Garon in this universe is still Garon, not a corpse-puppet for a dragon god, and we wanted to portray him as the Nohr royals' supports describe him (not the best person, but a loving father) for a character challenge. We picture his modern, non-corpse form as graying but still blond, with the clear build of a college athlete who let himself go in his later years. Iago looks pretty much the same as in canon, just with an updated outfit that screams "rich man's personal lawsuit service" and we replaced his mask with a monocle.

Also, we ship Claude and Hilda. We just decided to drop the 'von' from the Three Houses names.

Despite the evidence that he himself had removed from the Hoshido house, something was bugging Arthur.

He wasn't the best cop on the force - that would be Holst Goneril - but the sheer devotion to justice that the man possessed, almost like a sixth sense, made him almost as useful. Besides, with as often as his fiancée had driven the youngest Nohr child and her friends around, he had concluded that no one related to sweet Sakura Hoshido could be capable of more than traffic violations.

Not even Takumi.

So when he was given permission to interrogate the assassin that had murdered Mikoto, he took every precaution that his bad luck would at least affect them both.

"You're not the usual guy," the assassin observed.

"No," Arthur admitted, "but you and I do share similarities. I, too, have fallen into a raccoon trap."

"That's not the best way to start a friendship, Officer."

"I'm not trying to be friends," Arthur said, trying very hard to seem threatening. "I'm trying to understand why you chose this path of evil."

"I like money," said the assassin. "And I like blood and guts. I figured putting them together would be fun."

"So you're simply a sick person."

"See? Now you get it."

Arthur almost objected to this, but he stopped himself in time. That conversation would do nothing but waste time. "So who called the hit on Mikoto Hoshido?"

"I thought we all knew it was her son."

"That is what the evidence says," Arthur agreed, "but the evidence could easily be circumstantial. The man in question ate a donut at his own trial. A donut from the box in evidence," he added, and the assassin laughed.

"Can't say I'm surprised," he said, almost smug. "Pineapple-head probably knew he was heading to jail, so he wanted to take the easy way out."

Pineapple-head? "What do you mean?"

"Look," said the assassin, "I'm not a smart man. I'll admit to it. Killing people might be the one thing I'm good at. But Hoshido?" He laughed again. "Hoshido's got no brain at all. His head has so much air in it, he had to put some of it in his hair."

So 'pineapple-head' did mean what Arthur thought it meant. Deciding that he had the information he needed, and that any longer in this room and the prisoner would escape, he left, approaching the first cop he could find.

"Hilda!"

Hilda, Holst's little sister, froze at the sound of his voice saying her name, but turned, a false smile on her face. "Arthur," she greeted back. "What do you need?"

"I need to borrow your phone."

Hilda shook her head. "No. The last time you borrowed my phone, it ended up in the toilet."

"Strange, right?" Arthur chuckled nervously. "I didn't even take it into a bathroom! But this is important to the Hoshido case, and I dropped my own down a manhole yesterday."

Hilda did not hand him her phone, but she dialed Rowena's number for him. This, and agreeing to pass on the message, was good enough for Arthur.

Rowena had gone to bed early, but had not found any sleep. This room, once her safety net from the craziness of the Nohr family, felt more like a prison cell.

Rowena Nohr...Rowena Hoshido. The name didn't unlock any memories, not even of her other family. She spent a brief moment wishing that Jakob was allowed in her bedroom, followed by a moment of considering breaking that rule just for G-rated hugs, and maybe a PG 'sleeping in the same bed with nothing else happening' incident, but that was quickly dismissed, too.

Instead, she started to sing.

"I guess my life meant nothing.
I guess it was a sham.
I guess I'm someone else now...
I wonder who I am."

There was the sound of a book hitting her door. "Stop singing Tangled songs, it's the middle of the night! I'll book you a therapy session in the morning."

Rowena rolled her eyes at Xander's voice. "I'm sorry, quote-unquote 'brother,' who quote-unquote 'supports me' and is always quote-unquote 'honest' with me."

There was a moment of silence. "Did you really need that many quote-unquotes?"

She understood Garon's motives - she'd been a small, helpless thing, alone among broken bodies and a broken vehicle, and he did what he did out of pity and misguided compassion. Her father had died and her mother was unconscious, thought to be dead. The brother who had been in the audience today had seemed to be the same age as Xander, so at eleven or twelve years old the government wouldn't have let him be promoted to parent. They would have been split up anyway if Mikoto actually had been dead.

But she hadn't been.

Garon had been a man of many stupid decisions, both sober and not, but he was always a good father to her and his biological kids, and until today, she'd loved him. She might be able to forgive him someday. But she would never, ever forget what a stupid mistake that was.

Deciding that sleep was not coming soon, she turned on the lamp and hopped out of bed, heading for the desk in the center of the room. She'd developed a habit, first out of coping with her childhood grief and now as an outlet for her emotions, of writing to her deceased family and burning the letters, "so they could read them." She'd never called them what she'd called them when they were alive - she'd stuck with 'Mother,' 'Father' and 'Brother' to avoid more pain than necessary - but she wondered, now, if her father had been reading his letters this whole time, and if her mother was reading her stack of ashes now as well.

Clicking the pen into position and tearing out a blank piece of paper from a notebook, she began the next one.

To my mother and father,

I am so, so sorry for everything. If I had known you were alive, Mother, I would have begged Dad... she quickly struck that through, letting out some of the anger at him, Garon to...something. If I had known my brother was alive, I would not have tried to put him in jail. But I didn't know. And now I'm trying to decide if I stand with family or evidence.

I don't want to choose. This was the only career path for me - I want to fight crime, but I don't have the deductive skills for the police force. Please, if you can read this, whether it's as I burn it like a mailbox to the afterlife or if you've been watching over me since your deaths, help me. Bring me solid evidence to the true culprit, or bring me the strength necessary to punish the one connection I still have to our family for his crime. I'm not sure I believe in ghosts, but if you're watching, give me a sign.

Your daughter,

Rowena

No sooner had she finished her signature than her phone rang, and Rowena answered it before she even started to fold it. The number was unrecognized, but she had the time to waste trolling a spam call.

"Hey," said the woman's voice. "Is this Rowena Nohr?"

"It is," Rowena confirmed.

"This is Hilda Riegan, with the police. Does the defendant in your current trial have pineapple hair?"

Pineapple hair...

"No," Rowena said softly. It was partly to answer Hilda's question, but mostly out of shock. All of the evidence against Revan, rendered useless. And they had found nothing on Takumi, not even the card.

Not even a motive - Mikoto was still paying his credit cards.

Court was going to be a bit more interesting...

Rowena returned to the courtroom with renewed determination. Sure, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but if it turned out that neither of her brothers had anything to do with it, it would be the most acceptable loss imaginable. She could expect defeat and prepare for victory.

She didn't expect Iago to be trying to convince the judge to let him take Lucina's place as the 'guide.'

"I was kidnapped!" Iago was protesting. "Lucina is not a qualified lawyer!"

The judge wasn't having it. "Technically speaking, Lucina is in fact a qualified lawyer. The fact that this is her first time in a courtroom since making it official means nothing. She is already too involved with the trial and Rowena has stated her preference."

"I don't care!" Iago cried. "She's the novice, I'm the professional! Can't you just overrule the choice?!"

"Not even if I wanted to. I'm afraid Lucina called dibs."

"That's not legally binding!"

The judge looked confused. "Where did you get your law degree from? Dibs is a universal concept."

"You're saying that 'dibs' is legally binding?"

"It's called 'copyright infringement.' You should at least know that."

Iago grumbled his objection. Of course he knew that. Nohrtendo and Hoshidonix were rival gaming companies, after all - and for several years, Hoshidonix had the upper hand. Just last year they had unfortunately had the same idea at the same time, but Mikoto had published it first. Nohrtendo had tanked, it was a nightmare of a legal mess...of course he knew copyright infringement. To imply otherwise was an insult to his brilliance.

Rowena cleared her throat, reminding Iago that she was still there. "Iago, I received some last-minute details that were previously overlooked. I made sure that the opposing side was made aware of those details and -"

"You what?" Iago's rage was clear, and Rowena took a step back. "What was the first thing I taught you about being a lawyer?"

Rowena frowned as she thought back. "Don't sit on a fountain pen if you don't want ink butt?"

"That was an accident!" Iago snapped. "What I taught you was to never share your ammo with the enemy!"

"Well, technically, I was giving him information that was pretty necessary for him to know," she admitted. "Why don't you just...um, sit in the stands and catch up."

Iago didn't seem happy about that decision, but in light of Lucina calling dibs, he realized that there wasn't much he could do about it.

Silas had no idea what to do with the message that Hilda had left him, but if it was good enough evidence to bring out reasonable doubt, that was the best he could hope for.

"Ok, Revan," he said as he led the defendant into the room. "If you're a good boy and don't eat any more evidence, I'll buy you some candy."

After triggering a would-be lawyer's existential crisis, Revan had finally given in to his anger and grief, but the tears had stopped, and he was ready to face the consequences of his freedom and yogurt-filled decisions. "Candy?" he asked, momentarily given something else to think about.

Stahl had to smile, too. "And Silas, if you're a good boy and don't make a mockery out of my career, I'll buy the pizza."

"And if I'm proven innocent, can I have pizza, too?"

"Why not."

Revan, finally, smiled. Silas hoped that he could pull this one out of his butt.

"And you're sure you want to continue this?" the judge asked Rowena.

Rowena nodded. "Of course. This isn't just a trial, right? It's a trial trial, to see if my opponent and I are really learning stuff."

"It's starting to look like a 'no' at this point," said the judge.

"Regardless, I would like to continue this until it's proven that we do actually have functioning brains and not just piles of wet mush that sit in our skulls."

"Isn't that all a brain is?" Silas asked.

"I would also like to request that Mr. Shields shut up unless he has a relevant statement."

"Cool beans."

"Tell me you didn't say that out loud."

"I wish I could."

The judge decided to interrupt before the stupidity could continue. "Mr. Shields? Is your client changing his statement?"

"Not at all." Silas gestured to Revan, who was eyeing the window as if planning to run for it. "My client maintains that he isn't guilty of anything except plotting the yogurt assault. On yesterday's witness, not on the victim, just so we're clear."

"We're clear."

"Um...good." He looked at Rowena for further instruction, but got only a thumbs-up in response. Ok. Not helpful.

Oh, well. If Perry Mason could do it, so could he.

He didn't really think he could do this.

This wasn't helped by Revan saying a very quiet "Even I think I'm guilty right now."

Silas had silenced him but had to admit that there was a point. But, as Revan and Mikoto had often said, "We'll cross that bridge when we burn it."

Iago had taken a seat in a folding chair with Rowena and the woman who had ruined his plans, grumbling to himself.

"You're not being a very good loser," Lucina told him with a big, mocking smile.

Iago didn't even look at her.

Rowena twirled her hair around her finger, trying to think of a plan. It was a bit difficult - sleep deprivation and lingering existential crisis had put her brain on standby, and it was now roughly 78% music. Still, she tried to power through it, chasing her train of thought.

If we both ask every question that comes to mind, no matter how slim the relation is, we might have a chance to get to the bottom of this.

Which was, of course, easier said than done. But if the defense team followed her lead, and Lucina gave her ideas (and the judge allowed them some Ace Attorney-style courtroom antics) then they could Matlock their way through this.

"There was something that the assassin himself brought up that was not a part of yesterday's trial," Rowena was explaining. "And, from how it ended, I would like to have a chance to prove that my mental stability has..." 'Returned' seemed like the wrong word. "Recovered. I would like to bring the first witness back."

"Takumi Hoshido?" the judge repeated.

Rowena nodded. "I have a plan."

"Are you trying to pin the crime on my brother?" Revan demanded. "Our brother?"

"Shut up," Stahl warned.

"No! I can't stay put and let her do that!"

"Dude," Silas hissed. "Shut up."

"But her plan could -"

"Backfire, yes. But if Takumi didn't do it, then what's the harm in him explaining that to everybody?"

Revan shut up but did not stand down. Instead, he observed the other side with a clearer head, focusing especially on Rowena.

She seemed more confident. More than that, though, she seemed...happy?

Not quite, he thought as he watched her go over the case notes again. She wasn't smiling, but her mouth was twitching slightly. It's not happiness...but she is excited.

But the question was, what was she excited about? Good news for her case...or for him?

Rowena paced in front of the witness stand, thinking over how she was going to continue this. Takumi watched, unimpressed.

"Are you going to just stand there all day, or are you going to ask me questions?" he asked, and Rowena cleared her throat nervously.

"So, um...how was your day?"

Takumi groaned. "My mother just died. Finish the puzzle."

"Right. Stupid question." She took a deep breath and glanced at the others for help. Iago glared at her like he had for her entire childhood, telling her that she had a job to do and she should just get it done already.

"Tell me," she said after another second of working herself up to it, "what happened the night you found the body."

Takumi stopped talking, flinching as the memory came back. "I can't tell you anything that I haven't told the cops."

"That has yet to be determined. Would you mind?"

Takumi took a few deep breaths to keep himself steady, and he didn't have to look to know that Hinoka had scooted closer to Ryoma in anticipation. "I was sleeping," he said. "As most people are at an hour to midnight. I'd wanted to go to bed early to avoid falling down another research rabbit hole, but I just ended up dreaming about..." he cleared his throat. "I ended up having a weird dream. Mom was...kind of fascinated by dream interpretation, and wanted to laugh with me about the psychology of it all."

"And you encountered your brother - the defendant - on the way to your mother's study," Rowena finished. Takumi nodded. "What happened next?"

"He was carrying the new maid," Takumi finished. "Felicia...I can't remember her last name. She'd fallen down the stairs and knocked herself out."

"And she was sleeping on your couch?"

"Her father has since insisted that she leave our employment," Takumi confirmed. "But at this point, Revan and I talked about the time."

"And was it only the time? Did he give any indication of where he was?"

"He had to do something," Takumi confirmed. "He was with our cousin, I know that much."

"And said cousin has confirmed his alibi," Silas insisted. She hadn't wanted to testify, but at least she'd given a statement to the police. Of course, it frustrated him that neither she nor his best friend/client had told him what they were doing. He knew they weren't getting up to incest, but that was all he could be sure of.

Rowena nodded. "I am aware of where he was at the time of the murder. However, an alibi means nothing when a hitman did the killing." He couldn't find a problem with that statement, and she turned back to Takumi. "Well, then? What else did you talk about?"

"I dunno. The weird dream, a little, I think."

"And?"

"What do you want me to say?" Takumi demanded. "He didn't confess anything! I don't even think he had anything to confess! We went over it yesterday - he's a wuss!"

"I understand that," Rowena insisted, struggling to keep her voice professional when she really wanted to shout and throw things at the witness. She remembered him now - a vague, irritating memory of him stealing her favorite doll and burying it in the backyard. And, more clearly, how her first big sister had dug it out for her and Revan had chased him down to 'arrest' him.

She'd have to ask Revan if he remembered what he'd done to the poor boy. That is, if Silas won this case.

Focusing on the present, she continued very carefully. "I would like to be sure you didn't talk about anything else. Such as, perhaps..." she reached into the evidence pile and removed the card. "This?"

Takumi stared at it for a while. "That was slid under my door," he admitted. "I didn't know it was important, I thought Sakura was trying to counterfeit Pokemon cards again."

Silas slammed the desk like Phoenix Wright, only to slowly and sheepishly lift his hands at the irritated stare from the judge. "Doesn't that mean that all her evidence is...uh, I want to say 'useless.' Or 'moot.' Uh...circumstantial!"

"It's called a frame-up," Rowena shot back. "Iago says he's seen it a lot."

"Dozens of times," said Iago, who hadn't worked a murder case in twenty years.

The judge wasn't impressed. "It appears that Shields has a point," she admitted. "This does look circumstantial now."

"But this isn't a trial," Rowena pointed out. "And just because it looks that way doesn't mean it is. The yogurt balloon looked unrelated, after all."

"You had to bring that up," Revan grumbled.

The judge eyed him, and then surrendered. "I'll allow it," she decided. "I'll allow just about anything at this point."

"Thank you," Rowena said quickly. "Does this mean that you'll allow me to call Iago to tell the stories?"

"I will allow anything that can relate to the case," the judge corrected herself. "How do you plan to connect his stories of the past to this current one?"

"Because it can prove that a frame-up is possible, and maybe even likely."

"Very well. Iago?" The judge gestured to the seat. "Hurry up and get this over with."

Iago took the stand as she had instructed, but kept his cell phone in his hand the entire time. Rowena decided to ignore that bit. The judge did not.

"You are in a court of law," she warned, and Iago looked up from his phone.

"I was under the impression that this was a mock trial," he replied calmly. "We're here not to prove the young man's guilt, no matter how blatantly certain it is, but to see if these children can stand up to the pressure of the career."

Rowena hissed quietly at being called a child, and Lucina shook her head without a sound. "Iago," Rowena said quietly, "you said you have seen complicated frame-ups like this before. I need you to tell those stories, so the defense can understand that it does happen."

Iago finally lowered his phone. "I have seen it," he announced. "Twenty years ago, a man almost succeeded in framing his actually-existing identical twin for the crime. Twenty-three years ago, a four-time killer sent the police on a six-month-long stakeout of a movie director."

"And those cases went to court before those killers were caught?"

"The one with the twins did."

"And what does this have to do with Revan?" Silas demanded. "If he was trying to frame Takumi, why would he put on a wig and give the assassin his own name?"

"Technically," Rowena interrupted, "the assassin only knew his client as 'Mr. Hoshido.' The fact that the card was left in the defendant's brother's room proves that he was clearly confused as to which Mr. Hoshido had actually been the one to hire him. My current proposition is that the assassin is a raving idiot and the wig was burned."

"How do you even burn a wig without the smell of burning?"

"It's all a matter as to where and when he destroyed it," Iago interrupted. "He likely would have taken it away from his house and burned it before the hit was even carried out. Are you suggesting we search the entire city for the ashes of the wig?"

"Isn't the burden of proof supposed to lie on the prosecution?"

Iago waved his phone at him, like a taunting finger wag in an anime. "Here's a lesson, boy - never rely only on the evidence you have." He looked up at the judge. "The prosecution would like to stay focused on the wig."

"This is my mock trial," Rowena cut in angrily, and Revan and Silas both picked up on the pure loathing in her voice. "I'm the one who decides what the prosecution stands with."

She wanted to punch the smug look off Iago's face. "And what do you suggest we do, then?"

Rowena growled, but admitted, "The wig thing."

"Let's assume the wig exists." Silas didn't believe it, but the Phoenix Wright part of his brain was activating. "Why would he need to do that? If he introduced himself as Revan Hoshido, the wig would be rendered pointless."

Rowena had an answer for that. "The assassin only knew his client's last name."

"So why would he need the wig at all?"

"To frame his brother!" Iago snapped. "You clearly weren't listening!"

"I wasn't," Silas agreed easily, and stood down for the moment.

"The Wright agency would be proud," Revan snarked.

"Shut up."

Silas tapped the wood of the desk in front of him, his mind racing. There was nothing but the card and the pineapple comment to point to it being anyone but Revan. And the testimony, as it was, had nothing for him to seize in an attempt to extend this mock trial for just one more day. Ace Attorney was useless now.

Luckily, he had his own personal Mia - Phoenix, he corrected himself, I'm the Athena in this situation - to fix things for him. "Your opponent just offered you advice," Stahl said, casually slipping a gummy bear from the bag in his pocket into his mouth. "I'd take it, if I were you."

"No offense, but that man is the last person I'd take advice from."

"Suit yourself. It's not like there's any personal stakes in it for you."

Silas stopped the impatient desk-tapping. "He looks like the kind of man to sell drugs to children," he pointed out. "You really want me to believe him?"

"Hey, my son moved to Nebraska on purpose. Nothing surprises me anymore." He looked at Iago again, then shrugged and ate another gummy bear. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful about it."

Evidence he didn't have? What was the point of evidence if he didn't have it? He couldn't even figure out how to turn the case around without evidence!

Well, if there was no evidence, he might as well bug Iago about his testimony. "So let's say that there was a wig. Let's say it was destroyed. Aside from the last name and the placement of the card, why would Revan even be suspicious?"

Iago groaned in frustration. "The donuts! The balloons! The boy is clearly unstable!" Revan shrugged at that, allowing Iago to have that point. "He's the one with the motive! He's the one with the half-assed alibi! He's the one with the grudge against Hoshidonix!"

Silas leaned back. "I never said Hoshidonix had anything to do with it. But that gives us a better motive than 'millionaire's son wanted his inheritance.' If Mrs. Hoshido not only kept her late husband's company active, but made it better, she must have made some powerful enemies. Why is this case focused on her son?"

"Because his motive is related to the case!"

"But there are now more suspects to investigate! There was a copyright infringement case against Nohrtendo, and I'm sure that wasn't the only problem Hoshidonix faced."

"Nohrtendo was trying to buy us out," Revan admitted. "Mom wouldn't budge. She said it was Dad's company, she was just holding it for Ryoma."

"And anyone with stock in Nohrtendo could only gain if the two merged and became an empire," Silas finished.

Rowena slammed the desk Ace Attorney-style. "I own stock in Nohrtendo!" she shot back. "Three of my siblings own stock in Nohrtendo! Garon thinks it's a decent 18th birthday present! Are you saying that we, the children of a millionaire, killed this woman for money and framed a man we didn't know out of spite?"

"No," Silas answered at once, "but there have to be more stockholders than you and your siblings. Iago, do you own Nohrtendo stock?"

"I'm the company's lawyer, of course I do!" Iago gave Silas a glare that would have frightened him if his greasy hair hadn't gotten in the way. "And if you think you can accuse me of murder like this..."

"It was to make a point," Silas promised, "not to accuse you. But if you can help me just a little bit more, I'd like to ask you how many stockholders, other than you, had a grudge against Hoshidonix?"

"I don't deal with those numbers! I deal with copyright infringement! I haven't even been involved with criminal cases for years!"

"Then you can help by telling me what you think happened that night."

Iago gripped his phone more tightly. "Desperate, aren't you?"

"Very," Silas admitted.

"I'll allow it," the judge interrupted. "As long as the co-counsel stops eating in my courtroom."

Stahl paused, another gummy bear halfway to his mouth. "Permission to approach the bench?" he asked sheepishly.

Silas pretended not to notice when Stahl let the judge take a few bears for herself. He was focused on Iago.

"It's a classic story of a spoiled brat with no conscience," Iago decided. "The boy knew that the victim planned to leave each of her children hundreds of thousands of dollars each. He'd been content to simply mooch off of his mother for a while, but once she got fed up with it and cut him off - clearly, Garon does better in telling his children that his money is their emergency fund - he decided to take revenge. He found an assassin and told him to poison the woman, and leave poisoned donuts for the rest of them so he'd be the sole inheritor."

Revan clenched his fists and stood up, but Silas stopped him. Iago barely processed.

"The instructions continued to set up his brother," Iago continued, "leaving a card at his door and the instructions to state it was a calling card if he got caught. Which he did, the dope. The other brat set up traps and Hans was just too stupid to look where he was going -"

"Hans?" Silas interrupted, and Iago, for once, shut up. "Who's Hans?"

"That...I believe that was the assassin's name."

Rowena was silent, but she and Revan were both shaking in rage. Lucina put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"The horse is in the stable," she told her. "The dog can do whatever she wants."

Rowena nodded. "Woof."

Silas was trying not to show his emotions, but there were too many to fully control. Anger, relief, excitement, stress, and others that he couldn't identify. "That's an interesting statement, Iago. The man never told us his name, only his mission and that a Mr. Hoshido hired him. The police were pretty angry about that."

"I knew him from work," Iago said, too quickly. "He was involved in a previous case, from before I shifted my focus. I didn't know he was a killer, I thought he was a thief, but..."

"So why would you think he was a killer now? Did you meet him for this case before Lucina arrived?"

"Yes!" Iago said, almost before Silas finished the question.

"No," Lucina said at the same time. "I spoke to Officer Murphy to get filled in on the case. He told me that I was the first one there. He mentioned a phone call with Iago, but that was before I was called in to replace him."

The judge understood. "It seems that you've been hiding some important information, Iago. How, exactly, did you know the man's name?"

There was silence. Then Iago screamed in rage and threw his phone at Silas, the device hitting the floor and shattering halfway to its destination.

"I think he needs a bit more questioning," Silas announced. He looked over at Rowena. "And you?"

"That was certainly suspicious." Her voice shook, and she looked back at Lucina. "Is the horse still sleeping?"

"I'd say so."

"Then I'd say that the evidence against your client is circumstantial and the matter should be looked into further." She looked up at the judge. "What do you think?"

The judge nodded. "I believe so. Mr. Hoshido, it seems that you're not guilty."

The audience cheered, drowning out Silas and his relieved mumble. They barely even noticed when he faceplanted onto the desk.

But Revan noticed when Iago started to speak to himself. "Dragon's Claw, my foot," he said, staring at the pieces of his phone. Revan would have told him he threw like a wuss, but it was clear that his mad rambling was much more important. "Dragon's Toe Jam is more like it."

"Dragons?" Revan asked, and Iago looked up at him with a fury matched only by Revan's own. "Dragons made you kill my mom? That's your defense?"

"No, you buffoon," Iago hissed as he was handcuffed. "If I were that desperate, I'd say Hans was hired by the Easter Bunny."

"So what did you mean?"

"I'll keep my life if I go silent now."

"That just made it even more vague and interesting."

But then Iago was led away so they could "try him for murder and all that." Revan's closure was gone, but at least he had a lead.

In the excitement, Kaze managed to sneak up on Revan and punch him on the shoulder.

"THAT was for planning to assault me with yogurt!"

"Only because you bounced an overcooked muffin at me!"

Kaze backed up to avoid his friend's wrath, and pointed to the prosecutor's bench. "Look, we're even. And I'm not going to fight a guy who just lost a parent. But don't you think you should focus on that, instead?"

Right. Rowena. Revan turned to his long-lost sister, who was staring straight ahead, broken. He approached her, and snapped his fingers in front of her face. This got her attention, fortunately. "Hey. Sorry you lost your first case."

"I'm not." She smiled slightly. "It told me the truth about Iago's intentions - I knew he'd stoop to low levels, but I would have thought hiring an assassin for petty rivalry and pitting me against my brother was too low. Even if he did pick the wrong brother."

"But now you can come home! Sakura can't remember anything about you, and she got really excited about..."

Rowena tilted her head in confusion. "Sakura?"

"Yeah, our youngest sister. Don't you remember?"

"Not really." She flinched. "I remember parts of the accident. Our parents in shadow...you, with glass stuck in your face and not moving when I shook you...I tried to suppress those memories by not thinking about you guys. I guess I suppressed Sakura instead."

"Does the name Takumi ring a bell?"

"Yes it does. I thought that was why they'd stop."

"We all agree. You'll fit right in." He took her by the wrist and started leading her to her other siblings, who were waiting with open arms. "Let's go. We have a lot to catch up on, now that you're our sister again."

"You can have the room next to mine," Hinoka added with a smile.

"I'll have Yukimura set it up right now," Ryoma continued, taking out his phone.

"Don't." Rowena pulled her wrist from Revan's grip. "I want to be your sister again. I really do. But I spent fifteen years with my other siblings, and just six with you. I don't want to abandon them all."

"But you SHOULD belong with us!" Takumi objected. "You were ours first! Garon stole you!"

"It doesn't matter. Well, it does, but not exactly. I love his kids. I must have loved you, too, but I can't even remember Sakura clearly. I watched Elise grow up, I can't leave her."

"So...you don't want to be my sister?" Takumi asked, the accusation clear.

"OBJECTION!" Rowena complained, but Takumi was talking over her.

"You still choose your other family, despite how it happened?" He looked up at his oldest brother, mouth twisted in a scowl. "Let's put her in the dungeon, Ryoma!"

"What dungeon?" Ryoma retaliated. "Did you put a dungeon in the house without telling us?"

Takumi didn't answer. Revan took the opportunity to step in.

"I, for one, think she has a point. If I was Garon's kid and was raised with you guys, I wouldn't want to leave. But I'd accept Samuel and the others as my siblings."

Samuel? "Did you mean Xander?" Rowena asked, and Revan shrugged.

"Yeah, if that's the tall one's name." He turned her around. "Go home, but remember that you're welcome at our place anytime. And..." He paused, swallowing his grief one last time. "Mom's funeral is next Saturday."

"I can't miss that."

Then she hugged him, and it felt like she'd never left.

"Ah. So this is the infamous evidence-eater."

Rowena let go of Revan, turning to find her other siblings watching her. Camilla was giving Revan a suspicious stare, and the two men were clearly waiting for her. The small girl, the youngest of them all, took a different direction from her siblings and waved at him.

"You came to watch?"

Leo shrugged. "I had to see this lunatic in person." He glanced over at Revan. "Sorry about your mom, by the way."

"And we had to escape Dad's wrath," Elise cut in. "He wasn't happy to find out what we did to Iago yesterday."

"We did what we had to," Camilla insisted.

Rowena laughed quietly. "Well, I guess I should thank you. I never would have gotten a chance to throw Iago on the stand if he'd been there." She paused, looking back at Lucina's retreating form, and then looked up at Xander. "The lawyer that took his place was your age. I'm guessing you went to school with a Lucina?"

"It rings a bell," Xander confirmed. "But if you believe that I talked my siblings into kidnapping a grown man, locking him in a closet, and calling a barely-qualified woman to take his place, just to help you have a good first trial, you're wrong." He pushed his brother forward proudly. "It was Leo."

"Aww," Rowena cooed, pulling her little brother into another tight hug. "You did that for me?"

Leo blushed in embarrassment. "You're my sister," he mumbled, "and I love you and junk."

Rowena looked back at the Hoshido family, noting Takumi's hurt expression, and she reached out to pull both Ryoma and Hinoka into their own individual hugs. Takumi refused, but accepted her offer for a hot cocoa date with their respective love interests - apparently, he had a girlfriend already.

A week ago, she had four adopted siblings and that was it. Now she had five true siblings, and the children of Garon, who were still her brothers and sisters no matter how legal her adoption actually was.

She'd get used to it.

Sakura had thrown herself at Rowena, sobbing wildly. It took only one look at the tag on one bouquet decorating the funeral and a moment of stutter-laced conversation for Rowena to realize that this was the same Sakura that had been Elise's friend since middle school. They could have reunited under better circumstances if either teen had dared to ask to meet the other's family. Or if Rowena hadn't developed a fear of vehicles after the accident and been homeschooled by necessity. Or if Elise had used Rowena's name at any point, instead of using the generic "my sister" to confuse people into thinking Rowena and Camilla were the same person and awesome at everything.

Sakura hiccupped a laugh when Rowena brought it up. "I knew she was a Nohr," she mumbled. "I just thought the r-rest of her family would hate me, so I never asked to come over. T-Takumi wouldn't let a Nohr in the house, either. We used school and m-mutual friends to get around that." She sighed, tears finished for the moment. "I never used R-Revan's name, either."

"It would have meant nothing to Elise besides being one of your brothers. It's fine."

And it was. Her little sisters were friends. She and Revan were friends. She just had to work on the rest of them, and meet everyone else while she was at it.

A lot of people had come to mourn Mikoto, and all of them seemed to have stories. More importantly, all of them seemed to be focused on her, and she responded to the unwanted attention by sticking to Revan like glue.

"Did Mom really know this many people?"

"Huh?" He took a moment to mentally go over what she'd said. "Yeah, she was...really popular. Everyone who met her loved her."

"Do they think I'm an intruder?"

That actually made him laugh. "Rowena, we're almost half-identical. I'd say up to 45% identical. Everything's clear just by looking at us. The only reason you haven't gotten ambushed and asked where you've been all these years is because Reina threatened everyone who tried to get close."

Her confusion melted, but she looked guilty now. "Oh."

"But there are people who know the full story who want to meet you." He led her away, to a small group of people. One of the women looked just as uncomfortable as Rowena felt. "The one who looks like she wants to run away is Azura, our cousin. She lost her mother when she was seventeen, and ours was her source of emergency money ever since."

Azura looked away from the others, and seemed relieved to see Rowena. "So you're the missing link to the family," she said, a small smile the only hint she wasn't serious. "It really is nice to see you again, Rowena. If only the circumstances were better."

"Of course." Rowena had no memory of Azura, but she wasn't going to bring that up here.

"And the others are Reina, head of Hoshidonix security..."

"Rowena." Reina looked like she was in her early forties, but the scars on her face made her look even older. Still, Rowena said nothing as she tried to memorize Reina's face. "You do look like your mother."

"Thank you."

"This is Ryoma's latest girlfriend, Orochi," Revan continued, and the woman with enormous hair looked offended.

"Latest?" she repeated, and Rowena hoped there wasn't going to be a murder at a funeral, of all things. Then she laughed. "No, no, it's fine. I've met Scarlet, she approves, we're all cool."

"Is this really the time?" one of the men protested, and Orochi laughed again, this time with tears in her eyes.

"Come on, Subaki! You know what Mikoto would have said! Smile through the pain!"

"Subaki was Sakura's math tutor a few years ago," Revan continued. "Mom gave him the number to a good therapist after his anxiety problems got to be too much for him. And Sakura set him up with Hinoka."

Rowena's breath caught in her throat. "Did our mother really help everyone she met?"

"If it was in her power," Orochi confirmed. Her smile vanished, but the tears in her eyes didn't fall. "She was amazing, Rowena. And she never stopped thinking about you."

Rowena hugged herself, staring at the floor. "Now I feel guilty for not remembering her. Or my dad. I barely remembered Revan..."

"It's not your fault," another man promised. Rowena blinked. She remembered this one, but his name escaped her. Yuki...something. "You were a child attempting to recover from trauma. I'm impressed that you managed to remember Revan at all."

"I'm impressed she even came here." The last woman had made a face when Rowena approached, and she hadn't stopped. Rowena had worried, at first, that she'd forgotten deodorant that morning. Now she wondered if the woman's face had frozen. "Didn't she run back to the Nohr side of town even after learning she was kidnapped?"

Rowena took another step back. This was what she'd been worried about. Revan, sensing her distress, made eye contact with Azura and took a stand in front of her. "Enough, Oboro. Your backstory does not affect my sister. Don't make me get Ryoma."

"No, Revan," Rowena tried protesting. "She's right, I did run back. I didn't even know my own mother."

"You knew her for six years. More importantly, you're her daughter. She would have wanted you here if she'd lasted fifty years after the accident."

Rowena felt her cousin's hand on her arm, and she looked to see Azura staring Oboro in the face. "Rowena is a part of our family," she said sternly. "You're a guest here. We have every right to throw you out."

Oboro finally looked ashamed. "I'm sorry about that. Personal issues, tragic backstory..." she smiled bitterly. "I can't stand your other family, but I shouldn't take it out on you. I'll make up for my outburst, promise! I'll...I'll make you a new courtroom outfit for free. Something like Ace Attorney ok?"

Rowena managed half a smile herself. "No cravats, please."

The entire group laughed, even Oboro. "I can't even TRY to imitate Edgeworth's napkin," she promised. "There's way too much fluttering going on, like a big grumpy butterfly."

Even Oboro was a good person, once the initial hostility was put aside. She spoke to the man from her memories, learning his name was Yukimura, and that Azura and Silas had actually started dating after a weird high school misunderstanding that both Azura and Revan refused to talk about.

Azura stepped out eventually, with the excuse that she couldn't deal with so many people at once. Rowena followed her example, taking a different direction.

Revan followed. "If you want to leave, that's ok." He didn't look at her, but she could tell he meant it.

"You'd be ok?" She pushed her hair behind her ear, not buying it. "I accepted the death of my mother years ago. It's still fresh with you."

"Kind of sucks that it's the same mom, huh?" He was still trying to joke about it. "I noticed you're not exactly comfortable here. You really didn't know her."

"But I want to know you," she promised. "My last happy memory with you was playing truth or dare at six years old. I only remember Ryoma and Hinoka and Takumi as generic siblings. I forgot Sakura even existed."

"We can go do something as a family sometime," he suggested. "I just needed you to help me get through the service. You can go any time."

Rowena looked around, at the near-empty parking lot. "I have time before Garon wants me home," she decided. "I want to know more. Tell me - which of us is the older twin?"

There were upsides to being in prison, Iago decided. He didn't have to deal with Garon's drunken idiocy. Even better, he didn't have to deal with Garon's children.

It was bad enough to be ambushed by four of them and thrown in a closet. But the adopted one had turned out to be smarter than he'd given her credit for. Not that it was saying much.

He was laughing to himself, in forced triumph, when a dark figure approached the cell. He panicked, briefly, before realizing that the dark figure was merely a man in a Darth Vader suit.

"You look ridiculous," Iago commented.

"You are ridiculous," said the man. The suit even had the voice changer.

Iago cleared his throat. "I know this is bad for your business," he admitted, "but I didn't even implicate you. Sure, I borrowed one of your assassins, and yes, he did end up in jail, but...well, Hans is an idiot. He won't talk. This just looks like a rich jerk did something evil for petty reasons and..."

"Silence," Vader interrupted, and Iago immediately shut up. "Your voice...irritates me." Iago gulped. Vader ignored it. "Look. I don't object to you using an assassin. And he killed a woman. That's what assassins do."

"So...I'm off the hook?" Iago asked hopefully. "You're here to break me out?"

"I'm afraid not. I needed your target alive for my plans. And you, Iago, threw a monkey wrench into everything by removing her from the world. So now, I'm going to have to remove you." He paused. "Just so we're clear, I'm going to kill you."

Iago stepped back. "You can't! I left no loose ends! I won't tell, I promise!"

"You are a loose end. And we shall kill you the same way we do everything else. In silence."

The threat was serious. Naturally, as he left, Vader ruined it with a laugh that wasn't maniacal at all, pumping his fist in the air. "Yeah! Nailed it! That was ominous!"