"Where are we going?" She asks, regarding me suspiciously.

"It's a surprise," I reply, trying desperately to hide my smile behind my beard.

She peers at me, but doesn't ask again. I wonder why it took her this long to get suspicious. I had suggested going for a walk in the park on a Sunday, normally a day I prefer to stay home and relax. After we drove there and spent a little time admiring the greenery, I suggested going for a walk through town. She had objected, but I had insisted I was fine, that the arthritis wasn't acting up as much today, and even if it did, I had my painkillers. She had relented, thankfully. Now here we were, many blocks from Gourd Lake, and only now had she decided to ask the obvious question. Apparently I had done a good job of hiding my pain. I was leaning on the cane more and more, but I had managed to keep my stride strong and even.

"Are you okay?"

I turn to her, wondering how I was giving myself away. I notice her staring at my forehead and I realize I'm sweating.

"Fine," I say, wiping my brow and smiling at her. She doesn't buy it.

"Maybe we should head back," she says, looking back towards the park.

Panicking, I look ahead to see how far we have left to go.

"Oh look, we're here!" I exclaim.

She looks up at the sign. 'The Classy Joint.' "A club?"

"Not just any club," I explain, opening the door for her. "The patronage is exceptional."

She gives me a weird look before she walks through the door. I follow after her.

The place lives up to it's name. The decor is very retro, almost art deco. Lots of leather and wood accents and earth tones. The lighting is subdued, but bright enough that we can see easily. At first it appears to be empty, but as we walk through the lobby we hear familiar voices. I throw open the double doors to the main dance hall and all the heads in the room turn to us.

It's a who's who of our friends and family. Edgeworth, Ema and Lana, Dick and Maggey with their kids, Apollo, Trucy, Klavier, Pearls, even Franziska von Karma and Adrian Andrews. They're all sitting at tables surrounding the large dance floor, and on the small stage at the back, a jazz band is warming up.

"About time you got here!" Apollo shouts with a grin, drawing laughter from the rest of the crowd.

Maya gapes at the scene before her. "What's the occasion?" She manages to ask.

I turn to her and smile proudly. "It's our anniversary. Our fifteenth, to be precise."

A hand flies up to cover her mouth. She looks shocked and embarassed that she forgot. "I thought that was in July!"

"Nope, it's in June." I pause, furrowing my brow and staring off into space. "I think."

"No, that's the anniversary of our engagement..." She trails off, stroking her chin with her finger. "Isn't it?"

I sigh. There are too many important dates in our lives. The day we met, the day of our first date, the day of our engagement, the day we got married...how was anyone supposed to keep it all straight?

"Regardless!" I say hurriedly, waving my hand dismissively. "Any excuse for a party, right?"

I offer her my arm and she takes it, laughing as I escort her into the hall. Trucy runs up and wraps Maya in a bearhug.

"Happy anniversary!" She squeaks.

"Oh, I've missed you Trucy..." Maya pushes her away and pouts at her. "You don't visit often enough!"

Trucy rolls her eyes and whines, "Mooooom."

Maya's smile returns and she instantly forgives her. She loves being called that.

"I'll go and get us some drinks," I say, heading for the bar and passing Pearls as she hurries to greet Maya. I order a vodka martini and a glass of brandy from the bartender and lean heavily against the bar. The walk took more out of me than I realized. I pull out my bottle of painkillers and pop it open, taking one and raising it towards my mouth.

"You're going to mix pills and alcohol?"

I freeze, pill inches from my open mouth. My mind races, considering the options - take a couple and drink nothing but water for the rest of the night, or allow myself the rare pleasure of a decent glass of brandy and hope that it dulls the pain.

I close my mouth and sigh wearily, placing the pill back in the bottle. "Thanks, Miles."

He walks up and leans next to me on the bar, adjusting his spectacles. "That was a dangerous lapse in judgment, Wright. I might not be around next time."

"Temporary insanity," I say, thoroughly embarrassed at what I'd almost done. "Won't happen again."

"I should hope not," he scolds. "I'd be deprived of a chess partner."

"You'd always have Apollo," I reassure him. He laughs loudly and I hope Apollo didn't hear that.

"So how have things been here? I'm sorry we're late, but you know." I indicate my cane.

"We've managed to enjoy ourselves without you, as strange as it may seem," Edgeworth replies with a smirk. "Though there has been a little trouble. Trucy's been teasing and playing pranks on the Gumshoe twins. And I've had to stop Franziska from murdering Klavier twice now. He's been flirting with her all day."

"Only twice?" I chuckle, glancing over at Franziska sitting at a table with Adrian on the other side of the room. "She has mellowed."

"Here you are sir," the bartender says, setting the drinks on the counter.

"Ah, thank you barkeep." I take a brief swig of the brandy. Not bad at all. "If you'll excuse me, Edgeworth?"

"Of course," he says politely, pushing away from the bar. "I need to go check on the Gumshoe kids anyway. I think they're planning to sabotage Mr. Hat."

I laugh as I make my way back to Maya's side. She has quite the crowd around her; Ema, Lana, Trucy, Pearls, and Maggey. They're chattering away as I hand her the martini.

"Some party, huh?" Ema says with a tipsy grin.

"Yeah, this is great!" Maggey chimes in brightly.

"How did you arrange all this, Nick?" Maya inquires, turning towards me.

"Oh, it wasn't me. It was-"

I hear the Chords of Steel clear their throat behind me. I step aside and gesture backwards. "There's your hero, ladies."

"Oh, it was nothing," Apollo says, looking quite proud of himself. "The owner just owed me a favor, that's all."

"To Apollo!" I shout, raising my glass. "The most modest party planner in all the land!"

I hear my toast echoed across the room and grin as Apollo blushes furiously.

Finally, it appears the band has finished warming up. They begin to play an upbeat song, beginning with a brief piano solo, then adding drums, trumpets, and an electric guitar. It was an odd assortment of instruments, but it produced a very catchy tune.

Gumshoe comes running up to the crowd of women around Maya, grinning that big dopey grin of his.

"Might I trouble milady for a dance?" He asks, bowing slightly and extending his arm.

Maggey instantly runs up and takes it. "Sure can, pal!" She replies with a smile. He has clearly rubbed off on her over the years.

As they head off to the dance floor I glance over at Maya. She's looking at the couple beginning to dance with a sort of longing. She catches me staring and averts her gaze, taking a sip of her martini.

I didn't need to be a lawyer to know what she wanted. I was stiff and sore, but I would be damned if I let that stop me from dancing with my wife on our anniversary.

I down the last of my brandy in one swig and set the glass down on a nearby table before wiping the sweat from my brow. "Maya?"

She turns and looks at me questioningly. I raise my hand, palm up. "May I have the pleasure of a dance?"

Her eyebrows raise slightly and she looks at my hand. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I pick up my cane and toss it without warning at Apollo, who manages to catch it. Always quick on the draw, that guy.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," I say, smiling as widely as I can.

She looks at me searchingly. She must find what she was looking for, because she takes my hand and I lead her off to the dance floor. I can hear Pearls sighing behind me. She relished every opportunity to remind everyone that she had known Maya and I were soulmates from the day she met me. It used to bother me. These days it just made me smile.

"Don't break a hip, Wright!" I hear Edgeworth call out behind me. Snarky son of a bitch. I glance back at him.

"Don't wear yourself out sitting on your ass, Edgeworth!"

I see the smirk on his face disappear in an instant and I allow myself a grin as I turn towards Maya, taking her hand in mine and wrapping an arm around her waist.

As we begin to dance it becomes clear to me that arthritis hurts a lot more than I thought it could. The dull ache has become a burning sensation, even a stabbing pain in my elbows and knees. I keep my focus on Maya, on her smile, on the way her eyes look when the light catches them just so. I can still feel the pain, but it's becoming more distant, more manageable. All I have to do is keep looking at her, reminding myself how much she means to me, and I can do anything, even dance to jazz.

I see other people dancing on the edges of my vision. Gumshoe, for one, is dancing like crazy with Maggey. It encourages me. Gumshoe is a bear of a man almost seven years my senior, and yet he always seems to have a boundless supply of energy. If he can do this, then by God so can I.

I catch Apollo dancing stiffly with Ema out of the corner of my eye, which surprises me. It was good to see those two getting along again, but dancing? It takes me a second before I remember that Ema has a weakness for cold beer, and it all clicks in my head. Poor Apollo. At least Lana was here and he wouldn't have to drive her home.

Maya looks off the side and laughs. I follow her gaze and see Klavier smiling and dancing with a very irritated Franziska, while Adrian laughs hysterically at their table - she must have pushed her onto the dance floor. Franziska was showing remarkable restraint. If anyone had tried the moves Klavier was using back in the old days, they would have been whipped into unconsciousness.

I see a bit of blue out of the corner of my eye and turn to see Trucy dancing with Jimmy Gumshoe. I was rather puzzled until I noticed Trucy was leading and Jimmy's sister was sitting off to the side and laughing at him. Truce always did have a sick sense of humor.

A sudden spasm of pain runs through my knee and I turn my attention back to Maya to take my mind off it. I guessed from the rhythm of the song that it was almost half over. Just had to last a few more minutes.

Something pink abruptly crosses behind Maya and I look past her. Edgeworth is dancing with Pearls, who seems to be enjoying herself quite a bit. He twirls her and she giggles excitedly. He notices me staring and smirks smugly at me.

Oh no he didn't. I am not being upstaged by him today. It is on like Donkey Kong.

I furrow my brow and step up my dancing, twirling and swinging and even lifting Maya, drawing attention from the others. She's thoroughly enjoying herself, smiling and laughing, easing my pain. I'm getting tired, but my will is unto iron. I would not let Edgeworth or this goddamn arthritis get the best of me today.

The song is coming to a close, I can tell. I throw in one last twirl for kicks and end with a dip, holding her above the floor. I actually get some applause from the others, and Maya's looking up at me with a look of happy surprise. I smile and move to stand straight and find that I can't.

Oh God, I've thrown out my back.

This can't happen. I don't want to embarrass myself, and moreso I don't want to trouble Maya. I will not be beaten today, I tell myself. Fate might consign me to old-man-hood early, but it will not take this last dance from her. So I grit my teeth, clench my jaw, and straighten out.

There is a small but audible pop as I stand, pulling Maya up with me. I don't think anyone else noticed it, but I know she did. She looks at me with concern, wrapping her arms around my waist and putting her arms on my lower back. I just put my hands on her shoulders and smile at her. She looks into my eyes once more and she must see the relief on my face from having made it through the song, see the pride I feel at giving her one last dance.

She grabs my cheeks and pulls me into a deep, passionate kiss. It doesn't end after three seconds, or after five. I stop counting and just let myself by enveloped by the warm, happy bliss I get whenever she kisses me. Our lips break reluctantly and though I know we're receiving stares, I don't care.

I say three little words. Three little words which sum up my feelings about her. Three little words that make all our friends laugh. Three little words that make her grin and kiss me again, giggling into my lips.

"Totally worth it."