Enjoy!

Loving Miss Juniper Woods

Part 3

"I'm not sure what to do about it..."

Apollo walks into the Wright & Co Law Offices, the morning after the party. The office itself is in it's usual state, messy and has magician props lying about the place, though there some things like balloons and the rest of Apollo's birthday presents are also about the place.

With a big sports bag and a rucksack that he brought over, Apollo begins to pack away the presents he received, though he may have to pick up the painting that Vera and Solomon had made for him later on, due to how big it is.

With that said, Apollo thinks back to last night, the party, the enjoyment, the excitement and Juniper. Apollo blushes, as the memory from the dream came back to him.

"I still blame Athena for this mess..."

*Click!*

Apollo turns to see Phoenix walking into the office, with a thought on his mind. Phoenix closes the door, turns and jumps at the sight of Apollo.

"Apollo!" he exclaims, surprised. "I wasn't expecting you to see back here so soon! Why are you here, spending your day off here?"

Apollo smiles slightly. Phoenix told him and Athena that they both got a day off the day after Apollo's birthday, to recover. "Eh. I woke up early, and I thought I come and grab my presents to take presents home."

Phoenix nod, smiling as well. "Fair enough. I've come to grab some head-ache tablets from the offices. Trucy has got a slight hangover from last night, and I've unexpectedly ran out. I then remembered I've got some spare ones here."

"Fair enough." Apollo remarks, putting some of the unwrapped presents away. "You should really keep that Larry character under control, you know?"

Phoenix nods seriously, then went to grab the tablets from his desk, while Apollo continues to pack the presents.

By the time Phoenix returns with the tablets, Apollo just finishes packing the presents away, all but the painting, which is leaning to it's side onto a wall.

"So, how was Trucy last night?" Apollo asks, looking at Phoenix with a inquisitive look on his face. "I knew that she drank the punch by accident, but I didn't know how strong it was until later on."

Phoenix nods, nervously a bit, thinking to what happened.

"Yeah, the bottle that Larry brought was a very strong vodka. It was lucky only two people, besides Larry, drank it. As for Trucy, she was a bit tipsy, but she feel asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow."

Apollo grins. "That's good to know. I thought she would have thrown up or something."

"Yeah, I was lucky that she didn't. I think I heard her get up in the night to go the bathroom, but that's about it.

How was Athena?"

"Ah, she's was fine. She was acting really silly, so I filmed it on my new camera."

"Revenge for that prank a couple of days ago?"

"Yep, you bet!"

"Heh." chuckles Phoenix, laughing a bit. "Did she reveal any secrets? Anything that we shouldn't know?"

Apollo blinks, mind totally blank for a second. He's still conflicted over that secret of Juniper's crush on him, so what should he say.

In the next second, Apollo remembers that Athena said, in her drunken state, that she has a crush on Simon. That would be a good excuse to use.

"She said she liked Prosecutor Blackquill in the romantic sense."

Phoenix smiles slightly. "Heh. Really? Well, I believe you when you say that Athena said that. I was talking with Aura and Solomon during the party last night, and Aura told me that Athena told her mother that she had a crush on Prosecutor Blackquill. Apparently, Blackquill still doesn't know that happened even to this day."

Apollo thinks about it. "Huh. Who knew?"

"Anyway, was there anything else? Anything else that Athena said?"

"Not really. She didn't say any other secrets."

Suddenly, Phoenix blinks, taking a step back in shock for some reason. Apollo notices a faint glow coming from his chest pocket.

Apollo knows what this is. Phoenix's Magatama is reacting to his lie, and now Psyche Locks have appeared round his heart.

Apollo remembers the MASON System, and the memories of Phoenix using the Magatama to find secrets that people are hiding. He remembers this very too well.

"...How many?" Apollo asks, his spikes drooping, due to his nervousness.

"Huh?"

"By your reaction, I can tell you're seeing Psyche Locks around my heart."

"How do yo-"

"MASON System, remember?"

"Oh yeah..."

Phoenix sighs, then looks serious. "You've got five around your heart. You're hiding something pretty deep."

"Huh..." Apollo goes, poking his forehead. "Well, there's nothing I can hide from you, Mr Wright, so I'll tell you."

Phoenix looks surprised, as Apollo's Psyche Locks shatter before his eyes. "Well, that was easy..."

Apollo sits down on the couch, and sighs, slightly depressed.

"Athena told me a secret that really shocked me last night. I'm not sure what to do about it..."

Phoenix sat down on the other couch, confused.

"What did she say?"

"That Juniper Woods has a crush on me."

"...Oh."

"Hang on a second!" Apollo remarks, surprised by this. He was expecting a bigger reaction than that!

"I just told you a big secret and you just go '…...Oh'?!"

Phoenix put his hand at the back of his head, nervous. "Ah...I already knew about that."

Apollo blinks, unable to comprehend this.

"WHAT?!"

"You see..." starts Phoenix, still nervous. "When I was defending Juniper on that bombing case, when she was testifying, talking about you made her feel better since she was nervous. Juniper kept going on about you. I don't have Athena's ability to hear emotions, but even I could hear her affections for you in her voice."

"..." Apollo goes, completely speechless from this revaluation.

"You...got...to be...kidding me...

I...never...knew that..."

Phoenix blinks, starting to understand what Apollo is feeling about this whole thing.

"Huh... From what I can tell, you were pretty shocked about it.

I would too if someone I knew had a crush on me, and she was a really good friend..."

Apollo remains silent.

Phoenix went into his thinking pose. "So, what do you think about this whole situation?"

"I feel quite angry at Athena and myself." Apollo remarks, bluntly, frowning.

"How come?"

"Athena called me oblivious after telling me that secret. I feel insulted by that since I'm not oblivious at all.

If I was, how could I solve my cases, or help people?"

Phoenix nods, in agreement. "That is true. You wouldn't be a good lawyer if you were oblivious."

"I know, right?"

"So, what's the other reason?" Phoenix asks, curious. "Why are you angry at yourself?"

Apollo explains his reason for his anger at himself, telling Phoenix that he feels like he's insulting Juniper for not noticing her feelings for him, and should have done something about it.

I'm not repeating myself, because you guys already got the gist of it.

Phoenix frowns, thinking about what Apollo had explained to him.

"I see... You're obviously torn over this..." he murmurs, thinking.

"I decided to get to know Juniper a little more." Apollo remarks, a natural expression on his face. "That way I can see if anything else will develop from there, if I do have feelings or not."

The reason why Apollo didn't share the dream he had, is because that is private, and might be embarrassing.

"That sounds like a good idea..." Phoenix goes, smiling slightly. "You can see what will happen, and what to do about it."

He then shrugs his shoulders, then smiles again.

"If you want, I could help you with getting to know Juniper better."

Apollo frowns a little. "Are you trying to do that thing that Pearl keeps going on about, the whole 'special someone' thing?"

"No, goodness, no!" Phoenix exclaims, surprised at this accusation. "Where did you hear about that?"

"Over-heard Trucy and Pearl talk about this girl you used to know called Dahlia, and how much an evil person she was, and saying this girl that you also know named Maya is a better choice. Pearl went onto saying that this Maya was your special someone."

Phoenix looks slightly disheartened. "Yeah... That's typical of Pearl..."

"What was all about that Dahlia and Maya?"

"For Dahlia, look up the first case of a defence attorney called Mia Fey, and the case proceed it and connecting it." Phoenix says, frowning.

"It's something I don't like talking about that much."

Then, Phoenix brightened up a bit. "As for Maya, she was my assistant for the first few years as a defence attorney. She helped with every case that I got, apart from a few exception, one of them you're quite aware of."

Apollo nods, frowning deeply. "Yeah. The case that got you disbarred."

Phoenix chuckles a bit, remembering the past. "I met Pearl in my second year as a defence attorney, and for some reason, she always thought me and Maya were in love with each other. It got awkward sometimes."

Apollo nods, thinking about any situation that Pearl, Phoenix and Maya might have been in.

"Well, did you?"

"Huh?"

"Where you in love in Maya?"

Phoenix shook his head, itching the back of his head.

"No, not really. Maya is more of my best friend than a girlfriend to me, and I think she feels the same back as well.

I really enjoyed having her company back in my starting days, since Edgeworth was being distant with me and...you know what Larry's like."

Apollo nods, though not believing Phoenix saying Maya isn't a girlfriend to him.

"I felt you tense when you say that, Mr Wright..." Apollo thinks.

"Anyway, I'll try and help you get to know Juniper better." Phoenix states, getting back to the subject of Juniper's crush on Apollo.

"Because, to be honest, I do think you have a chance with her. You're a nice person, and she's a kind person. I think you two would be good together."

Apollo's face becomes slightly red at this comment.

"I see... Uh...Thanks for helping...Mr Wright..."

Phoenix smiles. Since Trucy is his (adopted) daughter, technically, Apollo counts as his son as well, since Trucy and Apollo are related.

Besides, ever since Apollo joined the offices, he's become more of a mentor and father to the young attorney in red, and giving him advice is like a father giving the same advice to his son.

"Apollo and Trucy as my son and daughter..." Phoenix thinks to himself. "Well that's a nice thought...

But, who would be the mother of this family...?"

Phoenix's mind then suddenly wanders to both Maya and Iris, who he hasn't seen for a while.

"Maybe I should focus on Apollo's problem at the moment... Me and Trucy are heading to Kurain in a couple of days, and I have invited Athena and Apollo to go...

Maybe I should get Apollo to extend the invitation to Juniper. There are some rare flowers that grow around Kurain so Juniper may be interested in...

I hope Maya doesn't mind, but on the other hand, she is interested in meeting Athena and vice versa, since Athena wants to know about Pearl and Maya, because their spiritual background..."

Phoenix decides to give Apollo his thought about visiting Kurain in the next few days, and about inviting Juniper along for the ride.

Apollo gives a massive grin. "That sounds like a great idea, Mr Wright. I think Juniper would love it there."

But then, Apollo pokes his head, thinking. "But wouldn't your Maya friend be okay with it? She is the Master of Kurain after all, and heard masters are quite funny with guests sometimes..."

Phoenix shakes his head, giving a smile. "Nah, Maya will be fine with it. She loves company a lot, and she probably say 'the more, the merrier, Nick!'"

"'Nick'?

"A nickname that Maya gave to me after my second case. Why do you think Pearl calls me 'Mr. Nick'?"

"Fair enough."

Apollo pokes his head, frowning a little. "Ah... Just remembered something..."

"What is it?" Phoenix asks, curious.

Apollo sweats, slightly disheartened. "I...don't have...Juniper's number. I can't ring her up and ask her to come..."

Phoenix shakes his head. "No worries. I causally suggest to Athena, saying that there are rare flowers around Kurain to see, and say that Juniper might be interested in coming to see them. I noticed with Athena that when her friends are mentioned, she always tries to get them to come along."

Apollo grins again. "That's good. Athena would invite Juniper along."

The attorney in red pokes his head again, thinking.

"You know what, Mr Wright, I think I've learned a very important lesson from all of this."

"What is it?"

"If you want to keep a secret with Athena, don't let her near or let her drink anything alcoholic."

Phoenix nods, grimacing.

"Yeah... I agree."

*CLICK!*

The two turn to see Athena walk into the Offices, bags under her eyes, and her ponytail drooping a little.

"Oh mein Gott..." she murmurs, grabbing her head in pain.

"I got the worse hangover..."

"Athena!" Phoenix exclaims, shocked to see Athena here at the offices. "I thought I told you had a day off today! Why are you here?"

"...I ran out of head-ache tablets, and I remembered that I had some in my desk..."

As Phoenix fussed over Athena, Apollo is in deep thinking about what could happen.

"So, a plan is set in motion... My heart is racing at this thought...

Spending time with Juniper, to see if I like her in THAT way...

The more and more I think about it... My heart's getting faster and faster...

Only a few days until that day...

Urk... This is getting too much for me..."

End of Part 3

A/N: ...Okay, I might have lied when I said there was some side shipping in this chapter. I WAS planning to, but it didn't turn up. I did give hints, though.

The first of some story arcs in this story is next. MAYBE some longer chapters? XD. Anyway, tell me what you think of this chapter, and any ideas that I could use. I'll PM you if I like your idea, or I'll write it here. To Martial Arts Master, thanks for that idea. I think no one has used that yet.

Anyway, this is DragonNiro, and I'll see you guys and girls later!