"Miss Frangipane, Miss Frangipane! Stephanie, How about a statement? What are your thoughts on the case? Is it true you're a child abuser? Stephanie?!"

"Alright, alright, clear the way!" Marcus barked harshly as the reporters messily shuffled past, creating a somewhat clear path for the defendant to make her way through.

Stephanie kept her head held high as she walked in, her dark sunglasses and white, wide-brimmed hat helping to conceal the worried expression on her face until they were inside the lobby. Once she made sure Marcus had closed the door, keeping out the prying eyes of the press, she removed these accessories and pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a long, frustrated groan.

"Ya think I shoulda said something to 'em...?" She asked her bodyguard as he trailed a few inches behind her. "Y'know, last day of the case, and all...?"

"Oh no, love, you were right not sayin' nothin' to 'em... all them lot want is headlines..." Marcus said. "Some of 'em were bloody relentless with Mary after her old man kicked it. Best to just ignore 'em."

"Yeah... yeah, you're probably right..." Stephanie kept a tight grip on the hat in her hands as they approached the door to the courtroom. "At this point, I just really wanna get this over and done with, y'know..."

Aside from a few quiet mumblings in the crowd, the courtroom was near-silent when Stephanie entered, her footsteps echoing from the marble floor as she made her way over to the defendants table.

"Oh hey! Morning, Steph..."

As Norman shuffled over a little to give her some space to sit down, Stephanie couldn't help noticing the rather energetic gleam in the pig's eye, or the very enthusiastic smile that had crossed his face. Given that luck had hardly been on their side for the last four weeks, Stephanie couldn't quite fathom the reason behind her lawyer's uncharacteristic cheerfulness, especially when he was hardly the most excitable individual even on a good day.

"So, uh..." Stephanie cleared her throat, though her voice was still tinged with a hoarse skepticism, while she leaned in closer to whisper. "I'm guessin' you're gonna be usin' that secret weapon today, huh...?"

"Hmm..." Norman nodded, giving her a small wink as he looked back to the files on the desk and began sorting them. "You'll know when, Stephanie. Believe me, you'll know when."

The brief flicker of anticipation Stephanie felt was suddenly replaced by a more familiar dread as the doors to the courtroom flew open again, and the opposing entourage made their big grand entrance. Despite Marcus previously closing the lobby off to keep the paparazzi out, Jimmy had gladly allowed them to follow as he basked in the glory and attention he was receiving. By this point, the white wolf wasn't even bothering with his crocodile tears anymore, and he carried his signature aura of invincible confidence as if he'd already won.

"Great, yes, thank you! Yes, thank you all so much!" Jimmy waved, shook hands and patted the backs of all the reporters singing his praises. "I tell ya, it's been a long one, but it's all gonna be worth it!"

When they turned around in their seats to study the new arrivals, Stephanie's eye was first caught by Suki and Charlie, the two salukis silently trailing behind Jimmy as he made his way to the prosecution desk. But a quick glance over at Norman allowed to her to notice that the pig was directly eyeing the much shorter cat that quickly walked ahead of his employer.

Before she could even begin to question why her lawyer was so interested in Jerry, Stephanie found herself tensing up again as a hand tightly gripped her right shoulder. She knew all who well who the hand belonged to, but rather than turn her head to face her ex-husband directly, she kept her focus on the wall straight ahead, though she could still feel her husband's intense gaze fixated directly onto her like a crosshairs.

"They're gonna be makin' their verdict today..."

Jimmy's lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk as he eyed the jury gathering to sit in their box, while he took his hand off Stephanie's shoulder and used it to slowly stroke the right side of her face.

"Just a couple more hours of this, and Porsha's all mine."

Stephanie felt her heart skipping several beats as her throat constricted tight, which made it harder to quell the raging fire that was burning its way to the surface. But a more gentle grip that she eventually felt on her left hand, which she instinctively knew was Norman's, served as a comforting reassurance, as well as a subtle reminder not to take Jimmy's bait.

Despite the countless thoughts racing through her head, Stephanie remained completely stone-faced without making eye contact for at least a minute, at which point Jimmy let out an ominously hollow chuckle before he finally sat down at the opposite desk. It was then when the doors at the back of the courtroom finally opened, and everyone else rose from their seat as the judge entered to begin their final day of proceedings.

"Okay..." Stephanie closed her eyes and clenched both her fists, letting out a long exhale before she finally opened them again. "Just one more day... one more day..."

The first hour or so was fairly uneventful, mainly consisting of Charlie presenting more miscellaneous evidence related to the early years of Stephanie and Jimmy's marriage. So Stephanie found herself phasing out and getting lost in her thoughts again - both the good and the bad - for most of the morning, until a rather unexpected statement snapped her back to reality.

"I call Jerry Jonze to the stand!"

Stephanie straightened up in her seat and looked over to Norman, who was now standing up beside the table, and they watched as the much shorter cat clumsily fumbled his way to the front and shuffled over to the witness podium. As he sat down, Jerry's eyes darted all around the room, though he was clearly trying to avoid making any eye contact with his employer, and Stephanie noticed a slight tremble in his hands before he sat on them both.

"Alright, you just gotta keep quiet now, okay...?" Norman whispered as he got on his tiptoes to whisper to Stephanie. "No matter what he says, don't react."

Stephanie hesitated, then nodded, her jaw clenched tight while her eyes fixed back onto Jerry. "Okay... do whatever ya gotta do, Norman."

"Mr. Jonze..." Norman approached the podium, his demeanor professional yet probing. "You've worked for Mr. Crystal a good few years, haven't you...?"

"Oh, yeah, just around uh... y-yeah, about ten, eleven years this spring." Jerry pulled a small but still forced smile. "B-but y'know, it hardly feels like any time's passed at all, cause it's really been such a fun adventure getting to -"

"Yes, I'm sure you have good memories, Mr. Jonze..." Norman cut the cat off, before clearing his throat. "Your employment predates Mr. Crystal's marriage to Ms. Frangipane, doesn't it? You attended their wedding."

"That's right." Jerry said. "For the record, might I just say it really was a lovely service!"

"Yes, you may say that..." Norman chuckled, taking on a slightly friendlier tone. "And you were also present for most of the other major events in their relationship. The wedding, Porsha being born... Mr. Crystal's infidelity."

Stephanie noticed Jerry freezing up as his face went almost ghost-white, nearly matching the shade of his very angry-looking employer's face. But rather than prodding further with that particular subject, Norman then turned the topic back to the case at hand.

"You were also present at the Crystal Mansion the night Stephanie left, weren't you...?" Norman cupped his chin as Jerry nodded. "Do you remember anything from that night, Mr. Jonze...?"

"Oh, of course. Like it was yesterday..." Jerry swallowed hard, his hands gripping the sides of the podium. "Well, you see, um... sh-she was very angry, throwing things around, screaming, being um... well, like I said, angry. Mr. Crystal tried to calm her down, but she just kept yelling at him, and she was talking about how she couldn't wait to get out of there, and um... w-well then, she did. Get out of there, I mean."

"I see..." Norman nodded. "And she never mentioned wanting to take Porsha with her...?"

Jerry hesitated, then shook his head as a few gasps and murmurings came from the crowd. "No. Not once."

Stephanie felt her blood boil as both her fists clenched tight, her claws digging into her palms while she bit down hard on her bottom lip. Hearing Jerry say such blatant lies about her was infuriating enough as it was, and Norman's advice to keep her cool had only made her feel even more frustrated, but despite this, she only just managed to force some restraint as Jerry continued.

"At her request, I bought her a ticket to Sealattle, and then she left..." Jerry now looked straight ahead, trying to not look Norman or Stephanie in the eye. "A few hours later, she came back, broke into the mansion, and took little Porsha right out of her bed."

"Yeah, that sure sounds like a kidnapping to me..." Norman chuckled, turning back to see Stephanie glaring right at him with her arms crossed, before gesturing to one of the bailiffs in the corner. "Well, thank you very much for your testimony, Mr. Jonze."

"Oh yes, sir." Jerry nodded in a rather smug manner, glancing over to Jimmy as the wolf pulled a devious, victorious smile. "All in the course of justice."

"Of course, of course..." Norman put his hands in his pocket as he walked away from the podium. "And I'm sure my final piece of evidence will verify everything you've said, Mr. Jonze."

"Absolu-" Jerry cut himself off. "Wait... evidence?"

"Oh yeah, I've been looking forward to presenting this one for the whole trial..."

Norman nodded gratefully to the bailiff as the latter carried over a tape deck and passed him a small cassette, which prompted Stephanie to squint a little to see the familiar logo printed on the front side: Crystal Estate Security.

"This is a security tape from the Crystal Mansion, provided by a verified but anonymous employee of Crystal Entertainment..." Norman announced as he held up the cassette, prompting even more murmurings from the crowd. "It features the recorded conversation that played out between Mr. Crystal and Ms. Frangipane before she left... so I think we should give it a listen to see just how much it lines up with Mr. Jonze's story..."

Stephanie sat completely upright in her seat as Norman placed the tape in the deck. While the pig wound the tape to the desired timestamp, Stephanie glanced over to the prosecution desk to study the more uncertain expression forming on Jimmy's face, which quickly contorted into his more familiar rage as it finally began playing.

"YOU THREATENED MY THERAPIST!"

The sound of her own voice did catch Stephanie rather off-guard for a moment or two, but she quickly relaxed as the rest of the conversation unfolded, while a deep, focused silence fell across the courtroom for a good few minutes.

"Come on, a little tough love don't hurt nobody! Besides, little brat probably deserved it anyhow!"

This callous remark prompted more than a few shocked gasps from the crowd, while Jimmy hunched forward in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. Stephanie couldn't help feeling a smile tug at her lips as she glanced over to see this, barely even focusing on the tape until her own voice pulled her back into it.

"Porsha's the only good thing I've ever gotten outta this, and there's nothing I'll ever regret more than having her with you!" Many eyes - including Jimmy's - were now focused on Jerry as the cat sank a little lower in the witness seat. "Now I'm takin' her with me, and we're never comin' back to Redshore again!"

The longer the tape went on, the more contradictions and gaping holes were identified in Jerry's story, and it all led up to the moment where Kendall and Roman were called in to forcibly remove Jimmy's ex from the premises.

"YOU'RE LUCKY YOU AIN'T LEAVIN' OUTTA THAT WINDOW!" Jimmy was now almost cringing with embarrassment as his enraged rants were on full display for the entire courtroom - and the dozens of reporters and camera operators that he had allowed to follow him in - to hear. "Pack her things. Send her back to whatever podunk little gutter town she crawled out of!"

"NO!" The last few seconds of the tape caught the sound of Stephanie's feet being dragged across the floor, and her frantic struggle to escape the guards' grips. "No, you... Jimmy, please, ya can't do this! Ugh... PORSHA!"

Everyone sat in silence for a good minute after the tape ended, none of them really sure what to say until Norman - flashing a confident smirk - straightened his suit and returned to his seat beside Stephanie.

"Thank you, Your Honour..." He finally said. "No further questions."

After the lawyers on both sides spent the rest of the morning presenting more pieces of evidence - all of which were hopelessly overshadowed by the massive bombshell that had been dropped with the tape - the case had finally been presented in its entirety, and the twelve animals that comprised the jury were sent away to discuss the findings. From the first day of the proceedings, Norman and Marcus had both warned Stephanie that the jury's deliberations could take several hours, if not a day or more, so it was a rather unexpected shock when the same 12 animals re-entered the courtroom and returned to their stand just short of forty-five minutes later.

"Let the court take note, the deliberations have ceased at 13:43pm..." The judge announced, before looking over to the lead juror - a gazelle - and lowering his glasses. "Has a verdict been decided...?"

"Yes, Your Honour..." The gazelle answered back, her expression neutral to the point of unreadable as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, folded sheet of paper.

Stephanie's heart pounded in her chest as she anxiously dug her claws into the old wooden table she was sat at. She stole a glance towards the prosecution table, and noticed Jerry tugging on the elbow of Jimmy's suit, only for the older wolf to forcefully shrug the cat of his arm as he remained focused on the juror.

Finally, the jury returned to their seats, their expressions unreadable. The judge, sensing the collective anticipation, cleared his throat and urged the lead juror to announce the verdict. Stephanie held her breath, her hands clenched together, her eyes fixed on the juror.

"We, the jury, have reached a unanimous verdict. For the charges of kidnapping and child endangerment..." The gazelle held back for a moment or two, letting both the feelings of both excitement and anxiety hang in the air across the entire courtroom. "We find Stephanie Angelica Frangipane... not guilty."

"WHAT...?!" Stephanie and Jimmy called out almost in-sync, though one was more shocked with excitement while the other was shocked with offence.

This announcement alone was almost enough to make Stephanie jump out of her seat, hug Norman and their three bodyguards and dance around the courtroom like a madwoman, but she just managed to restrain herself in order to hear the rest of the juror's statement.

"For the charges of domestic and financial abuse, and attempted false imprisonment... we find James Robert Crystal... guilty..." The juror's words prompted a massive, collective gasp to echo from the entire crowd present, almost loud enough to drown out her final line. "And for the charges of perjury under oath, and attempted obstruction of the course of justice... we find Jerry Samuel Jonze... guilty."

With the juror's announcements finished, Stephanie finally felt herself relax as a monsoon or both relief and joy washed over her. The pain and stress that had been at the forefront of her mind for the last several weeks - and had been there deep down for at least two years before that - almost seemed to melt away, and she almost felt herself being carried off into an imaginary dreamland as the judge delivered the final decision.

"Based on the unanimous decision of the jury, I hereby grant full custody of Porsha Frangipane-Crystal to her mother, Stephanie Frangipane..." He said, giving Stephanie a brief but warm smile, before looking over to the anxious looking cat and the furious looking white wolf at the prosecution desk. "Furthermore, James Robert Crystal will be required to pay Ms. Frangipane nine hundred thousand dollars in restitution and child support."

"WA-HOO!"

Stephanie finally let out a massive, triumphant cheer, even jumping up on the spot and striking the same pose that Porsha had done before the Halloween party, while the entire courtroom erupted into a madrigal of gasps, cheers and congratulations. After grabbing Norman's documents from the desk and throwing them all into the air, the wolf then grabbed her lawyer's hands and yanked him out of his seat, making him dance with her under the papers and folders falling around them.

They were so immersed in the bliss of their victory that they hadn't even noticed the look of humiliated rage that had formed on Jimmy's face, making his blue eyes go bloodshot as the white fur on his cheeks burned a deadly red.

"Mr. Crystal, I'm really sorry, I... ugh!" Jerry grunted as he fell off his seat, frantically trying to catch up to his employer as he shoved his way past the crowd and the reporters and stormed out of the courtroom. "Sir, I thought we'd erased that tape! Oh, I mean, uh... n-no, Mr. Crystal, please wait!"

"Oh hey! Uh... Mr. Lane!" Norman made his way over to the prosecution desk as Charlie was standing up, extending a hand that the saluki shook. "It was a real honour, sir."

"Ah, the honour was all mine, Norman..." Charlie nodded, glancing over to Stephanie with a quick wink. "As long as justice prevails, I'm a happy man."

Stephanie once again found herself flanked by reporters and cameramen as she and Norman left the courtroom. Though after the success of their case, Marcus, Stan and Barry were making far less of an effort to hold back the much more positive reception they were receiving.

"Okay, thank you all. Y-yes, thank you..." Stephanie cleared her throat as the journalists simmered down a little, most of them still pointing their microphones at her. "Well, uh... well I ain't exactly much of a public speaker or nothin' but... but I guess all I gotta say is uh... is that I'm real happy all this stuff is finally behind me, and... and now I just wanna go back home and be with my daughter again..."

"Aww..." The reporters, including Linda Le Bon herself, all said in near-unison, before then turning their attention to the pig that had actually won the case. "Norman, do you have anything to say? How does it feel winning against the best lawyer in Redshore City...?"

"Well, I haven't exactly got much to say about that last part, but uh... but I do have somebody I wanna send a message to..." Norman then gripped one of the microphones with both hands, taking on a rather giddy tone as he shouted right into one of the cameras. "Rosita, it's me! I made it, honey!"

Stephanie laughed at this, as did most of the others present, though once this started leading to Norman being asked who specifically he was referring to, the wolf used this brief distraction to quietly slip herself out of the crowd, and she quickly shuffled her way towards the lady's bathroom.

Unlike her previous visit a few weeks prior, the bathroom was fully illuminated, though still empty, and the security camera hanging in the corner still flashed red, a watchful but comforting presence as Stephanie made her way over to the sink and immediately splashed several handfuls of cold water onto her face.

"Hmm... I never doubted you for a second."

The familiar voice almost made Stephanie's heart skip a beat as she jolted back, only to relax again when she saw the slender, smiling saluki that was standing there.

Stephanie nearly shrieked as she quickly ran over and pulled Suki into a hug, both beaming with excitement while they giggled like school girls. It seemed like only yesterday, they were doing the exact same thing right before Stephanie was to be walked down the aisle at her wedding, but now just short of ten years, a disastrous marriage and a highly publicised custody battle later, she and her old friend were embracing each other again as if nothing had changed.

"I can't stay long..." Suki whispered as she carefully pried herself from the embrace, her voice filled with excitement and a hint of caution while she wiped her eye. "Mr. Crystal doesn't know I'm here, but I just... I just really had to come see you."

"Yeah, I know..." Stephanie chuckled warmly as she cupped the saluki's face. "It's real good to see you too, Suki."

"As much as I've missed little Porsha, I'm really glad she didn't have to go back to her father."

"Oh yeah... and thank God for that tape too, huh...?" Stephanie said, putting her hands on her hips as they both laughed. "I know there's the whole anonymity thing goin' on there, but I tell ya, Suki... if I know who that fella was that sent it in, I'd kiss him right on the lips! Ooh!"

Stephanie was taken off-guard when Suki suddenly leaned forwards and planted her lips on her own, but after a moment of surprise she gladly returned it. While in reality their kiss had only lasted about five seconds, it certainly felt a lot longer, as even with the rather cramped environment of the ladies' bathroom, the pair found themselves in a vast but beautiful void where there was nothing and nobody else but the two of them.

The momentary but all too familiar spark finally faded as Suki pulled away, though a mixture of surprise and intrigue still shimmered between them as she slowly backed herself over towards the door.

"Take care of yourselves, Stephanie..." Suki said, taking on warm tone as she held back even more happy tears. "You and Porsha."

Stephanie nodded, holding a hand over her heart as it fluttered with both gratitude and affection. "You too, Suki..."

And with a final, but clearly very reluctant, little wave, Suki finally made her way out the door and closed it behind her, turning Stephanie's attention back to her even more rejuvenated reflection once again.

"MOMMY!"

"Bring it on in, sunshine! Ooh!" Stephanie had barely made it through the apartment door when her seven-year-old leapt into her arms and sent them both tumbling backwards onto the floor.

"Ha ha! There she is, the woman of the hour!" Mary said as she and Johnny led the other animals present - Meena and her family, Rosita, and a few of the other parents and their children from school - in a big round of applause as the two wolves entered the room, before rushing over to pull Stephanie into a hug. "We all knew you could do it, Steph!"

"Hmm, yeah... Stephanie let Porsha carefully slip back down onto the floor before returning the gorilla's embrace. "I'm just glad to be home, Mary."

"Oh honey, you were amazing!" Rosita nearly shrieked as she grabbed Norman and pulled him into a classic ballroom dip, planting a deep kiss right on his lips. "Norman, you beat Charlie Lane himself! It's incredible!"

"Well, to be fair to Charlie, I think he was taking it easy on us..." Norman chuckled as he stood back up again, giving his girlfriend another quick kiss on the cheek before they looked to Stephanie. "But hey, anything to show up Mr. Crystal, huh...?"

"Oh God, I wish I could have seen my father pull a face like that back when he was around!" Mary laughed while Marcus threw his arm around her shoulder and she picked Johnny up off the floor. "And that payout he owes you too! Bloody hell, Steph, nine hundred thousand!"

"Oh no, ya better believe it! It's even more than I needed!" Stephanie put her hands on her hips as she struck a proud, triumphant pose. "And that's why, first thing tomorrow, I'm headin' right down to SFJ and I'm buyin' the Prairie!"

"The Prairie? Oh... oh yeah... that..." Rosita bit her bottom lip, though she remained casual. "Well y'know, Steph, it's not really an urgent thing, is it? I mean you could wait until you -"

"Wait?! Hell no! Y'know, Ro, I just feel so... I feel pumped up, y'know, like I'm invincible..." Stephanie dramatically pounded her chest with one fist, letting out a laugh. "Besides, I'm already on top, where's the harm in goin' higher, huh...?"

"Well yes, we understand that, darling, but um..." Mary itched the back of her neck. "Thing is, I um... I don't really know how we were supposed to tell you..."

"Look, I don't care if I'm rushin' into things or whatever, but it doesn't matter!" Stephanie finally reached over to the thin glasses of champagne that had been set on the coffee table, holding one up as she prepared to make a toast. "Me and Porsha are here, we put Jimmy behind us, and now we're gonna start a brand new chapter in our -!"

"For God's sake, Stephanie, the theatre's been sold!"

Mary's outburst took all the air out the room as Stephanie froze up on the spot. The wolf's eyes bulged wide and her grip loosened slightly on the glass in her hand, almost dropping it on the floor before she snapped herself back to reality.

"S-sold...?" She repeated for clarity, which Mary confirmed with a nod. Stephanie felt her invincible mood slowly crumbling down as she gradually processed this new information, only for a hateful scowl to slowly form on her face. "Jimmy did this, didn't he?! He must have... must have found out I was savin' the money for this and he... he... that slimy son of a -!"

"No no, it... it's nothing to do with Jimmy, Steph..." Rosita said, gently taking the wolf's hand. "We um... it got bought a couple days after you left for Redshore... we wanted to tell you, but uh... well, we didn't need you in this kinda mood for the case, y'know..."

"But... b-but I thought I was the only one interested..." Stephanie seemed sadder now, but there was still some anger bubbling under the surface. "Judith said so herself, this doesn't make any sense!"

"We thought so too, love, but some little fellow just popped up from out of nowhere and paid in full..." Mary seemed genuinely impressed. "You really should have seen him, he had loads of buckets of cash on him, says he spent years saving it up. And uh... oh, speaking of which, that's him there...!"

Mary gestured towards the news feed that was playing on the television in the corner, showing a big grand event that had occurred only hours earlier. The familiar setting in the footage prompted Stephanie to turn up the volume, as she squinted to study the headline at the bottom of the screen:

LOCAL THEATRE GRAND RE-OPENING

As beautiful as the former Prairie Theatre looked in its newly-refurbished glory, Stephanie couldn't help but feel a slight heartbreak that she wasn't there to cut the ribbon herself. Though her eyes narrowed when she finally spotted the small, well-dressed koala holding the ceremonial scissors, while pulling the biggest, proudest smile his face could possibly make.

"All creatures great and small, welcome to the Moon Theatre!"