Loving Miss Juniper Woods

Part 5

"It's been a while, Nick."

Phoenix steps out of the train, and into the village. He takes a deep breath in, and lets it out.

He looks round the village, and smiles to himself. "This place hasn't changed at all..."

It's true. Kurian Village hasn't changed at all since he last visited.

Phoenix had visited Maya a few days before his disbarment, and hasn't been here since then, which is roughly about eight years ago.

A lot has happened since then. His disbarment, looking after Trucy, meeting Apollo and Athena, catching Kristoph and the Phantom, the works. Maya often visited him during his disbarment days, though not vice versa. The Elders wouldn't let Phoenix into the village, not letting a 'fraud' come anywhere near the Master of Kurian.

Now, it's all over, and it's time for peace. Phoenix is allowed back into the village, due to getting his badge back.

He turns to see the small group walk out of the station. Juniper, Athena and Trucy are chatting animatedly but Apollo is deep in thought.

Phoenix frowns a little. Apollo is thinking what Juniper asked him on the train, which shocked the attorney in red.

"Are you going to ask about Clay Terran getting channelled?"

Eavesdropping on the conversation, even without Athena's power, Phoenix could see that Apollo was a bit disturbed by that question. The thought of seeing a perished friend again through spirit channelling can be sound scary to most people. Phoenix wasn't really bothered by when Mia was channelled to help him to catch Redd White, mostly due to trying to help Maya, and then trying to save himself.

For Apollo, however, he didn't have that luxury. Apollo was still upset after the UR-1 Incident was closed for good, and it took him till earlier this year to come back to work. He still doesn't like talking about it.

Juniper only meant it as an innocent question, and Phoenix is pretty much sure Apollo knows that himself, however, the thought of seeing his friend again seems all too tempting to him.

And to be honest, Phoenix doesn't blame him.

In the past, Phoenix sometimes doubted himself as a lawyer, and was glad that Mia helped him out. Nowadays, he doesn't need Mia's help, but sometimes it would be good to see his former mentor.

Phoenix smiles to himself. Maybe Apollo and Athena could meet Mia...

Then, Phoenix notices Athena's expression, going from one of being calm to one of excitement. A joyous expression that is filled with happiness.

"This place, IS AMAZING!" Athena grinned with happiness. Apollo frowns, not with anger, but with genuinely curiosity.

To him, this place seems... not as he expected. It's not bland, but considering this is a place for Spirit Mediums, he expected it to be a little bit busier than this.

But, only in recent years, from what Apollo had heard, it's fame has been steadily growing. Despite being proven as a genuinely technique, a lot of people still think the whole spirit channelling thing is a sham.

Apollo bets even Simon Blackquill thinks it's a sham. He's not the most total believer in the supernatural, from what Apollo has seen from his reaction to Apollo's attempts at perceiving.

Although, the whole concept of seeing the dead being channelled is an interesting thing to behold.

Apollo pokes his head, to think.

What Juniper had asked does sound like a good idea. Apollo...he didn't really have time to say goodbye to Clay. It still hurts to think about it.

But, having a chance to see Clay again...this sounds like a good chance not to pass up, however, what about the plan to know if he has feelings for Juniper or not?

He...can't just abandon it!

A door is heard being opened, and footstep sounds are also are heard. The group turn to see that Pearl Fey has just stepped out from the Fey Manor.

The Spirit Medium in training then smiles once she has seen the group, and begins to walk over to them. Trucy and Athena rush towards Pearl, dragging Juniper along as the two girls haven't met each other yet, as Phoenix slowly walks up as well, with Apollo following as well.

"Pearly!" Trucy remarks, excited as she can be. "It's been so long!"

Pearl shines a natural grin. "Yes, Trucy, it has been a long time!" The Spirit Medium then turns to see Athena, who returns with a grin.

"Ah, Athena. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Athena then does her signature peace sign to Pearl. "It sure has!"

Then, Pearl notices Juniper, who is behind Athena. Confused at this new figure, Pearl walks up to Juniper, who seems to be nervous.

"Who are you?" Pearl asks, inquisitively, looking at the nervous Juniper. "I've never seen you before!"

"I-i'm Juniper Woods..." Juniper stutters, nervously, looking round, hands together. Pearl then smiles, and proceeds to bow to Juniper. "Please to meet you, Miss Woods. Sorry for my rude questioning."

Apollo, through the power of his bracelet, felt Juniper loosen up from her nervousness. He smiled.

"Please..." Juniper starts, calmer now. "...Just call me Juniper." Athena then comes round and places her arm round Juniper's shoulder, surprising the student judge. "Or you can call her 'Junie', for short!" Athena says, with a grin.

Juniper flushes slightly with embarrassment. "But...Athena, you're the only one that calls me that..."

Pearl simply smiles, while Trucy is looking round comically, if trying to find someone. "Hey, Pearly..." she says in a sweet voice, having the young Spirit Medium turn to her. "...What's Aunt Maya?"

Pearl bows again. "Master Maya is currently in a meeting with the Elders, but should be finished soon. In the meantime, I invite you all in for some hot drinks."

Trucy pouts, in a teasing manner. "Oh, why do you have to be all formal on us? You know you can act like you want with us!" Pearl, Athena and Juniper giggle, while Phoenix chuckles and Apollo simply smirks.

Pearl once again bows, to Juniper. "Mr Ni-, er..., I mean, Mr. Wright told me you wanted to see the Kurian Flowers, correct?"

Juniper nods, getting slightly nervous. "Y-yes...Is it okay I can take some home to show my grandma?" she asks, still nervous.

"Yes." Pearl replies, giving Juniper some more confidence. "Believe or not, despite their rarity in other places, Kurian Flowers are quite a common sight if you live and train in the manor. The Spirit Acolytes tend to them daily."

Then, surprising even Mr Wright, Pearl frowns, with an warning intent. "There is a legend associated with the flower.

It is said that Kurian Flowers can tell when a person's soul is pure or not. It will wither in a presence of someone who is intending to do ill-will, and will die instantly. You can tell someone is bad or good by being in the presence of the Kurian Flower.

It is also a valuable flower, costing a lot of money, and is used in medicine for the Spirit Acolytes. We Spirit Mediums believe that is why the flower grows here and not anywhere else, because there are people who are willing to extort it.

I warn you, it will show you who is bad or good."

Juniper nods, with a determined expression on her face. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of it."

Pearl's frown soon turn into a smile. "Good." she simply states. She then looks at Trucy, then to Athena, then to Juniper, then to Apollo and finally to Phoenix.

"Follow me." Pearl says, heading towards the Fey Manor, with Apollo, Athena, Juniper, Trucy and Phoenix following her into the manor.

The group walk into the Fey Manor's Mediation Hall, with all the younger members of the group looking around in amazement, apart from Pearl and Trucy. Phoenix smiled faintly to himself, remembering the first time he came into this place. "It hasn't changed one bit..."

As they enter the room, Pearl suddenly went ahead of the group and turned round. "The Kurian Master will come in here in a few minutes." Pearl said, politely while bowing again. "Please wait as I'll prepare some tea for the meeting."

As Pearl began to leave, Trucy puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "Oh, there is no way you're ditching me now, Pearly! We need to catch up!" Pearl then giggled a bit, smiling widely. "You can come with me if you want." Trucy nodded, and the two went off together to another room, leaving Apollo, Athena, Juniper and Phoenix in the Hall.

Athena glanced round the room before turning to Phoenix. "So, tell me, boss...!" she started, with a cheeky grin. "...How come you know the master of Pearl's village?"

This catches Apollo off guard a little, seeing that Athena doesn't know about the master of Kurian, Maya Fey. Apollo then looked at Juniper, who was looking quite curious at the forthcoming conversation.

Phoenix kept his composure calm. "Well..." he began, with a wistful smile on his face. "In my first three years as a lawyer and before I got disbarred, the master of Kurian was my assistant. Her sister, which was my mentor, Mia Fey, was murdered after my first case and the master was accused of her murder."

Phoenix laughed a bit. "Heh, after that, she became my assistant and we went on to solve many cases together. She's also one of my closest companions."

Athena nodded and grinned, fully understanding how much Maya Fey meant to Phoenix, along with hearing his emotions. Apollo noticed that Juniper is smiling a bit softly, probably thinking something nice.

A sudden slide of a door is heard, and everyone turns round to see a woman walk into this room. Phoenix smiled upon the sight of this woman. Despite her clothing changing over to the Master's clothes, which results in some adjustments, he could still tell that this woman is Maya Fey.

He could tell that Maya is now a bit taller than she was eight years ago, but this might be down to the master's sandals, which are black with a purple holder. Her back of her hair is fashioned into a single bun, being held together with a traditional medium white beads hair band and a pair of hair chopsticks. The front of her hair remains the same as she was eight years ago, though there is a bang of hair going down the right and left side of her face, with two orange beads on them both.

Maya wears in which it appears to be an medium necklace around her neck, along with a red magatama as well. Her clothing is a Kurian medium outfit, which consists of an deep purple overcoat with a cream kimono and a violet waistband that appears to be made out of a scarf of some kind. But to appear different from the acolytes of Kurian, her cream kimono is longer than normal and has a long stripe going from the neck area down to the bottom that is gold-coloured, with some orange, thing strips branching off from it.

Phoenix heard some collective gasps coming from the three, and glances to see Apollo looking mildly surprised, Athena looking extremely excited and Juniper looking slightly shocked at the appearance of Maya Fey.

"It's been a while, Nick..." the master of Kurian remarked in such a cool manner, causing Phoenix to turning his attention back towards her. The two stare at each other for a while, causing Apollo to break out in a nervous sweat.

"Isn't anyone going to say anything...?" he thought to himself nervously. As he finished that thought, Apollo saw that Phoenix began to smirk, which caused Maya to squeal in delight and run over to hug Phoenix as tightly as possible.

"Nick! It's been such a long time!" Maya went, all excitedly, causing Apollo to be taken off guard and the two other girls to become happy at this reunion. "Four years since I've seen you!"

Phoenix nodded, hugging Maya back. "Yep. I'm sorry about the lack of visit, but you should know why already through my letters."

Coming out of the hug, Maya nodded with a serious frown. "Kristoph Gavin..." she murmured to herself, looking angry. She then shook her head, gaining an happy expression. "But never mind that! Look at you!" Maya gestured towards Phoenix's appearance, which looks completely different from what she was used to. "Back in business, huh? You look much different from your hobo look!"

Phoenix smiled, crossing his arms. "I could say the same about you, Master Maya Fey!" Maya giggled at what Phoenix had said, but then noticed the three other people in the room. She first went up to Apollo.

"You must be Apollo!" she exclaimed with a cheerful tone in her voice, extending her hand. Apollo took the offer and together they shook hands. "I've heard so much about you from Nick! Is it true that little Trucy calls you 'Polly'?" Apollo sighed, gaining a smile on his face. "Yeah, but I didn't come up with it. She started calling me that one day."

Maya nodded, then glances around. "Where is Trucy, by the way?" she asked, curiously. Phoenix pointed towards the way that Trucy and Pearl went.

"Pearls and Trucy went to make some tea." he remarked, causing Maya to gain somewhat a disgusted face. "Yuck, I hate the tea that we serve here! I don't understand why we serve it...But at least she's with Pearly!"

"Is it that bad?" Athena questioned, curious herself. Maya turned round to greet Athena.

"You must be Athena!" Maya went, still cheerful. "I heard a lot about you from Nick and Pearly! You're a really good lawyer from what I heard!" Athena grinned in a silly manner, playing with her hair in an embarrassed manner. "You don't have to say that me...!"

Maya smiled sincerely and then noticed Juniper standing there, somewhat nervously. "And you must be Juniper, correct?" Maya asked, going to her. Juniper nodded, somewhat nervously. "Y-yes...*cough*" she replied, smiling a little. "T-thank you...for having me..."

Maya grinned. "No problem, Juniper! I'm always happy to meet new people!" Maya looks round at her guests. "Well, since I've introduced myself to everyone here, you can go explore the manor if you want to! Or you could stay for some tea and some food!" Maya claps her hand together. "Who fancies burgers?"

Phoenix laughed at the last remark by Maya while the others chuckled. Athena nodded. "I'm gonna see what's taking Trucy and Pearls so long!" Athena then heads off in the direction where Trucy and Pearl went to, leaving the four there. Juniper then went up to Maya.

"Um..." she started, somewhat nervously. "...As you may know...I came to see the Kurian Flowers...thanks to your permission...Is it okay that I can see them?"

Maya nodded straight away, grinning. "Of course, Juniper!" she exclaimed in a happy manor, pointing towards the garden area. "You can take some if you want to! The flowers are just through there! Help yourself to the flower pots if you want!"

Juniper curtsied to Maya and proceeded to head towards the garden. Apollo walked past and said "I'm...just gonna go with Juniper...Yes..." As Apollo left the room, Maya frowned in confused, and turned towards Phoenix.

"What's up with him?" she asked, curiously. Phoenix chuckled. "Oh, it's a long story...!"

Apollo walked into the garden briskly, feeling slightly nervous. He felt like that last part was embarrassing for him but he soon shook that feeling out of his head. He looks around the garden to see it filled to the brim with different kinds of flowers with variant shades. Roses, Violets, Sunflowers, you name them, they're there. He also sees some kind of furnace off in the corner, far away from the flowers, along with some clay flower pots. Apollo frowns at this, wondering what that's used for.

Getting back on topic, Apollo noticed that Juniper is crouching down at a particular patch of flowers, scribbling something on what appears to be a notepad. Apollo walks over to where Juniper is when he notices the flowers.

This particular patch of flowers is something that Apollo has never seen before. It appears to be some kind of rose-shaped flower, but instead of being red, this flower has the petals completely purple, maybe lavender if you look at it in a certain light. It also has yellow dots on the petals, standing out from the purple petals. There appears to be no thorns on the flower, though.

Apollo is taken aback by this flower when Juniper noticed that he was there. "Ah, Apollo!" she went, blushing a bit in embarrassment. "I didn't know you were there! How rude of me!" Apollo rubbed the back of his head as Juniper stood up.

"It's fine, Juniper." he remarked, looking at the flowers. "I just wanted Mr Wright to catch up with his friend, that's all." Juniper nodded to that, unaware that Apollo was lying and really wanted to spend some time with her. Apollo points towards the flowers.

"Are those the Kurian flowers?" he asked, curiously. Juniper then gain an really happy grin. "Yes, they are!" she exclaimed, not feeling nervous at all. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" Apollo nodded, as Juniper tended to the flowers. He watched her carefully scribble down some notes on the notepad before putting it away in her little overcoat. Then, Juniper walks over to the furnace and picks up one of the pots gently, catching Apollo off slightly. He then watched Juniper walk back over gracefully, while humming a tune. Mesmerized by this, Apollo watched as Juniper dug up one of the Kurian Flowers with a trowel carefully, knowing not to damage the roots. Then, she placed the flower gently into the pot, making sure there is enough dirt for the flower to sustain itself. Seeing that there isn't enough dirt, Juniper uses the trowel to get some more of it to place in the pot. Once satisfied, Juniper smiles softly. "All done!" she exclaimed, happily.

That last part for Apollo catches him off guard, seeing how cute Juniper is. As he watched her movements afterwards, he realises how cute she really is. He remembers the times around last year, when he interacted with her, like the time before Solomon's trial and her second trial. Those moments, now realising how cute she is, made him blush a deep red. Feeling his face getting warmer, Apollo turns away, trying to hid it from Juniper as his heart races faster.

Is...those feelings really there? Does he have those sorts of feelings for her?

Apollo turned back round once he felt the redness had gone, to see Juniper looking curiously at him while holding the potted Kurian flower in her hands.

"Are you okay, Apollo?" she asked, somewhat concerned for him. "You're becoming red...Did you catch a cold?"

Apollo shook his head. "No...I'm...fine..." he remarked to Juniper. The judge-in-training nodded and frowned slightly. "Sorry...to, um, bring this up..." she started, somewhat hesitantly. "...But have you thought...my question...?"

Apollo frowns, crossing his arms and looking distant. The question...should he have Clay channelled? It's a difficult question.

"I...I don't know..." Apollo goes, not sure himself, catching Juniper off guard a little. "...I just got over...his, well...death recently." Apollo averted his gaze away from Juniper, who gained a worried expression for him. "If...I...*sigh*...get him channelled, it might bring up...some unnecessary memories of what happened..."

Suddenly, to Apollo's utter shock, Juniper runs up to him and hugs him, which causes him to blush a deep red.

"I..." Juniper started, to the shocked Apollo. "...have no clue how much pain you felt during that time..." Apollo begins to shake, tears forming at his eyes. "...but I knew that the pain you felt was a lot...and it was understandable..."

Tears ran down Apollo's face, with memories of Clay running through his mind. Gritting his teeth, he tries not to cry more but fails. Juniper looks at him while still hugging him, with tears in her eyes.

"...You lost your best friend...It must have been the most painful experience for you...You still feel pain and sadness from what happened..."

Tears continued to flow down Apollo's face. "I...I...I..." he stuttered, trying not to break down in sadness. "...It's...not fair...! He was...SO close...To his dream...I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye...!"

Apollo quietly sobs, as Juniper pulls out of the hug. "I...I...I thought was over it... It's been four months already..."

Juniper frowns slightly in sadness. "It takes a long time to get over the lost of a loved one, even a close one..." she remarked, if knowing the feeling all too well. "...You might not been even aware of it yourself, Apollo. You're still in pain."

Apollo wipes away his tears and nodded. "...It appears so...I feel pathetic...I just wish I could see him again..." he remarked, having his hair horns droop a little. He then noticed that Juniper looked ever so determined. "That's why you NEED Clay to be channelled! To help you move on!" Then, Juniper realised how forceful that might have been and blushed in embarrassment. "...Sorry..." she went, quietly.

Apollo simply smiled, eyes drying slowly though still red. "...It's fine. You're right anyway." he stated, catching Juniper in surprise. "...To get over this, I need to see Clay once more." Apollo then sighed. "Do you think I should go ask Maya to channel Clay?"

Juniper nodded, gaining the confidence that she showed at the Themis Law Academy. Apollo took this as a yes, and the two went to head to the main hall after taking the pot.

While all this happens, Apollo's heart beat slightly fast from the encouragement of Juniper. Maybe, just maybe, he's got feelings for her...

End of Part 5

A/N: Well, this is embarrassing. I am very sorry for not updating. I had a lot of things going in life but hopefully I can continue to update this story. See ya.