A/N: Today's chapter marks the halfway point of Distorted Reflections! So today's chapter is advancing a lot of plot points and bringing others to a close. Enjoy, my readers!

Chapter 5: To the root of the problem

January 10, 2028

Woods Residence, Juniper's bedroom

9:15 a.m.

For the second time that day, the door to Juniper's bedroom flew open, admitting a small flood of people: Myriam Scuttlebutt, Hugh O'Connor, Robin Newman, and Apollo Justice.

"What's going on here?! What happened to Juniper?!" Robin immediately asked aggressively.

"I think it's too soon to fly off handle," Apollo said, much more cool-headed in comparison. "Though I admit I'm wondering the same thing."

"It's a bit of a long story. I think I'm going to help Mrs. Woods explain it to save time. Is that okay with you?" Athena asked Juniper's grandma.

"As long as we can get to helping Juniper that much sooner," Virginia Woods said, shooting a brief glance at her still granddaughter.

"Well, we can already see that Juniper's pulling a Sleeping Beauty, sss sss sss," Myriam said. "Can't we just get Apollo to lean down and-"

"Hey, don't make jokes in such poor taste!" Apollo snapped. "I doubt it's that simple."

"Unfortunately, Apollo's probably right about there not being simple solution to the problem," Athena said grudgingly. "Mrs. Woods explained what happened to me and I barely understood it."

"Then how about we let Mrs. Woods explain for the rest of us that don't know," Hugh said, deadpan.

Virginia Woods shook her head, a smile on her face. Juniper certainly surrounded herself with a boisterous bunch of people. Her granddaughter had come such a long way since she started attending Themis Legal Academy.

January 13, 2028

Alternate Woods residence

9:00 a.m.

Being that today was Sunday, Juniper didn't have anything to do besides study her Themis coursework. Normally, she would hang out with her friends, but in this alternate world she didn't know what that would entail with these alternate versions of her friends. What's more, after yesterday's meeting Juniper wasn't sure if she could face any of them.

Except Juniper wasn't sure if it was right to do her… alternate self's homework. Very little of Juniper's meddling in this world had worked out the way she wanted it to. The homework looked the same… but what if doing it would ruin the alternate Juniper's life further in some unknowable way?

That was how badly Juniper was mentally wound up right now. Really, at this point Juniper wondered if it was best for her to just cut her losses and go back home. Everyone was surely missing her back in her home world, too.

Before her train of thought continued on in this direction Juniper heard a knock on her door. Then her grandma shouted, "Juniper! There's someone here to see you!"

Curious as who could possibly be visiting her, Juniper exited her room and made her way to the front door.

At the door was the last person Juniper expected to be making a house call: Constance Courte, who was carrying a picnic basket with her. The teacher and Juniper's grandma were engaged in casual small talk as Juniper approached them.

"You're here, Juniper," Professor Courte said when she spotted the judge student, smiling gently.

"Hello, Professor Courte. What made you decide to visit me?" Juniper asked.

"After our conversation the other day, I wanted to check up on you," Professor Courte said. "You seemed to have a lot on your mind, and I do enjoying spending time with my students."

That was definitely what Juniper admired the most about her teacher: how Professor Courte made time for students from every course, from every walk of life. There were times in the past when Juniper would try to report to Courte in her role as the snitch, only to be unable to reach her because she was attending to a troubled student.

It would be good to spend more time with Professor Courte, while she was still in this world. Going back to her home world meant having to say goodbye to Courte again. So without any hesitation, Juniper accepted Courte's invitation.

After finding a suitable clearing, Constance Courte lay down a blanket, then opened the picnic basket she had brought with her. Inside turned out to be small ham sandwiches, a pie, and a pair of thermos with apple juice in them.

"This all looks delicious. Did you make all this yourself, Professor Courte?" Juniper asked.

"Truthfully, I only made the sandwiches. Everything else is store bought," Professor Courte said, a sheepish expression on her face. "I'm afraid I don't have too much time to cook food, due to my workload as a professor."

"I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to come here, then!" Juniper exclaimed, hoping to that her mentor didn't fall behind on her duties because of this outing.

"It will not be an inconvenience to me. I made sure to finish all my pending work before coming here," Professor Courte said. "Now could you tell me more about this forest? I'd like to learn about this stunning location."

Juniper happily chatted with her teacher about the local flora and fauna she encountered in her many years living here, such as a patch of wildflowers she occasionally stumbled upon or seeing a deer faun from a distance. All the while the two women took breaks to enjoy the delicious food, or soak in the peaceful atmosphere. It was exactly the kind of balm Juniper needed after the past couple of days. Of course, it couldn't last forever.

"...And one of my favorite things about the forest is how you can explore it for hours and still find new surprises. Why, just the other day-"

The words died in Juniper's mouth as she realized what the end of that sentence was going to be. Just the other day, she found the Mirror Pond- and that set off this chain of events that she was currently trying to deal with.

"You went quiet all of a sudden. Is something the matter?" Professor Courte asked, concerned.

Juniper sighed. "Remember when you said you had a lot on my mind? I haven't been able to forget about it completely, even for a moment."

"It's about Robin again, isn't it," Professor Courte stated. "He sent me an email yesterday telling me about how you, Mr. O'Conner, and Miss Scuttlebut tried to talk to him about something that left him deeply shaken."

Explaining the Mirror Pond wasn't something that Juniper was prepared to do with anyone, not even with her mentor. Even so, this didn't mean she couldn't find some way to word it so that Courte could help her with some advice.

"I wanted to clear the air between everyone about what happened last October," Juniper explained. "I managed to get Hugh and Robin to put what happened back then behind them. But something is holding Robin back from being friends with us."

"I thought as much. I suspect the problem is the same as it always is with Robin- His parents are making his life needlessly difficult," Professor Courte said.

Professor Courte didn't know just how true her words were. While Robin sometimes could only blame herself (or himself?) for landing into trouble, in Juniper's experience nine times out of ten Robin's parents were responsible for her problems.

"I have tried to reason with Mr. and Mrs. Newman on many occasions," Professor Courte continued. "But they don't listen to me. I'm sorry to say this, Juniper, but I doubt they would listen to you either."

It was true- even in Juniper's homeworld talking with Robin's parents was a very difficult task. Robin's father, Richard Newman, was a tall, broad-shouldered man that exuded the intimidation that came with his Prosecutor's badge. Despite being a simple housewife most of the time, Diana Newman was capable of silencing people with a single glare.

If what was holding this alternate Robin back was his parents, then Juniper couldn't see what she could do anymore. In both Juniper's homeworld and this world, even Professor Courte couldn't get Robin's parents to change their minds. And if she couldn't do it, Juniper couldn't imagine any force on earth that could get Robin's parents to let up.

Was it truly impossible to do anything to fix this alternate world, then? The problem was something that persisted for literal years. It felt too big for Juniper to tackle, with so much history unknown to her. If only there was some way of stopping Robin's parents from raising Robin in such a harsh manner….

"Wait a second! That's it!" Juniper exclaimed as an idea hit her like a bolt from the blue.

"What did you think of, Juniper?" Professor Courte asked.

"I think… I might know of a way to solve everything," Juniper said softly. "It's a bit of a risky idea, but if it works everyone will be happy."

"I am worried to hear that your idea is risky. However, I also trust in your judgement, Juniper." Professor Courte said. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

As much as Juniper didn't want to part with Constance Courte, she didn't want her teacher get wrapped up in all this Mirror Pond business. If anything could resolve the issue with Robin's parents, it was the power of the Mirror Pond. Juniper wanted to be the only one burdened with this knowledge- after all, she was the one that originally found it.

"No, you've already done so much for me, Professor Courte," Juniper said. "Thank you so much for this picnic. I need to go now."

"Very well. I hope to see you again at school tomorrow, Juniper," Professor Courte said, smiling.

If everything went well, then Juniper would indeed see Professor Courte again at school. In a different world, in a much better world than this one.

January 13, 2028

Mirror Pond

12:00 p.m.

Once again, Juniper found herself before the mystical pond. Now that she was here, Juniper realized that there was no real limit that she could do. According to the spirit of this pond, all she had to do was imagine a world and this pond would make it so.

If she wanted to, Juniper could make a world where her parents had never passed away, and she could live both with them and her grandmother. Or a world where Thena's mom was never murdered, or Apollo's best friend Clay Terran, or a world where Hugh's parents didn't decide to bribe the school. If Juniper really wanted to, she could imagine a world that had all of this- a perfect world.

Juniper shook her head to clear her mind. The Judge course student still knew too little about how the Mirror Pond worked to make such a massive request. For now, it was good to keep it simple- resolving the issue with Robin's parents. If everything worked out with that, then Juniper would enact bigger changes.

"Mirror Pond, can you hear me?" Juniper asked quietly.

"I can always hear you," The Mirror Pond answered.

"I'd really like to make a new request," Juniper said. She held in her mind what she wanted, the world she wanted for the sake of all her friends. "I want a world where Robin's parents didn't try and control her life. A world where instead, they let Robin chase her own dreams and happiness. That's the world I want to be in."

"As you wish. That is the world you shall visit," The Mirror Pond said, showing Juniper her reflection, and therefore the determined expression on Judge course student's face.

Nothing happened right away, which confused Juniper briefly. Then she remembered how she only landed in this world after she went to sleep the day she first found the Mirror Pond. So the only thing she could do for now was head home.

After arriving home, Juniper quickly greeted her grandma before heading to her bedroom. Laying back in her bed, Juniper closed her eyes. At first, there was nothing. Then she saw the Mirror Pond again, and just like last time Juniper was floating far above it. Juniper dived willingly into the depths of the pond this time, headed straight towards the blinding light- and the brand new world that awaited her.

A/N: Next chapter, Juniper will start the second half of this story in the second alternate world! Fans with knowledge of both Ace Attorney canon and the Mirror Pond's rules might be able to guess what will happen next. Feel free to speculate in the review box. See you next time! Please review.