A bright sunrise, an early start, and a route carefully chosen to avoid traffic made for a near-perfect start to Athena's Sunday morning. Once she was on her feet, she got outside in a hurry, slipping on a new pair of running shoes - a birthday gift from Apollo, no less - and leaving her apartment behind.

She had a couple of stops to make on her morning run, after which she would return home for breakfast and a shower.

The first was a small single-bedroom house not terribly far from her building. Until her arrest, it had been Aura Blackquill's home, and now it was instead occupied by her younger brother, on account of his own release from prison.

A sharp series of four knocks. Athena stood back, waiting for the door to be answered. The familiar shrieking cry of a bird sounded from a tree in the house's small yard.

"Good morning to you too, Taka." Athena said, locating the familiar hawk perched there. She turned around again at the sound of the doorknob turning.

Simon Blackquill barely got half a word out before he was interrupted by a hug around the neck from Athena. "Hi, Simon!" Athena said brightly once she'd released him.

"Hmph." came Simon's expected response, which would've seemed dismissive were it not for the slight smile on his face. "I see adding another year to your life has done little to affect your daily habits, Cykes-dono."

Athena scoffed back at the tall prosecutor. "I only turned nineteen two weeks ago, Simon. I'm definitely not too old to keep exercising. Besides, doesn't the sunrise look great?"

"Indeed." Simon responded. He brought a hand to his mouth and whistled sharply. Immediately, Taka flew from his perch in the nearby tree to land on Simon's shoulder. "Now, I surmise that you didn't come over here at the crack of dawn just to talk about the sunrise. Tell me, what was it that brought you here?"

Athena smirked. "What, a girl can't just check up on her friends for no reason?"

"You and I both know that Athena Cykes rarely does anything without reason." Simon replied, offering Taka a gentle massage on the neck.

"Oh, fiiine." Athena said with a drawn-out sigh. "I wanted to see you, for one, but I also wanted to ask you about a movie."

"You're not asking me to attend another of your office movie nights, I hope."

"No," Athena said, rolling her eyes, "You don't have to worry about me forcing you to socialize. But honestly, Simon, people probably wouldn't all be so scared of you if you didn't hide out in here all day outside of work. … And if you wore something that wasn't monochrome."

Simon, who could hardly argue, given his current attire consisting of a solid grey t-shirt and jet black slacks, responded, "And risk giving up that most wonderful title of 'The Twisted Samurai'? You jest, surely."

Another eye roll. "Whatever, Simon. You keep looking like you want to scare children if you want. I'm not gonna boss you around." Athena had been through this kind of conversation a lot of times, and predicted no more success than in the past. "Now, like I said, I wanted to ask you about a movie. I know you spent a while catching up on all the Steel Samurai stuff you missed while you were in jail, - don't pretend you didn't, you nerd - so I wanted to know something. Did you like the Steel v. Nickel movie?"

Simon hesitated to answer. Athena had caught his attempt at a gesture dismissing the idea that he had devoted a solid week of time off to closing up the gap in his knowledge of the expansive TV and movie franchise instantly. "… The extended edition, I hope you mean?" he said after conceding.

"That's the one. Apollo-… Uhh, Apollo says that the theatrical cut was terrible, but I liked the extended one."

Athena hoped that her brief stumble over her words wasn't too suspicious. She'd meant not to mention anything about Apollo in this conversation. Like him, she didn't really feel that it was quite time yet to let Simon know that she and her senior co-worker were dating.

Simon gave her a momentary curious look, but seemed to let it pass. "Yes, by all accounts, the initial theatrical release was a travesty of cinema. The director's intended cut was the far superior take. I would have taken neither you nor Justice-dono for the type interested, however."

"Yeah, you can blame Trucy for that." Athena said, trying to keep it cool while side-stepping her brief mistake. "She and the boss are all over Steel Samurai stuff. She got Apollo hooked, and now they're after me, too."

Taka left his place on Simon's shoulder to fly away from the house entirely. This left Simon to glance idly around the area for a moment before replying. "There are far worse things to be heavily invested in."

"You got that right." Athena said. "So, um… Another question: d'you have any of the other movies…? I… I liked the one a lot more than I expected to."

"Ha," Simon chuckled, "So, this was your true aim? Your technique needs further honing. Still, if you wish, I suppose I can help you."

Athena grinned. "Really? Thanks, Simon!" she said. Before he could stop her, she jumped up to give him another hug. He sighed, but this time he returned the gesture. "I can't take anything right now, but what if I come back later?"

"I'll be here, Athena." Simon said. "Now, do you mind carrying on your way? I have a number of other errands to deal with this morning."

"Alright, see ya-!"

Athena waved to him as she left the yard and resumed her jog. Simon didn't really wave back, only going as far as to raise a single hand for a moment, but Athena wasn't too demanding in that regard.

She allowed herself a sigh. Simon might not have her hypersensitive hearing, but he could usually tell when someone was trying to hide something. She was glad to have succeeded in throwing him off the trail of her mention of Apollo.

Her next stop wasn't a house, but rather a large public garden with a winding footpath through its centre.

"Junie!"

Athena came to a stop, leaning over a short fence. Just past a row of saplings beyond the fence, the young brunette woman she'd come to see looked up from her work to smile at her.

"Thena!" Juniper greeted her brightly. She was holding a large bag of some garden care product Athena couldn't identify, which she set down in a bare patch of dirt. "How are you?"

"I'm… great, Junie." Athena said. It was half true. She had nothing notable to complain about going on in her life at the moment, to be sure, but her particular reason for coming here this morning gave her a certain sense of looming dread.

Juniper often volunteered her time at this garden, proving to be an expert in tending to the many varied types of plant life it housed. The place had a beautiful atmosphere to it, and Juniper looked every bit as serene as her surroundings. All this could do little to lessen Athena's apprehension, however.

Athena sighed. "We need to talk. Do you have time?"

Juniper met her eye curiously. "Of course. Is something wrong?"

Athena opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated. in a smooth motion, she hopped the short fence to walk into the garden. "… OK." she said following a pause to steel herself for what was to come. "Junie, have you… noticed anything about me lately? Like, in the past two months…?"

Juniper's smiled faded partway. "What do you mean? Is there something I should have noticed?"

Again, Athena was halfway into getting a reply out, only to freeze up. "… Oh, man, this is harder than it should be…"

"I'm the world's worst best friend!"

Athena jerked awkwardly at Widget's outburst. Juniper looked just as surprised as Athena clamped a hand over the talkative device. "Quiet, you…" Athena muttered downward.

"A-Athena, what's wrong?" Juniper asked her, suddenly sounding very worried. "If you did something… something wrong, I-I'm sure I can forgive you."

"Unforgivable!"

Athena made an irritated noise and tugged down hard on Widget's casing. The snap holding the device's chain together popped open and Athena shoved Widget into her pocket. When she looked up, she spotted a bench a few steps away.

"Uhh, come sit down." she said, marching over to take a seat. Juniper followed. "Alright, let me try this again…"

If she'd been hoping to break the news gently, Widget had probably ruined her chance. Juniper's immediate effort to soothe her worries, even before she knew what it was Athena wanted to tell her, wasn't helping with her guilt either. Why did she have to be such a great friend…?

"Thena," came Juniper's gentle voice once again, "Whatever it is that this is about, you can tell me. I won't be upset with you."

Athena couldn't handle this anymore.

"I-I stole Apollo from you, Junie-!"

…

The silence that followed was reminiscent of what often came after outbursts from Widget, but this time, Athena had been the one to speak for herself.

Finally, her friend's voice returned, even softer now. "… Thena?"

There was nothing she could do to keep her voice calm now. "I'm so sorry, Junie-! I'm a terrible friend-!"

"Thena-…"

Athena didn't let herself stop, even as Juniper tried to speak over her. "I know how you feel about him, a-and I wanted to help you confess to him, but-… I-It was just so perfect - we were talking, a-and he started laughing - I wish you could've heard him, he sounded so happy just to be with me, I-I didn't ever think I'd react like I did-"

"Thena-!"

Athena froze, feeling a gentle hand gripping at her wrist. She had tears welling up in her eyes, which she rubbed away with her other hand. She couldn't think of a time she'd heard Juniper speak with that much force. It was strange, but hearing her voice made Athena briefly think about Juniper's future plans to become a judge. She'd need a forceful tone in that position.

"Athena, just… just start at the beginning, OK?"

Juniper released her wrist, and Athena looked her in the eye. The look of confusion and worry she found made her wish she could've traded her "lawyer superpower", as Trucy called it, with Apollo. She took a breath.

"He really sounded like that?" Juniper asked her a few minutes later, after Athena managed to give her a clear description of the day she'd begun her new relationship with Apollo.

"Yes. It wasn't like the way it sounds in some TV shows, when it's just actors faking it." she replied. "I could tell exactly the way he felt, even if he wouldn't have ever said it out loud."

Juniper had been patient and listened through every word up to this point. "So," she said slowly, "You two have been together ever since then?"

Athena hesitated yet again. She could feel tears stinging at her eyes once more. "Y-Yes." she said, doing her best not to break down again.

She waited for Juniper to speak up again, and to hear her best friend's voice become shaky and strained, her heart utterly shattered.

What she heard instead was anything but.

"Athena, that's so wonderful! Congratulations!"

Athena could only look back, her face blank.

"I… Wow, this is so good to hear!" Juniper went on in her stead.

"B-But… what about you…?" Athena managed to ask, her voice as weak as she'd expected Juniper's to sound.

"Oh, Thena," Juniper said, placing a gentle hand on hers, "You're my best friend. I think Apollo's an absolutely wonderful person, and sometimes I've tried to pull together the courage to ask him how he feels about me, but… Thena, he loves you. You said it yourself. That's ten times better than my silly crush."

Athena felt stunned. She didn't know what to say.

"If anything, I'm sorry that I made you feel so worried about telling me." Juniper continued, her smile back in full force. "You're always so compassionate to everyone around you, you must have felt terrible."

"I-…"

Athena cursed her own inability to form a response. In her continued silence, Juniper pulled her into a hug. "I should get you two a gift, to celebrate!" she said.

"J-Junie…" was the best Athena could do. She hadn't felt this speechless in some time. She hugged her friend back, a slight flow of tears starting to work its way down her face again, though for a very different reason this time.

It was unfair, really, for her to have such a great friend in Juniper.

Even when she left the garden to finish her trip for the morning, Athena felt a new and welcome sense of release following her confession.

She needed to talk to Apollo. Rummaging in her pocket, she produced her cell phone. Apollo's number was the first to come up on the screen, and she called it without hesitation.

It was only after a few seconds of waiting through the ringtone that she remembered something: it wasn't even nine in the morning. Apollo Justice was many things, but these days, a morning person was not one of them. She hastily cancelled the call.

"Nnh…?"

Apollo pulled his head free of the soft pillow it had been enjoying until a few seconds ago. His phone had been ringing on his bedside table, but now it was silent. He stared at it for a few seconds, his eyelids heavy. Hearing nothing else, he dropped his head back to the pillow.

-bzzt-

Apollo grunted again. Now his phone was vibrating on the table. He dragged an arm free of his blankets to retrieve it. The screen's brightness hurt his eyes a bit in the darkness of his room.

-Message from Athena C.-

-Sorry!-

-Stupid me forgot it was Sunday-

-See you at the park after breakfast!-

Apollo still didn't feel awake, but he smiled. Fumbling with his phone, he typed out a reply. He yawned heavily as he made to send it off.

As he set his phone back on the table and relaxed against his pillow once more, he didn't notice the slight mistake he'd made before sending off the message.

…

-bzzt-

"Hmm…?"

Apollo blinked his eyes open again. Why was Athena still texting him? He retrieved the phone and flipped it open, yawning again.

Even in his groggy state, his eyes snapped wide open when he read the name atop the newest message.

-Message from Trucy W.-

-Polly, who are you hitting on?-

-Somehow I don't think this was meant for me.-

Apollo was suddenly feeling a lot less tired. Overcome with embarrassment, he hastily tried to type out a reply, checking over the listing of who his last text had gone to. To his relief, Trucy was the only name aside from Athena on the list. Once he finished the message, he dropped his phone and flung his head back onto the pillow, slapping a palm to his forehead.

(Can I go back to sleep for the rest of time now…?)