A/N: In Turnabout Serenade, Phoenix gives Apollo the firecracker fragments that turn the whole case around and he states that Ema gave them to him (along with a bag of Snackoos). I always wondered why she gave him those fragments rather than Klavier or directly to Apollo herself.

And I couldn't help but wonder what the conversation with Nicky boy consisted of.

Not to mention, Ema seems to do less 'glimmerous fop'-ing after Case 3...

Almost an hour later Ema stood at the front door to the Wright Anything Agency, feeling sad for the millionth time at the title, and knocked. It should have only taken a half hour to get here but she was dangerously low on Snackoos and therefore had to stop along the way to re-stock her bag.

Re-stock was an understatement really, Ema thought as her fingers curled around the strap of her bag. It was bursting at the seams with several packets of her favourite snacks. She could live off them forever if she had to. Just as her hand freed itself to dive into the open zip to retrieve a pack, the door opened and Phoenix Wright stood at the threshold.

Ema had seen him several times since her return but every time was a shock to her system. She always expected him to be suited and booted and ready to defend. There was no space left in her mind to accommodate this new Phoenix with his hobo attire. There was a shadowed weariness in his blue eyes, like the depths of the seas that held all the secrets of the dark places nobody dared enter. His shoulders were no longer upright and strong but slouched as if burdened by the knowledge he had acquired by venturing there. His hands were always out of sight as if he was ashamed that he could no longer use them to find the truth behind the lies. Ema had seen Phoenix in court. She knew what he had lost. It wasn't just a badge — it was an identity.

"Ema," he said quietly with a smile. "Come on in."

He stood aside, allowing her to pass, and closed the door behind her. Ema's heart tightened for the thousandth time as she saw the mess he had allowed to accumulate in his office. She knew he loved his daughter (THAT was something she could never get used to) and that it was that affection that allowed Trucy to get away with all the clutter. Yet, there was a part of Ema that wondered if there was another reason for why the room no longer resembled the legal office it once used to be.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked genially and Ema smiled at him sheepishly. There was something about him that made her feel 16 all over again. She supposed some memories were too deeply ingrained to ever be swayed by something as insignificant as ageing. However, there had been a hint of uneasiness as if Phoenix was uncomfortable around Ema, when she had met him for the first time after returning to L.A. She supposed he expected her to believe the rumours about him. It was nonsense of course, there was not a chance in hell anyone who had ever been defended with and by him would think he had really forged evidence. This was the man who exposed von Karma, who fought to declare his own client guilty after finding out he had hired an assassin.

Yes, Ema had read all about his cases after her departure to Europe and if there had been any room for doubt about his credibility before or during her case, the ones after it destroyed it completely.

"Ema," his voice cut into her thoughts and she focused on the man before her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. She shook her head, clearing it of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Mr Wright." She smiled. "It's been a long day."

"I heard," he said gesturing for her to sit down. "Would you like something to drink? It's my duty to warn you that all l I have to offer is some very cheap tea."

"No, I'm alright," Ema declined politely and he nodded understandingly while sitting down opposite her.

"Trucy's been bouncing with excitement and theories ever since yesterday's trial. Of course I only see her at night, I'm so busy these days what with arranging the test run for the Jurist System…" he turned to look at the door that, she assumed, led into his daughter's room. "It's Apollo who bears the brunt of her enthusiasm most days."

"She's a cheerful girl." Ema grinned as she remembered the few encounters she'd had with his daughter.

"Reminds me of someone else I used to know," he said looking at her sideways. "Not so much anymore."

Ema sighed. "You know how it is Mr Wright. You grow up and become a cynic."

"I suppose," he said. "And as you're so grown up now, how about you stop calling me Mr Wright and switch to Phoenix?"

Ema grinned. "I'll try… but old habits die hard."

"And some don't die at all," he said his eyes glittering as they swept over her lab coat. "You've changed so much and yet remained the same."

"An incredible feat, I know," Ema said smugly and he chuckled, his hand sweeping over his beanie.

Her attention was drawn to the large surprised campaign button she had worn as an adolescent now stuck atop his hat. The expression on it was a fair representation of the man — he was full of the unexpected and truly exceptional, even now. She had gifted it to him just as she had boarded the aeroplane bound for Europe. Ema had never told him her reasons for giving it to him and, so, was touched that he not only kept it but also wore it in full view despite not knowing the significance behind it.

"So, Ema," he said taking a deep breath and slapping his legs with his hands. "The late hour tells me this wasn't a social call."

"No it wasn't," Ema said sheepishly. "I need to talk to you about something." He simply nodded, leaning forward, ready to listen. Ema took a deep breath and began. She told him everything: the location she had discovered the evidence, the gunpowder discovered on the fragments, Daryan's reaction and her suspicions about him.

The words stumbled over each other in their rush to escape that nasty place inside her where she'd stored them. With each syllable she could breathe more freely again taking comfort in her confidant's steady gaze. When she pulled out the evidence and handed it to him, her burden was entirely lifted because she knew that everything was in safe hands. There was no one she trusted more than this man; Ema could never place such evidence into the hands of another — perhaps not even her sister. As she watched him turn over the bag of what remained of the firecrackers, the detective knew he would do what was right — he would ensure justice.

Ironically enough…

"Apollo needs to have this," Phoenix said and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. He looked at her with a serious expression. "My gut tells me this is a very important piece of evidence, maybe the key to this whole trial. It's best you don't hand this to Klavier. There's no telling what he would do with this."

"Klavier Gavin isn't misguided," Ema said, surprised at how defensive she suddenly felt though she didn't know why — hadn't she been thinking the same thing? Hadn't it been this exact doubt that had led her to this man's doorstep? So why now, when he was confirming her instincts, was she defending Klavier?

"Neither was your sister, Ema," Phoenix said piercing her with his gaze and there was no faraway look in his eyes now, no doubt and no smirk on his face. She opened her mouth to reply but he shook his head. "No, Ema, listen. You're right, your boss isn't misguided. He's emotionally biased and sometimes that's even more dangerous. This clue, in his hands, could spell disaster not only for a potential innocent but for the prosecutor himself."

"I don't understand," Ema said stiffly.

"Your sister committed many crimes to cover one crime… your crime. Klavier is a good man but he is still only human. In this case, he must not be given the chance to manipulate anything because now this trial involves a fellow band member and a best friend!" Phoenix was agitated now, on the edge of his seat clutching the bag tightly in his fist. Ema was beginning to realise the seriousness of the evidence now. His eyes were so intently fixed upon her that she was, for the first time in her life, feeling uncomfortable around him.

"Do you think…" Ema started then swallowed, almost fearful of what she was about to say. "Do you really think he would hide this evidence?"

Phoenix was quiet for a moment. "He's a good man," he said slowly. "But he has an unusual life, Ema."

"What do you mean?" Ema asked, frowning in confusion.

"Consider his personal life," Phoenix said rising from his seat and moving to stand by the window, staring out into the darkness. "He lost his parents as a child. The only family he has left is his brother who was found guilty of murder only recently. It should be easier for you to understand, the enormity of this, than most people."

With each word, a heaviness pressed on Ema's heart as she struggled to put herself in his position. Sure, she had experienced some of that horror with Lana but Phoenix had been there to eventually find the truth and shed light on the darkness of the case. Sadly, there was no such release for Klavier — where Lana had been innocent, Kristoph was not and that was one thing she could not imagine. Throughout Lana's case, Ema had whole-heartedly believed her to be innocent despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, despite Lana's confession, and so she didn't know what it would feel like to know that the only family she had left was, in fact, a murderer.

"There's nobody to tell Klavier that his brother is innocent," Phoenix said quietly. "And that's because the horrifying truth is that Kristoph did murder someone — and Klavier doesn't know why."

Ema thought back to the years she had had to put up with Lana's coldness. She had simply changed and Ema had never known why or what had changed her. She remembered the nights she would stay awake trying to work out what it was that had caused the shift and wondering if she was to blame for it or if Lana simply didn't love her anymore. Those nights had been the worst and although she had gotten her answers, eventually realising that she was not at fault, the scars of those years still remained. With a pang of the heart, Ema realised it was probably a hundred times worse for Klavier. She couldn't have imagined it could get much worse than what she'd had to deal with but the prospect of what Klavier was going through…

"He has a very unsteady life," Phoenix continued. "He's always in the public eye either as a prosecutor or an artist. He lives his unstable life with a smile on his face. He's a man who takes the law very seriously and so his brother's crime — who was also an attorney and, by extension, also a brother in arms — is an even greater betrayal. He fights and fights every single day against crime. He makes difficult decisions on a daily basis." Phoenix turned around and Ema looked at him. "He's an exceptional man but he's just that… a man."

Ema lowered her eyes again and stared at her hands without really seeing them. Instead, all she saw was Klavier's bright smile underlining his amused eyes. She had never really thought about it deeply — in her mind, Klavier had always been a strong, professional (and sometimes irritating) figure and it was just hitting her now that, because he did his job so well, she never really thought of him as someone with emotions and problems. She thought she had come to see her friend because she doubted Klavier's inability to make a rational judgement but, upon deeper reflection, she realised that had she actually been thinking of his feelings, she would not be so shocked by Phoenix's insight into the matter. If she had really considered Klavier's feelings, perhaps she would have understood his lashing out at her rather than lie to him and run to Phoenix in a fit of rebellion.

"How many smiles do you think he can fake before he cracks?"

"I never really thought of him like that," she answered quietly. She lowered her head in shame. "I really only came here because I was angry…" she trailed off not wanting to sound childish by admitting she had thrown a tantrum at Klavier's behaviour. If Phoenix noticed anything, he didn't show it.

"You need to give this to Apollo," Phoenix said quietly, approaching where she sat. He held it out to her. "Give it to him…"

But Ema was shaking her head refusing to look at the bag.

"No, Mr Wright," she said turning away. "I… I can't."

"Ema…"

"You give it to him," Ema said heavily.

She saw Phoenix nod out of the corner of her eye and move to put it away. She shut her eyes while trying to rub away the throbbing that had begun at her temples. She didn't understand why she felt like she was in the wrong but there was something inside her that kept picturing Klavier's face when this new evidence was presented and he was faced with the inevitable truth — that Daryan was guilty. Phoenix seemed to agree — he hadn't put it in so many words but that he hadn't contradicted her theory was a bad sign.

The sadness she felt inside was starting to erode away at some of the peace she had gained upon arriving here. It was this guilt and sadness that just made her want to snatch the evidence off Phoenix and run to Klavier with it. Of course she could never do anything like that and her present situation was enough of a reminder why. She felt the overwhelming desire to do something she knew was wrong simply to spare Klavier the pain he would feel… What would he do to protect his best friend from going to prison? What would he do to keep from losing one more person in his life?

"You care about him."

Ema's eyes flew open as Phoenix's voice interrupted her thoughts. He was standing beside her, his face turned downwards, a small smile on his face. She opened her mouth to protest but he held up a hand.

"He's going to need a true friend," he said quietly the smile fading from his face as suddenly as it had reappeared. "There's a dark time coming for Klavier and he won't be able to pull through it alone."

"I don't think I'm the one for that job," Ema mumbled. "He's a rock star I'm sure he—"

"—will be looking for a real friend rather than people who pretend to be," Phoenix finished kindly and Ema silenced. He crouched down next to her. "He's going to need you. You in particular."

"Why me?" Ema asked quietly although she thought she already knew the answer.

"Because of what you went through with Lana." Phoenix said simply staring straight into her eyes now. "Be his friend, Ema."

She hesitated before nodding slowly. "I'll try. But after this, he might not want to talk to me."

"He will," Phoenix said rising and walking to one of the doors and opening it slightly. He peered inside for a moment and, seemingly satisfied, closed it again. "Just checking Trucy's still asleep. She has a rather amusing habit of listening at doors. I don't want Apollo to be misguided by anything she overheard."

"Mr Wright…"

"Phoenix, Ema. Or try Nick." She didn't know if she was imagining it but there seemed to be a wistfulness behind that request.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I think you just did and the answer is yes." Phoenix's eyes were glinting with amusement now.

"Can I ask another then?" Ema said half-jokingly.

"You just did it ag—"

"Mr Wright!" She hmph-ed but he was laughing now and he nodded his approval to her. "Why are you so concerned about Klavier when he…" her voice faded as she swallowed, afraid to say the words.

"When he was the one who took my badge away, you mean?" Phoenix guessed and she nodded. "Because he isn't the one who took it away — someone else did. Klavier only did what he thought was right. I would have done the same."

Ema stared at Phoenix unable to believe how forgiving the man was, how big his heart was. Upon finding out Klavier's involvement in the trial, Ema had sworn to loathe the prosecutor for all eternity but the real victim was defending Klavier and telling her to be there for him. If she wasn't mistaken, Phoenix was saving him.

"Don't blame him, Ema." Phoenix said quietly, looking into her face. "He carries so much weight already. He's trapped in a hell we can't see. What use would it be to punish a man who's committed no crime?"

Ema sighed and nodded. Phoenix was right of course — as always. There was nothing to blame Klavier for and there was nothing to be gained by doing so. The stress of the evening made her snap and she yanked out a packet of Snackoos from her bag and began to munch on them ferociously trying to distract herself from her thoughts by focusing all her energy into reducing the snacks to less than crumbs inside her mouth.

"Ema," Phoenix said eyeing the packet in her hand. "What are those? I saw you munching on them a few times and I confess I'm very curious."

"Oh!" Ema said glancing from Phoenix to her snacks and back again before extending her packet forward. "Here, try some. I was in late for work one day just after moving back and I grabbed a packet of these from one of those stands. I've been addicted ever since."

She watched Phoenix take one out of her bag and pop it into his mouth. She didn't realise how tense she was until he nodded approvingly and she relaxed, relieved he shared her taste.

"They're pretty good," Phoenix said. "Not too pleasant to look at but nevertheless…"

"What do you mean?" Ema said quickly.

"Well…" his mouth twitched. "Don't they remind you of…?"

"Don't say it!" Ema squealed, her eyes widening in horror. "I can't believe you almost desecrated them like that!"

"Ah…" he smirked. "So they do remind you of—"

"Lana!" she interrupted hastily. "She said to tell you hi!"

"When I tell you that Snackoos remind me of—"

"Mr Wright!" Ema protested almost desperately, glaring at him and he roared with laughter.

"I'm so glad you're back, Ema," He said.

Ema sniffed almost getting teary at the kindness of his remark. Refusing to cry, however, she simply pulled out an unopened packet of Snackoos and thrust them in his hands. He took them with a nod of the head to indicate he understood the gesture. Thankfully, however, he didn't say anything else that would have caused the detective to turn on the waterworks, switching instead to a lighter topic.

"How is Lana nowadays?"

"She's okay." Ema nodded. "She's working as a legal advisor now. It's a big step down from Chief Prosecutor but she's happy with it. And she's seeing somebody too."

"Oh?" Phoenix said interestedly but Ema saw an expression on his face and she knew he was probably thinking something cheeky or sarcastic… or both.

"She says it's not serious. But, scientifically speaking," Ema's back straightened and her voice took on a professional quality, "nine months is more than enough time to test the waters."

"Of course," Phoenix said with laughter in his voice. "And we both know science is never wrong!"

Ema grinned. "Never!"

"I'm glad to hear things are going well for Lana. She deserves it."

"Yes," Ema said, her voice quietened by the rush of memories. "She does."

They both sat in a comfortable silence that could only exist between two friends who had been through rough times, helped one another and trusted one another. Phoenix was staring at something next to the table that Ema couldn't see. Either because it was blocked by clutter or because she wasn't paying attention — she didn't know. Her mind was beginning to wander off again… toward the evidence she had just handed over to Phoenix. Her eyes roamed the office and, to her consternation, she found that she was imagining grabbing it and running away with it.

That was her cue to leave.

"I better go," she said jumping to her feet. Phoenix rose too, a look of uncertainty quickly being replaced by comprehension as he nodded. "Thank you for everything Mr Wri— I mean, Phoenix," she amended when she saw the amused exasperation in his eyes. "I really appreciate it."

"You did the right thing coming to me, Ema," Phoenix said as they walked to the door and he opened it for her. Ema nodded feeling somewhat miserable and made to step out but stopped suddenly and spun to face him again.

"It will be alright won't it?"

Phoenix's eyes bore into her own for a long moment and he was serious now. His expression was inscrutable and she didn't know whether to be comforted or afraid. "It's always darkest before the dawn, Ema," he said cryptically.

"You know, scientifically speaking that's not entirely correct," Ema said nervously, trying to joke. "The darkest time of the night is when the moon…"

"Don't worry, Ema. The wrong will always be righted." Phoenix said with a comforting smile. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"'Night."

"Goodnight, Phoenix," Ema said walking out through the doorway and down the steps, throwing a smile over her shoulder at him without stopping. She heard the door shut quietly and she took another deep breath of fresh air. Or as fresh as it could get in the heart of populated L.A. She glanced at her watch: it was 1.27 AM. She would have been surprised at how late it was had it not been for the sudden tiredness she felt. So, rather than walking the 20 minutes back to her apartment, she took a cab home.

It was 45 minutes later, after having changed, brushed her teeth and curled up in bed, when Ema finally felt the full extent of the day's chores. She passed out almost immediately but found no rest. Her dreams were plagued by traitorous siblings, unjust guilty verdicts and twin pools of azure filled with pain that wrenched at parts of her heart that she hadn't known existed.