A/N: At long last...a new chapter of TSOMS! I'm sorry this took so long. I recently found out this story has over 1,000 reads. Thank you all so much! Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things. It's time for femslash!
Arc 3: The world shifts under our feet.
Chapter 11: On secrets, between friends and girlfriends.
December 22, 2030
Location: Enroute to the Newman-Woods Residence
Time: 8:30 a.m.
The Shadow incident was mainly remembered by Juniper as the first time she saw cruelty against someone just because they were different. She tried her hardest to forget what happened at first.
But as the bus Juniper was on approached the stop on the street she lived, she realized burying the past accomplished nothing. After all, these events didn't happen in a vacuum. Rather, they sent ripples not only through her relationship with Robin, but through her life in general...
February 2028 to March 2028
Juniper had hoped that she could put the events of Robin's trial behind her, but of course life was never that easy. For in taking down Logan Sullivan a small chain of events had been set in motion.
First Myriam had turned her findings on the other mysterious notes over to the Prosecutor's office, which promptly investigated each one tirelessly. As it turned out, Logan had discovered one of many loopholes that student and faculty alike abused as they pleased, and the culprits behind each and every one of those notes was exposed and dealt with on a case to case basis. Motives ranged from blackmail to friends falling out much like Blackquill had suggested during Robin's trial.
The horrid influence that had been revealed thanks to Professor Means's incarceration still had a stranglehold on Themis, but even as Student Council President there was only so much Juniper could do about it. Juniper couldn't help but wonder what would become of the school after she graduated.
Then came Logan's own trial, where thanks to the events of Robin's trial he was found guilty of his crimes. As it happened, the Prosecutor in charge was the Themis alum Klavier Gavin, though Juniper didn't get a chance to catch up with him. As a first time offender Logan's crimes did not weigh as heavily as they could have, and so he was sentenced to two years of jail time with six months probation, along with the possibility of parole.
As Logan was led away he seemed much smaller than the arrogant "top student" he was before. It seemed that all his anger had burned out now that he had no way of reaching his goals. Would they have been friends under different circumstances? There was no way of knowing. Robin had confided in Juniper that she had tried to befriend Logan during their first conversation, which just made the whole thing sadder.
On the bright side, her relationship with Robin remained strong. She and Robin celebrated their first Valentine's day together, exchanging handmade chocolates. Understandably Robin didn't have the best cooking skills, but Juniper was more than happy to teach her. Now that they didn't have to hide their relationship, the two were able to integrate it much easier into their daily lives, such as freely discussing it with and around their parents(or her Grandma in Juniper's case) and walking hand in hand down Themis halls without anyone batting an eyelash.
Likewise, the group was able to hang out with each other at lot easier, including being able to see Apollo again for the first time in a while. As it turned out, he was defending a coworker of a detective he knew when Robin's trial went down. Athena continued to defend clients while dropping by on occasion, Hugh slowly was requiring less and less tutoring(but still fumbled on the occasional test) and Myriam rode a wave of publicity and new club members from her special article on recent events.
As the semester wore on and Themis settled back down Juniper was happy to be able to just focus on her life again. She studied her hardest to be able to graduate with top honors, directed the Student Council as best she could, and began to plan dates with Robin again. Then one day Athena asked Juniper and Robin to meet her at a local cafe….
March 23, 2028.
Location: Themis Student Council meeting hall
Time: 3:45 p.m.
"….In other news, despite everything that's happened recently the school administration has seen no reason to cancel any of the extracurricular activities planned for the rest of the school year. Does anyone have an issue they want to bring to the table?"
One of the council members raised their hands.
"You may speak," Juniper said, deep in her role as president.
"Are you sure we've seen the end of the school's troubles?" the student asked. "Everyone's worried that they could be next to be targeted."
Another council member slammed their fist onto the table they all sat around. "I watched my best friend-or at least I thought they were my best friend-get carried away by the police just a few days ago. It makes sense to feel paranoid."
Juniper had to suppress a coughing fit as she processed these words. They were right, of course: Themis Legal Academy was in a bad place. But….
"We *cough* can't let this get to us," she declared firmly. "We are the future of the legal system, and if we really want to make a difference we have to first make sure this school is still a place that nurtures the students that will be here after we graduate. Even if the truth is *cough cough* potentially unpleasant, we must still pursue it."
Hopefully that got through to everyone, Juniper thought to herself.
Despite the slight shakiness in her words she saw the rest of the council nod in agreement, and the previous student that spoke up followed suit.
"If there are no other questions, I'd like to bring this meeting to a close," Juniper said.
There were none, and Juniper ended the meeting without any more interruptions.
March 23, 2028.
Location: Themis Academy hallway
In between classes, however, a single thought stuck in her mind: what she would do after graduation. Only three more months remained in the school semester, and as time went on everyone began to pick the exact paths they would pursue.
"Sss sss sss, hello Juniper!"
Juniper looked around to see Myriam had begun walking beside her, box and all.
"H-hello, Myriam. How's class been so far?"
"One of the teachers got mad at me," Myriam grumbled. "They told me that I shouldn't actively seek loopholes not in the textbook, kahk kahk."
"I'm sure they just want you to think of every possibility," Juniper said reassuringly.
"If they wanted that they wouldn't be teaching us out of textbooks," Myriam countered. "But nevermind that. I smell a story on your mind."
Anyone who didn't know Myriam wouldn't know that this was her way of asking people how they were doing, but Juniper had learned how to read her friend's quirks by now.
"Its nothing much," Juniper answered. "Just t-thinking about what I'm going to do after I graduate."
She had always taken for granted that she would just become a judge. But with her meeting with the student council fresh in her mind, she began to ask herself if she wanted to be a judge right away.
"You're going to become a judge, aren't you?" Myriam said. "At least that's what you're always saying. That you're going to be a judge that passes a fair verdict in every trial."
Myriam was right: Juniper did say that a lot. The real question was what kind of Judge she wanted to be, and that was a conclusion she felt she needed to arrive at on her own.
"You're right. Thanks for that, Myriam," Juniper said. "What about you? Didn't you say you didn't want to be a judge?"
"Correct, kahk kahk," Myriam said. "I'm going to become an investigative reporter! I've even got an internship for the summer."
"Really? With who?"
"Norma dePlume!" Myriam declared proudly. "She told me she could spare some time for her most ardent fan, sss sss sss."
Given dePlume's reputation of never giving up a lead regardless of how unwelcome she was, Juniper should have see this coming. On the other hand, the same woman was fighting to save the same aquarium she once opposed, so maybe she would be a good influence on Myriam.
"I'm happy for you, Myriam." Juniper said as the two arrived at their next class.
March 23, 2028.
Once classes ended Juniper went back home to prepare for her meeting with Athena.
Juniper was of course happy to just be able to just hang out with her best friend, but as of late Athena had been acting really jumpy, especially when it came to the Criminal Affairs department. Then of course there was today's meeting, Athena had requested that both Juniper and Robin be in attendance and stressing that she had something very important to say.
Whatever it was Athena needed to say, Juniper was going to listen with an open ear.
Juniper swung by Robin's place to pick her up on the way to the cafe where the meeting would be taking . The moment she opened the front door Robin greeted her with a big bear hug and a quick peck on the lips.
"Hiya Juniper!" She greeted joyfully. "How was school today?"
Juniper talked about her school day and listened to Robin's own as the two of them walked hand in hand to the cafe, which was thankfully near Robin's house. Her parents were both working as they did most days, and as Robin explained they did so in order to pay for Robin's tuition at Themis Academy.
As they continued to talk Juniper was still curious as to why Athena wanted to meet with them, and asked Robin to hear her thoughts.
"Ah!" Robin exclaimed, suddenly very nervous. "Well, whatever it is I think it would be better to hear it straight from Athena, don't you think?"
Dismayed by Robin's change in behavior Juniper was about ask what was going on, but the two arrived at the front door of the cafe, and Juniper decided to wait for Athena to explain first.
Date: March 23, 2028
Location: Cafe Lux
Time: 7:00 p.m.
When Juniper entered Cafe Lux she was greeted by an interesting sight. The cafe was fairly large, with a standard mahogany brown(as Robin would call it) counter, tables, and booths, with the booths having light-green padding. There were various windows, all of which were closed and covered with thick curtains.
Juniper guessed it was so people would pay attention to the large glass chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, which shimmered with a beautiful, incandescent light.
"Bienvenue, Junie! Bienvenue, Robin!" Athena greeted from a booth near a window, drinks already in front of her. "Sorry for making you come out here so late!"
As Juniper and Robin made their way to the booth they noticed that sitting next to Athena was a woman that they had never seen before. The woman in question had dark-brown hair with long bangs that was tied up in a ponytail. She wore a pair of pink glasses on her forehead, and her face was smooth and pale. Her expression and demeanor were noticeably distant, as if her mind were a million miles away. The woman wore khaki pants, a white lab coat over green button-up vest and a pink undershirt, with a red necktie completing the ensemble.
"That's okay, Thena," Juniper reassured quickly. "I don't mind too much." She turned to the unknown woman next to Athena. "H-hello there. I'm Juniper Woods. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Robin Newman," Robin added as she and Juniper seated themselves across Athena and the woman.
"So you're the friends Athena was helping out a month ago," the woman said, her mood lifting slightly. "I'm Ema Skye, a detective down at the local precinct and-"
Ema cut herself off and looked at Athena uncertainly.
"Go ahead and say it," Athena said softly, a tender look on her face.
Having heard this, Ema turned back to Juniper and Robin and said firmly-
"I'm Athena's girlfriend."
Juniper gasped, unable to help herself. It wasn't the thought of Athena dating girls: her best friend had dated a couple during her stay in Europe. But as she looked next to her she noticed that Robin didn't seem surprised, which was telling in itself. And of course, having a woman Juniper never met before introduce herself as her best friend's girlfriend caught Juniper completely off guard.
"I'm happy for you, Thena," Juniper said after she recovered. "How long have you two been dating? And how long have you known this?" she added to Robin, who jumped in her seat with a noticeably guilty look on her face.
"Wait, this girl already knew?" Ema asked, looking just as confused as Juniper felt.
"Eh heh heh. About that. It's a long story." Robin said.
Athena and Robin took turns explaining how Robin accidently found out during a morning jog while the two talked about the Shadow case, and how Athena swore Robin to secrecy so that Athena and Ema could reveal their relationship to Juniper and other people in their life on their own terms.
As an aside, Ema mentioned that the culprit that had harassing her had been a male coworker that was unrelated to Robin and Juniper's Shadow.
"There was someone named Lisette Sullivan that visited the station once," Ema said. "She's your Shadow's twin sister and she's studying to become a cop. But investigations revealed she had nothing to do with what happened to me."
This detail floated in Juniper's mind for a bit. A twin sister. A sense of relief filled Juniper knowing that at least Lisette sounded like a more sincere person than her brother.
After this, Athena and Ema explained how their relationship started: they had met during a poisoning case they both happened to be working on.
"At first I didn't know what to make of Athena," Ema admitted. "She seemed rather loud."
"And Ema seemed like a real sour downer," Athena teased lightly, which caused Ema to pout.
"But when I heard she was a friend of Mr. Wright's I decided to get to know her better." Ema continued.
"And as we worked on the case I listened to Ema's heart as we analyzed some poisons," Athena said. "And it was so full of joy and passion for what she was doing my opinion of her changed and I wound up falling for her."
Ema was practically glowing with each passing word. "Well that's just the power of forensic science," She said proudly. "But Athena really knows how to handle a scientific investigation...even if she keeps eating my Snackoos."
"That was only one time!" Athena declared indignantly.
"Well that one time you ate the entire bag." Ema groused.
The two fell into what sounded like a familiar conversation as Juniper and Robin looked at each other, baffled. They had a feeling that they were missing out on context that would help them understand what the two of them were talking about.
"I'm sorry I kept this a secret from you, Juniper," Robin said finally. "But I promised Athena that I wouldn't say anything. She's your best friend and she wanted to tell you about her relationship herself, so I didn't want to tell you something I didn't have the right to say."
Juniper contemplated this. Just what kind of secrets should girlfriends keep from each other? Should there be any secrets to begin with? The answer, Juniper felt, was far from black and white. Robin had technically lied to her, even by omission. But-
"I'm not happy about it," Juniper said slowly. "But you were keeping a promise with Thena, and I trust you Robin. Just-let's try to keep the secrets to a minimum."
Robin promptly began smothering her girlfriend with kisses all over her face. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou THANK YOU SO MUCH!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Ahem. Please cease from disrupting the other patrons."
All four girls turned to find rather displeased management surrounding their table.
Date: March 23, 2028
Location: Outside of Cafe Lux
Time: 7:45 p.m.
"When I *MUNCH* woke up this morning I *MUNCH* wasn't expecting *MUNCH* to be kicked out of a cafe," Ema said as she chewed vehemently on some chocolate snacks from a bag (which turned out to be the previously mentioned Snackoos) she had produced from a carrier bag she had with her.
"Well aside from that I think everything went great!" Athena said, still grinning. "Maybe we can set up a more proper double date in the future."
"You're lucky I can't stay mad at you," Ema said as she kissed Athena on the cheek. "Your friends on the other hand…"
Ema threw one of her chocolate snacks, which nailed Robin right on the forehead with a *ka-tonk*.
Robin immediately fired back with her puppy dog eyes. "I know I got us all kicked out of the cafe, but there's no reason to hit a frail little girl like me like that!"
Juniper likewise rounded on Ema. "I know Robin messed up, and I'll talk to her later." She berated. "But that doesn't give you any reason to throw fried snacks at her!"
"Okay okay I forgive you!" Ema said quickly. "Geez, kid. That's some girlfriend you've found."
"But you like me more than Junie, right?" Athena chimed in to an increasingly exasperated Ema.
Juniper giggled as everyone continued to talk. She joined the conversation on occasion, but her mind wasn't entirely focused on it.
What it meant to be a judge. What it meant to keep secrets in a relationship. Those questions were questions that had been posed to Juniper, and she was planning to face them head on, with Robin at her side.
December 22, 2030
Location: Enroute to the Newman-Woods Residence
Time: 8:45 a.m.
"You and Robin have been through a lot together. But I'm sure you two can surpass any challenge together."
That had been what Juniper's Grandma had told her when the two had talked earlier today, and remembering the cafe double date, Juniper saw what she meant.
It was because Juniper and Robin were willing to face questions like the ones that had been posed that day that their relationship was still so strong after three years.
A/N: Not only does this chapter kickoff a brand new story arc, but it's also the first of four new chapters I wrote for the Big Bang. A special milestone is also fast approaching, so I hope to see you all again soon! Until then, this has been Orion Fowl and thank you for visiting my corner of Romance.