to working with you, partner. Or should I say, partner." He leaned in half-lidded and gave Edgeworth a suggestive smirk.

Edgeworth turned bright red. "Er, yes, I, yes, alright," he muttered.

The moment was interrupted by a waiter who'd come to inquire about their orders. The waiter looked down at the empty table, with its settings still in place and mostly unused, and tilted his head.

"They had something to take care of." Phoenix waved towards the empty seats. "A lot of somethings. They'll be back. I think."

The waiter smiled, his eyes wary, and took their orders.

When the waiter had gone, Phoenix shifted in his seat. "Actually, this would be a good time…" He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small parcel in blue wrapping paper. He set the present on the table and pushed it towards Edgeworth. "Here. To commemorate our little plot."

Edgeworth gave him a curious look and picked up the package, eyeing it as though it might disintegrate or explode in his face. He unwrapped the paper, taking care not to rip it. Phoenix watched, squirming a little bit, impatient but silent.

A pocket watch slid out into Edgeworth's hand. The back had an outline of a folding fan etched into it. He stared at it intensely before turning it over, and letting out a soft gasp of surprise. The front cover of the watch was crafted in the style of the Steel Samurai's head. His jaw fell open.

"I-I just saw it somewhere and thought it looked like something you might like. You don't have to use it or anything if you don't want to," Phoenix said, rubbing the back of his head and averting his eyes. "I'm sure it's not the sort of quality you're used to."

Edgeworth pushed his thumb against the top of the knot and the front plate popped open, revealing a shiny new watch face. "It's a special edition," he whispered.

"Is it?" Phoenix's eyes darted to the table and back. "I mean, whatever, it just made me think of you."

Edgeworth closed it shut and turned it over in his hands a few times. "Thank you, Phoenix," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

Phoenix looked at him, flustered, and chewed his lip. "Don't mention it."

Still staring down at the watch, Edgeworth's eyebrows drew up. "So you just happened to have this on your person."

Phoenix scratched his jaw. "Well, I kinda had a feeling I'd be seeing you today. What with-" He gestured again to the empty seats around them.

"Aha," Edgeworth said with a smile. "Yes, I did too."

They looked at each other once more, and didn't speak again until the food arrived.

"They're pretty dedicated in their meddling, I'll give them that," Phoenix said, winding a whorl of pasta around his fork. "I can't believe Trucy's missing Italian food."

"My theory is that they've either found another place to dine, or they'll come running back when the smell of food gets to be too much."

Phoenix chuckled and started filling up on spaghetti. Sure enough, just a few minutes later Ema came running back to the table.

"Phew, that was a close call," she said, pulling up a chair. "I would've been in serious trouble if anyone at the precinct found out that I almost-" She stopped and glanced at Edgeworth, who was giving her an authoritative stare. "Uh, nevermind. That's all in the past now. What're we having?" She picked up a fork and tried to get in on Phoenix's delicious pasta, but he was having none of it. He slapped the fork out of her hand, and it clattered onto the table. "Hey, what gives?"

Edgeworth narrowed his eyes at the both of them, but the corner of his mouth quirked up.

"What gives is that we're in a restaurant and you're an adult, and get your own damn food," Phoenix said with a scowl, guarding the dish with his hand.

"Jeez, fine. Stingy little hedgehog." She got up and went to hunt down a waiter. Edgeworth snorted.

"What?" Phoenix said irritably.

Edgeworth smirked. "Nothing."

"You don't interfere with a man's pasta. That's like, dinner etiquette 101," he mumbled to himself.

Trucy was the next to come back, taking a seat next to Phoenix and putting her napkin in her lap. "What're we having, daddy?" she said.

"Ohh no. Not this again." Phoenix found the nearest waiter and got their attention. Their waiter came back and took Trucy's order, and Phoenix nodded at him gratefully.

"So," Phoenix said after they'd left, "did you find your necklace?"

Trucy touched her neck. "What? Oh yeah, I have it here." She pulled it out of the small clutch around her wrist. "Um, I think the clasp broke. Yeah, that's it!"

Phoenix shook his head and tutted. "That's too bad. I'm sure we can fix it when we get home."

Trucy grinned at him. "Thanks dad." Her eyes drifted towards the other side of the table and she spotted the small pile of wrapping paper. "What's that?" she asked.

"Nothing!" Edgeworth and Phoenix both exclaimed.

She stared back and forth between them as Edgeworth shoved the paper debris into his pocket. She squinted just a touch but before she could say anything, Apollo pulled his chair out and sat down next to her, with Klavier and Athena close behind. Ema returned from tormenting the wait staff and squeezed her way into the fray.

"Where's that waiter?" Athena said, rubbing her stomach. "I could eat a whole cow."

"Maybe you'd know if you hadn't left for half an hour," Phoenix said with a peculiar sort of smile.

Athena gulped.

"By the way, did you manage to fix Widget?" Phoenix asked, tapping his mouth with his knife.

"Uh-oh!" Widget yelled out. Athena grabbed her wrist again.

"Nope, I'll have to go down to the space center tomorrow. How's the food?"

Phoenix glared at her and took a bite. "It's amazing," he said, mouth stuffed. He could almost see her salivating from the other end of the table so he took another slow bite, staring her down.

Simon was the last to take his seat, and he did so without saying a word.

Phoenix was slightly off put by the square set of his shoulders. "H-how's Taka?" he asked, more out of curiosity than malice.

Simon was quiet for a long time, letting the silence stretch and stretch until it was unbearable. "He was a bit fussy," he finally answered. "I had to sing him a lullaby. Once I did he went right to sleep."

Some of the drink Phoenix had just sipped dribbled out of his mouth before he could stop it. "You sang him to sleep?" he asked, his voice thin, as he dabbed his napkin against his chin.

Simon's pale white cheeks turned a little ruddy. "Perhaps sing is the wrong word. He prefers when I whistle for him."

Widget yelped from across the table. Athena shoved her arms under the table and laughed.

Everyone soon became distracted by the food on their plates and making up for lost time.

Phoenix, long finished with his meal, propped his elbow on the table and let his fingers glide over the back his jaw. He kept glancing over at Edgeworth, particularly at the pocket containing the present Phoenix had given him. He smiled to himself and nabbed a bite of Trucy's ravioli.

"Hey!" she shouted, pushing him away.

He laughed. "Serves you right."