We wrote this entire chapter in 5 days due to wanting to start the finale. We learned a few things:

1. Seteth the family man is easier (and funnier) than Seteth at work
2. Rowena doesn't know how to handle a case going in her favor
3. Revan-as-Maya is less important than we first thought.

With that stuff out of the way, here is the third case we put together.

The whole town was talking about the local celebrity wedding for days. Hoshidonix went up in popularity, Orochi filled her social media with what she called 'honeymoon shots' but was mostly just pictures of Ryoma when he didn't expect a camera, and all of the siblings were getting along. Mostly from laughing at Orochi's 'honeymoon shots' together and telling Ryoma he needed to shave before high school repeated itself.

Then something else made the local papers - someone had broken into the Hoshidonix building and was trying to crack a safe. The cops caught him after he tripped the alarm, and that is where this particular story begins.

"He's refusing to talk," said one of the officers.

The man they were interrogating smirked. "I know my rights. I have the right to an attorney, and I told you what attorney I wanted. Where is he?"

The other cop slammed his fist on the desk. "Silas Shields is not a valid attorney, Kotaro!"

"He made the papers, didn't he? Matlocked his way out of two different cases. I want him."

"You were arrested at the safe!"

Kotaro kept his mouth shut. Both officers screamed in frustration.

"Fine! Get the law student! But if he bombs this case, you're going away for a long time."

"This is so frustrating!"

Rowena's voice caught Garon's attention. Her bedroom door was cracked open, and Garon peeked through to see Rowena staring at a newspaper at her desk while Jakob was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

They didn't notice him. Rowena tossed the paper aside and took a spot next to Jakob, wrapping one arm around him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"This is stupid," she decided.

"I agree," Jakob said at once. "However, we do need to live away from your families."

"You did this to me," Rowena mumbled, and Jakob scoffed.

"Have you forgotten that this entire thing was your idea? You said you wanted children, you said we couldn't raise them in this confusion."

"You agreed with me!"

"Because the Nohrs are insane and the Hoshidos aren't much better."

Rowena gave him a mischievous smile, hidden from her father's view. "What a wonderful thing to say about the so-called love of your life. I'm both, Jakob."

Garon didn't hear Jakob's undoubtedly sarcastic response. He'd heard enough. "Well," he said as he walked away from the door, "time to get the shotgun."

He didn't necessarily care what his adult children got up to, but Elise was still in high school. There were some things he needed to set an example about.

And he missed when Rowena rolled off her husband, taking her turn to stare at the ceiling. "Who would've thought that moving out would be so complicated?"

"We don't have to find a house right away," Jakob reassured her. "An apartment would be fine. Two bedrooms, of course, just in case we need a nursery eventually."

"Rent is so expensive, though. I'm still a law student, not a full lawyer."

Her phone rang at that moment, and she answered with an irritated "What?"

"Hello to you too," said a now-familiar voice.

"Oh, Silas." She hoped he just wanted to hang out. She knew better. "I guess Garon bought me another trial, huh?"

"Not exactly," said Silas. "There was this guy arrested for breaking into the Hoshidonix building."

"I heard. It's all over the local news."

"He wants me as his lawyer."

Rowena paused. "So...you want me to prosecute because I've never won a case against you?"

"Because you're the most trustworthy prosecutor at my skill level," Silas corrected her. "Stahl said I could do it. I'm sure Lucina will be there to help you."

Well, she did need a job if she was going to move out. "Ok. What do we know?"

Though Joanna now lived with Seteth and even slept in his bed most nights, the relationship had never earned a rating higher than the minimum qualification for PG-13. Seteth was not a man who made the same mistake twice.

So Joanna woke up the morning of the trial to Seteth watching her in a mixture of irritation and relief.

"You're alive. That's good."

"Of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?"

"After the, quote, 'Eisner family get together' last night, I grew concerned."

Joanna almost smiled. "Yeah, we can get a little wild when we've been drinking. But at least Flayn spent the night at Lysithea's." A thought crossed her mind, and she wasn't sure if she should cringe or laugh. "And at least Jonah and Petra didn't have sex on your couch."

"Don't be gross, Joanna."

Joanna gave a quiet laugh and heaved herself out of bed. The Eisner twins didn't drink outside of family get-togethers, but family get-togethers tended to get weird - which was why Seteth had agreed to Flayn's request to spend the night at her friend's. Joanna left the safety of the bedroom to find her family all asleep on the floor, the dog sleeping on his owners' legs.

She put a toe to Jonah's neck. "Yeah, that's a pulse," she announced, and Jonah opened his eyes at the light pressure.

"Don't be weird, Jo," he said, shoving her foot away. Petra's eyebrow twitched, and she leaned away from the light. "Get up, Petra. You have to go to work."

Petra's response was not in English, but Jonah seemed to understand. Joanna and Seteth did not, but the twins merely heaved their father into a sitting position, waking him as they did.

"You kids have to stop joining me in these shenanigans," Jeralt said, leaning on the wall. "Don't you have kids to babysit?"

"Saturday," said Joanna, stretching her arms behind her head. Seteth noticed how the movement pushed her chest forward, and his look of disapproval brought a small sigh of disappointment from her lips. He didn't care.

"I'm gonna get him someday," she said to herself.

"You have him," said Petra, pulling the same motion that Joanna had. "You are planning marriage, yes?"

"Not what I meant, Petra."

Petra tilted her head, mentally translating again, and then understood. "Why do you not just ask him for the..." she made an obscene hand gesture.

"Because that's much less fun, and he'd probably say no. I have to break him first."

"Can we stop talking about this?" Seteth demanded. "I am still within earshot."

"Get used to it," said Jonah. He flopped back down on the floor. "You're in with the Eisners now. Throw out your filter, you won't need it."

Jeralt, in contrast to his son, laughed and stood up. "Hey, keep doing what you're doing, Seteth. Jo's set on wearing her mother's wedding dress, the last thing we need is to fit it for pregnancy."

"That wouldn't -" Seteth started, but Jeralt's laughter cut him off. Seteth brushed off his irritation. His first father-in-law was less blunt about it, but he had given the order of no step-grandkids every time he'd had to babysit Flayn after her mother's death.

At least both he and Jeralt had seemed to grasp that the events leading to Flayn's birth hadn't been Seteth's idea.

Without waiting for Jeralt to finish laughing at him, Seteth picked up his car keys. "I'll be back," he announced. "Joanna, Flayn will return at noon. Do not destroy my home."

"What, you think we're some kind of animals?"

The teasing didn't bother him. "You are acting rather uncivilized."

"We never break anything!" Petra objected.

"Yet," said Seteth, and, confident in getting the last word, he left for work.

Seteth arrived at the courthouse that served as a sanctuary from his in-laws and teenager, only to find two familiar women in Rhea's chambers. One was Rhea herself, who was telling the other judge the story of when she'd had a "professional asshole" in the courtroom. The other judge was nodding along and interjecting with her own time dealing with Shields and Nohr.

"And now the man that broke into Hoshidonix is demanding Shields as his lawyer," the other judge finished before downing her cooled coffee like it was a much-needed shot.

"Which means Nohr will be taking the prosecution," said Rhea, in a voice Seteth only recognized as fake calm because he knew her so well.

He took the moment to announce his presence. "Forgive my interruption, but I was under the impression that the trial wouldn't be for weeks. Why would he choose Silas Shields as a lawyer?"

The women looked at him with identical expressions of something that Seteth didn't recognize, but it made him very uncomfortable. "Rhea," said the first judge, turning to her coworker with an overly-innocent smile. "The new guy hasn't dealt with Shields and Nohr."

Rhea answered the smile with one of her own. Seteth took a step back toward the door. "What are you doing?" he asked, and Rhea turned that same expression on him.

"We're smiling," she answered innocently.

"Stop that!"

Seteth watched in growing terror as his oldest friend approached him. "Shields and Nohr are not qualified lawyers, and as such require a...trial trial, as Cyril would say. This is your first day acting as a judge. Why not have a test run of your own?"

Seteth briefly considered running for the hills. But, in the end, he chose to follow Rhea's suggestion - that was more of an order.

One day, he told himself, he would have the nerve to defy her craziness. At the moment, he was just glad that this was all she wanted from him. He could deal with Shields and Nohr.

"It should be quick," Revan was saying as he took his usual place as co-counsel. "You go in, plead guilty, judge sends him to jail, we all go home."

"Who invited you to be co-counsel again?" Silas asked.

"You know you're lost without me."

"I wish I was lost right now."

Kotaro cleared his throat impatiently. "May I remind you that as my lawyer and co-counsel, you're supposed to get me the best deal possible?"

"He's right," said Stahl from his position in the audience. He and Lucina had decided to sit this one out, leaving the would-be lawyers to figure it out on their own. With help from their even less qualified partners, of course. Revan and Xander had never even been to law school.

Xander wasn't even sure what he was doing here. He'd been eating a bagel that morning, when Rowena had come downstairs and told him that she needed his help. Now he was here, in court, missing work, all because he wanted to be a good big brother and help out.

"We'll plead insanity then," Silas decided.

"How's that going to work?" Revan asked. "How are we going to prove it?"

"He chose me for his lawyer."

"That'd do it."

From his position at the bench, Seteth was impressed. From the way the other judges had reacted, he'd expected dealing with Shields and Nohr to be like dealing with the Eisners. He was pleasantly surprised to find that they were ordinary law students.

He'd never seen their partners before in his life, but he could allow that.

"So you plead insanity, Mr. Shields?"

"Yes," Silas answered at once, discarding the original notes he'd taken. Notes and evidence weren't how he won the first two, after all. "He requested that I, a man who has not passed the bar exam and in fact hasn't taken it yet, act as his lawyer. That's a pretty good setup for insanity, I think."

"Objection!" Rowena interrupted.

"On what grounds?" Seteth asked, hoping that she had a reasonable objection.

"On the grounds that this has no relation to his actions at Hoshidonix!" She leaned on her desk. "He was opening a safe! Anyone who breaks into a building would naturally go to the safe!"

"An excellent point, Ms. Nohr," Seteth agreed. "If the insanity plea is to be believed, we would need evidence."

"I have evidence," Silas protested, digging through the discarded notes until he found the one he needed. "The safe did not contain money. It contained a game demo for a system they don't even sell anymore and a pitch for that game."

"Then the game must be worth a fortune!"

"You're wrong." Silas turned to Revan. "What did you say about the game, Mr. Hoshido?"

"It's shit," Revan said instantly.

Rowena stared at her brother for a moment, then turned to Seteth. "Permission to quote, Your Honor?"

"If you must."

Rowena gestured at the defense team. "What is this shit?"

Revan took the responsibility of answering. "According to Ryoma, this shit is the worst pitch and demo for a video game that he had ever seen and that Mom must have been intoxicated when she approved it. To which she agreed."

Seteth wasn't amused. "Ryoma Hoshido said that?"

"Well, he used stronger language," Revan admitted.

"Then there's only one thing to do." Rowena nodded toward her twin, who suppressed a shiver. "We need to play the game."

"We can't!" Silas pointed out. "We've already established that they no longer make the system in question! The Hoshidonix IRON has been obsolete for a decade now. You can't pick it up at a store, and it's unlikely that anyone sitting here in this courtroom has one."

"Not even Revan?"

Revan cleared his throat nervously. "There was a...coffee-related incident," he admitted.

"What about the other members of the Hoshido family?"

Revan thought about it. "I think Ryoma does have one, but someone else is going to have to ask him for it. Last time I got near it, he grabbed me by the collar and told me not to spill coffee on it in a rage quit like I did with the one Mom brought home for the family."

Rowena wasn't even surprised. "Fine, then. I will call Ryoma. One way or another, we are playing this game."

Ryoma and Orochi had just returned home from Hawaii when he got the call. "You realize I haven't even unpacked yet, right?"

"But you're the only person I know who has a Hoshidonix IRON," Rowena whined. "Please, big brother?"

This woman... "Very well," he agreed. "But you're helping us unpack when the trial is over."

"As long as I don't touch your underwear, we have a deal."

She ended the call. Ryoma gave a brief "I'll be back" to his wife and his other siblings, and returned moments later with the IRON in his arms.

Orochi stepped closer to him. "Can I come?" she asked excitedly. "I've never been to one of your sister's trials."

"It's not a real trial," Ryoma tried to explain as he put the console in the car. "It's Revan and Silas whispering to each other and driving Rowena crazy while they all work together to drive the judge closer to an early retirement." He paused. "So, yeah, you'd love it."

"So I can go?"

"I suppose. But if the judge finds you in contempt of court, I am not bailing you out."

"How can the judge find me in contempt? It's not a real trial."

Ryoma gave his wife a long, blank look. "Just don't talk," he instructed, and Orochi mimed zipping her lips.

"Here's the console," said Ryoma as he set it up on the courtroom's old TV. "I don't know why you're not just using a ROM or pirating it like normal people, but I'm glad to help."

"This is a court of law!" Seteth objected, but Ryoma brushed it off.

"It's not like we're making money off it anymore," Ryoma promised. Then he paused halfway into setting up the controller. "Unless it's old enough for a remake."

"Don't worry," Rowena promised. "It was never even released."

"Then you really need this. What game is this, anyway?"

Rowena checked the box. "Goka Ninja 2," she read aloud. "Never heard of it. I've never even heard of Goka Ninja 1."

"Goka?" Ryoma repeated. "I've never...wait." Memories from his high school years came forward in his mind. In particular, a memory of Mikoto bringing him to work with her as a programmer demonstrated an absolute failure of a game. "You know what? This is a court of law. This is no place to play video games."

"Objection!" Rowena looked back at the judge. "I insist that this game must be relevant to the case."

"And how certain are you?" Seteth asked. Before she could speak, he continued, "The percentage of certainty must be over 50% to count."

"52% sir," Rowena said in a small voice. "Your Honor."

He was starting to understand why the other judges had passed these law students on to him, but he was curious as to how they managed to solve two separate cases together. "I'll allow it."

"No!" Ryoma sounded almost afraid. "Your Honor, please! I'll give you anything! Money! Power! Land! An ostrich! Just don't make us play Goka Ninja!"

And now Seteth was intrigued. What could possibly be in that demo? "This is Ms. Nohr's point. She alone will be playing Goka Ninja 2."

Rowena had watched Ryoma plead with the judge, and her confidence had dropped. "I don't think I want to anymore."

"Then I'll play the game," Xander volunteered. He stepped forward to take the controller from Ryoma, but not before calling Rowena a baby.

"That...was awful." Rowena had once again voiced the thoughts of the entire courtroom. Xander had played through the twenty minutes of demo, and they had walked away with the knowledge that Goka Ninja 2 was locked away with good reason. "The graphics were glitchy, the cutscenes unnecessary, the boss fight was even a stolen Goku sprite!"

"I told you it was shit," said Revan.

Silas was impressed. "We might actually have a case," he said in awe.

Kotaro nodded. "Yep. That was what I was after. That game should be worth billions. Sure, not as it is, but I took a week of programming classes from some guy online." He removed his jacket, tossed it at Revan, and held his arms out to Seteth. "Cuff me."

"Unfortunately," said the judge, "I believe that is no longer necessary."

Revan removed the jacket from his face, grumbling to himself. Then he noticed something in the pocket. Something familiar...

"Silas," he whispered, nudging his friend in the arm. "New evidence just turned up."

"Revan, we're about to win the case. What kind of evidence could turn up? The guy's insane, he'll be in an institution in minutes."

Revan silently held out a hand, carefully hiding the card from the client. Silas took a look and went pale as he recognized the eye design.

"Ok, that complicates things."

He must have been claiming insanity to get to a mark in the institution. And if that was true...

"Objection!" Silas interrupted as Seteth was going to hand down the verdict. Revan carefully put the card in his pocket.

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that new evidence has come to light! I request a recess!"

"What are you doing?" Kotaro demanded. "You're about to win the case!"

Silas didn't even flinch. "I search for the truth. Not victory."

And when Seteth granted the recess and checked his vibrating phone for the texts that Joanna had been sending all trial, Silas and Revan approached Rowena.

She and Xander were talking about the game, and both seemed relieved when they saw them. That relief was short-lived as Revan placed the card on Rowena's evidence pile.

"He's one of them?" she asked, looking up from the card briefly.

"It's likely," Revan confirmed.

Xander glanced down at the card. "And what evidence is this, exactly?"

"It's an assassin's card," Revan explained. "We don't know if it's a warning to detectives or a calling card, but it's connected to a criminal organization known as the Silent Dragons."

Xander turned to his sister, concerned. "You're up against the mafia?"

"Maybe," she admitted. "Beruka's never been clear on that."

In fact, all that Beruka had confessed was that the assassin who raised her had been hired by a criminal organization known as the Silent Dragons, and that he had warned the girl to never get involved. She'd known only a few unimportant names, like Hans and von Aegir. Still, she was a valuable source of information for Revan's search to shut down the organization that had helped Iago kill Mikoto.

"You have to present this evidence," Xander continued. "You know what this means."

"More than you do, big brother."

She just hoped she could make it out alive.

Jakob, though no longer employed as a butler, still did his duties around the Nohr household. Old habits were hard to break. He'd just finished polishing the hallway and was going to take a break to look at some apartments when he heard a menacing click.

He figured he shouldn't turn around. He did anyway, and found Garon Nohr pointing a shotgun at him.

Jakob put his hands in the air.

"You and I need to talk," said Garon.

"Fine," said Jakob.

Garon almost lowered the gun in surprise. "That's it? That's all you say? No sarcasm, no insults, no witty retorts, just agreeing?"

"I do believe you have the upper hand in this situation, sir."

"I guess I do." Garon tilted his head to his office. "We need to talk about Rowena."

Seteth wanted to go home.

Shields and Nohr weren't the monsters he'd expected. He'd just gotten a text from Joanna (after several suggestive emoji combinations that took him whole seconds to decipher) that actually concerned him: Flayn was taking another cooking lesson. This was not something she'd done without his supervision before, and he needed to be there to help his fiancée prevent their home from burning down.

So he was not pleased when Shields and Nohr handed him the card with the explanation.

"The case was so clear-cut. We could have settled it quickly. But Rhea was right. You do have a tendency to turn every trial you come across into a three-ring circus."

"I don't know about three rings," said Revan, looking over at the TV. "Since we've brought in the video game, it's certainly been two."

"And for the record," Rowena added, "he'd still be part of the Silent Dragons even without our involvement. We're trying to prevent him from committing more crime."

Seteth had to admit, they were determined to do the right thing. "And how do you plan to connect his crime to these...Silent Dragons?"

"We don't know," Silas admitted.

"We'll think of something," Rowena promised. "Just...allow us some courtroom antics, please."

"I'll allow just about anything at this point." Seteth checked the time. "Just remember that my job is to remain impartial."

"He's going to jail either way," Rowena pointed out. "Silas and I found two assassins. Let's see what we can do with this Dragon."

I'm going to be sleeping on the streets tonight, Seteth thought to himself. But he had a job to do, and he was going to do it if it killed him.

The recess ended. The bailiff escorted Kotaro back to the courtroom, the lawyers and their partners took their places. Rowena immediately took her chance.

"Your Honor, new evidence has come to light," she began, as if Seteth wasn't involved in the conspiracy against Kotaro. "I recommend you examine this card!"

"According to the records," said Silas, "this card is just a card."

The card fell from Rowena's grip. "What?"

"I checked with the police during the recess. They said there's no record of the cards showing up anywhere."

"Besides," said Kotaro, "the co-counsel isn't even a lawyer. He had no right to be digging through my pockets in the first place."

"Who said where the co-counsel found the card?" Rowena challenged. "He could have found it on the floor and assumed -"

Kotaro cut her off. "Miss...Nohr, was it? I know you're new to this whole 'lawyering' business, but there's nothing bad associated with that card. I have no problem claiming it's mine."

"You're not a lawyer," Silas protested. "I'm the lawyer!"

"Then do a better job, or you're fired!"

Silas looked panicked for a moment. "Can he do that?" he asked Seteth, who took a moment to think. "Can he just fire me mid-trial?"

"He can," Seteth answered, "but it would be the dumbest thing he's done so far, next to hiring you in the first place...no offense, Mr. Shields, but you're not a licensed lawyer yourself."

"Oh, I'm with you on that." Silas took a moment to gather his thoughts. "My client could have found that card on the street and picked it up thinking it was some fancy tarot card. I hate to say it, Ro...uh, Ms. Nohr, but it seems you've hit a wall on your card theory."

"You've made an excellent point," Seteth agreed. "It seems that the card was useless to the case. I have no choice but to remove it from evidence."

"You can't!" Rowena's voice shook. "It's...important!"

"As of right now, it isn't important to this trial. I'm sorry. My hands are tied."

Rowena turned around so only Xander would see the tears of frustration she impatiently tried to blink away. He kept his voice low and calm, even as he called out her mistake.

"You rushed too soon into this. You should have saved the card for later."

"What was I supposed to do?" she whispered back. "I'm trying to catch a killer!"

"But this isn't a murder trial. It's a simple theft case - perhaps not even that, since he didn't even steal what he wanted to steal."

"He's clearly trying to get arrested. There must be someone he's after in prison."

"You know what they say about assuming, Rowena. It makes a Garon Nohr out of you and me."

Rowena was surprised at the casual joking tone. Xander was notoriously bad at telling jokes. Sure, it was stolen from Leo, but the fact that he was able to pull it off was impressive enough that the tears went away.

"Ok," she said when she'd regained her ability to speak. "What do we do?"

"You work with what you've got."

"What I've got is a card that's no longer in evidence, a video game that made you vomit, and that phone book they called a game pitch."

"I'm not the greatest Ace Attorney player," Xander admitted, "but it seems like there's only one piece of evidence you can present."

"You're right." Turning around, she lifted up the game pitch. It was heavier than she'd expected. "The prosecution would like to present the pitch for Goka Ninja 2."

"Why?" said the bored-sounding judge.

"Because we've only examined half the contents of the safe so far. It's the only way to prove we're not crazy!"

Seteth wasn't sure this woman was entirely stable herself. But he had a job to do. "Does the defense have any objections?"

"Only considering how thick that thing is," Silas answered at once. "But considering that it's incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial, I will refrain from shouting objection."

"Does anyone smell smoke?" Seteth asked, and, confused as to why the judge had asked an irrelevant question, they all sniffed and answered no. "Then it's too late for my house. Let's get reading."

They were only two pages in, and they were all bored to death. Even Xander, who had once read the notes for Lord of the Rings, which at least had coherent thoughts. Even Seteth, who had once graded papers for Joanna because he wanted something to do.

"Ms. Nohr," said Seteth, cutting off Rowena's reading, "next time you decide to present evidence, make sure that you read it first to avoid repeating meaningless drivel to the court and can get to the point quickly."

"I'm sorry, Rowena," said Xander. "I thought it would help."

"But why would he want a book from 13 years ago?" Rowena hissed. "It's old! It's full of blah! It's...well, garbage!"

"Nothing stands out about it," Xander agreed.

She could almost feel the light bulb go off. "Stand out," she repeated, to her brother's concern.

"I just said that. I'm sorry for giving you bad advice, but -"

"Stands out," Rowena said again, this time excited.

"In the words of the judge, get to the point."

"Why would anyone worry about someone finding something unless it would stand out?" She turned back to the defense team, noticing Kotaro's discomfort. "I'm not done presenting yet!"

"Please, Ms. Nohr, I have a family," Seteth begged, as if she was holding him at gunpoint.

"Don't worry, you'll see them soon. I'm taking your advice - I'm examining it first!" She flipped through the pages quickly, not even bothering to read even to herself. Finally, she turned the book around. "One of these pages is not like the others!"

"One of these pages doesn't belong?" asked Silas.

"Can you just tell me which page is not like the others?" Seteth complained.

"Before we acknowledge this whole bit?" Revan finished.

Seteth had a strong urge to hold him in contempt just for that. "Just give me the evidence!" Rowena quickly handed it over, ignoring his mumbling about what was wrong with these people? He looked it over, then looked back up at her. "This is damning," he said, mildly impressed.

"Thank you."

Silas noticed that his client seemed nervous. "Your Honor, are you saying Ms. Nohr has a point?"

"Surprisingly so."

Rowena had a strong urge to stick her tongue out at the judge. Instead, she took the book from him to present it to Silas. "It's records," she stated. "Records from Hoshidonix 13 years ago. Seems pretty important."

Silas barely glanced at the book. "What, you're talking about insider trading?"

"Actually, Silas, I was talking about the bloodstain." She looked over at Kotaro, who was now sweating. "I don't think the accused is telling us the whole story."

Kotaro said nothing.

"That safe hasn't been open in 13 years," Rowena continued. "It should have stayed sealed, to be honest. Why were you even trying to open it?"

"Insider trading," Kotaro said bluntly.

"From 13 years ago?" She turned to Ryoma. "Mr. Hoshido, is there any reason that safe would have been opened?"

Ryoma was quiet for a very long time. "I'm not on the witness stand," he finally said.

"I'd like to call Ryoma Hoshido to the witness stand."

"Damn it," Ryoma mumbled, to Orochi's silent giggle.

Ryoma took the stand, clearly uncomfortable. Rowena paced in front of him, trying not to get too excited - was she actually going to win a case? She had no idea how to do that. "Tell me about the safe," she finally said.

"Now that I'm in charge, I was systematically cleaning out all kinds of files," Ryoma answered. "And when I heard of Goka Ninja 2, I decided that I had to make a better demo to bury it, just in case somebody dug it up. If someone found..." he gestured at the game system, now carried by his wife, "that, they would assume it was a bootleg made by trolls."

Rowena stopped pacing. "You were going to remake Goka Ninja 2?" she asked in utter disbelief.

"Not for release!" Ryoma said quickly. "Just to make a version that wouldn't tarnish our name!"

Xander, a fellow businessman in this field, took his turn to speak up. "So you poured your company resources into a game you would never release?"

Ryoma looked over at Seteth. "That's not fraud, is it?"

"Given the circumstances," Seteth specified, "it seems to be merely a poor business decision."

Ryoma let out a sigh of relief.

"So if you were going to remake this game," said Rowena, "what would that require?"

"We would have to go through the game pitch."

"Meaning the bloodstain would be found," Rowena continued. She spun around and pointed at Kotaro. "And the accused couldn't let that happen!"

"Objection!" Silas wasn't a fan of his client, but at least he was fighting for him. "How would my client even know that they were remaking Goka Ninja 2?"

"The answer is obvious. 13 years ago, Kotaro created Goka Ninja 2!"

"No," said Ryoma. "He was not involved in the project. I looked up the five people responsible, and as far as I'm aware, they had never heard of Kotaro. And that says something, since I've been keeping them in the loop about this case."

"Then he...uh...was Kotaro a janitor?" she asked.

Kotaro shook his head. "If the court requires, I can pull up my tax returns," he offered. "They should prove that I never worked near Hoshidonix."

"Then..." Rowena thought hard. "Um...he was..."

She had nothing. She had nothing, and Kotaro knew it.

Luckily, Xander had something. "He's trying to keep you grasping at straws," he pointed out. "I've pulled this on Iago at board meetings. He's trying to keep your focus away from something. That means that you already have the key."

Rowena knew it was time to pull some Ace Attorney bullshit. If Kotaro didn't want the game pitch for insider trading, then it had to be connected with the bloodstain. But there wasn't enough blood for a murder victim - Silas hadn't noticed it at first, it could have been from a nosebleed. So why would he..

Unless the bloodstain in the safe just caught a splatter.

"Was there a murder or maiming at Hoshidonix 13 years ago?" she asked. "Preferably unsolved?"

"As a matter of fact, there was," said Seteth.

"Then I would like to -"

"He died of asphyxiation," Seteth finished. At Rowena's silence, he added, "That means strangled to death."

"I know what it means!" Rowena whined, She cleared her throat to keep the tone down. "I mean...are you sure he wasn't a little bit shot?"

"A little bit shot," Seteth repeated, letting her know just how stupid he found it.

"Or stabbed!" she said quickly. "Or cut!"

But Ryoma was already denying it. "When there's a murder in your family's business, you learn all about it. I'm sorry, Rowena."

"But what about -"

"I think it's clear the prosecution has no leg to stand on," Kotaro pointed out.

"I'm the lawyer here," Silas tried to object, but Kotaro spoke over him.

"Why was I trying to open the safe? To get a document that's too old to do any good. There's blood on that document? I must be trying to cover up a murder! How did I learn the safe was going to be open? You don't even have a guess for that! Meanwhile, here's my story. I wanted to get rich, I saw the safe, so I took an opportunity."

"Well, you just shot your insanity defense," Silas grumbled.

"You already argued all of that."

"It's true," Revan agreed. "You did argue that."

"Shut up, Revan."

Kotaro looked up at Seteth. "Your Honor, I believe I have the right to a quick trial? End this madness and just send me to jail already!"

"You don't tell me what to do," Seteth pointed out, "but I believe that that is the only option. In the eyes of the court -"

"OBJECTION!"

The deep voice did not belong to Ryoma or Xander. In fact, Rowena didn't recognize it. She may or may not have squeaked a bit when she saw a man take a flying leap from the audience straight to the judge's bench. The man's brother followed at a walking pace.

"Was that really necessary?" Kaze asked, but Saizo didn't budge. He was eyeing the gavel as if he wanted to take it away.

"Your Honor," said Saizo, "I believe that this case and the murder are directly related."

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that I was there thirteen years ago." He tightened his fist. "The day my father died."

Rowena wasted no time calling Saizo to the stand.

"Thirteen years ago, my brother and I were kidnapped. I don't know the specifics, only that he wanted something from my father. He honored his word and released us in the Hoshidonix parking lot. That's when I bit him. It's the only good memory of the last day I saw my father."

"The unsolved murder," Rowena stated. Saizo nodded. "I'm sorry for what you went through, but I was hoping you had more."

"I gave you plenty," said Saizo. "When I bit him, he bled."

"Do you really think a 9-year-old would be able to -" Silas started, but Revan pushed his objecting hand down.

"They'd have to be ferocious about it," he conceded. "But he was kidnapped. And...it's Saizo."

Silas knew Saizo very well. "Withdrawn."

Rowena checked the bloodstain again. "Is there a way for forensics to find the DNA in the bloodstain?"

"Indeed there is." Seteth looked down at Kotaro. "Provided that there was a blood sample to compare it to."

He didn't say it like he was giving Kotaro a choice. Almost calmly, the defendant held out his hands.

"There's no need for that." He looked back at Rowena. "I confess. Everything happened pretty much how they described. I would've just walked away, but I saw that paper...and those damn crimson drops. The only thing that could tie me to the scene. I hid it in plain sight."

"You expect me to believe that the police just didn't notice it?" Kaze demanded. He was shaking with rage, but his voice remained calm.

"I wasn't arrested, was I? But that stain could have reopened the case."

"So why confess it now?" Rowena asked.

"I was caught, so it doesn't matter. I'll be silenced soon enough."

The word 'silenced' caught Revan's attention. "Then tell me now! Tell me everything you know about the Silent Dragons!"

"Dragons? Aren't you a bit too old for fairy tales?"

Revan made a frustrated noise. Kotaro looked back to Seteth.

"Now that it's all out in the open, I'd like my sentence."

Kotaro reached behind him. Kaze held up a knife.

"Looking for this, Kotaro?"

"Weren't you supposed to pat him down?" Seteth demanded of the bailiff.

"He never would have found it." Kaze dropped the knife, letting it clatter to the ground.

"Then how did you -"

"Have you seen Scott Pilgrim?"

"No, I have not."

"Shame." He didn't elaborate. "I think it's time he's sentenced."

"I hold the gavel, I make the rules!" Seteth looked around, to no further objections. "Now then. Kotaro will be escorted back to prison to await his real trial, with the added charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder. Court is, finally, adjourned."

People cheered. Rowena's jaw dropped.

"I won?" she asked herself, then looked up at Xander. "I won!"

"You won," he confirmed.

"You looked like a spastic out there," said Lucina, but she was smiling. "I knew you could be left alone."

"Thanks for having faith in me," Rowena said, "but I think I should pass the bar exam before I try any more cases. Or at least take the exam."

Everyone could agree to that.

Rowena came home in a good mood. That good mood vanished when she saw Garon and Jakob, sitting together with a shotgun on the table.

There was a three-way awkward silence. "What's going on?" she finally asked.

"It appears we have a situation," was Jakob's answer. "Your father overheard part of our conversation about leaving."

Oh. "We weren't planning to leave Emblemme," Rowena promised.

"Not that," Jakob insisted. "He seems to be under the impression that you're pregnant."

"I'm not -" Rowena stopped mid-sentence. She did some quick math in her head. "I'm...probably not pregnant," she corrected herself. "I'll check that out later. What's with the gun? It's not loaded, is it?"

"You might want to stand clear of the barrel," said Jakob, as Garon just grunted.

Carefully, Rowena moved to sit between her father and her husband. "What's with the gun, Garon?"

Garon grunted again. Jakob translated it. "I believe I told you the reason."

Rowena groaned. "Dear lord! A shotgun wedding? Are you serious?"

"Which led to me confessing that we were already married."

"And he still has the gun?"

"He's no longer holding it," said Jakob, "and I consider that a remarkable step forward."

It all made sense now. Rowena looked at Garon again. "And you're upset that you weren't at the wedding, aren't you?"

"Yeah," said Garon, the first actual thing he said since she returned home.

"You have to understand, our relationship is...complicated, at the moment."

"Yeah."

"And even if it wasn't, we probably would've eloped anyway. We didn't want a big splash."

"Yeah."

"And this probably gives you more incentive to want us to move out."

"Yeah."

"The fact is, this happened, and we can't change it. You're just going to have to accept it."

"Yeah."

Garon stood up and left for his study. Rowena and Jakob watched him go.

"So," said Rowena, "while he's gone, do you want to play 'unload the shotgun and bury it in the yard?'"

"Don't call it play if it's work," said Jakob, who was already unloading the gun.

By the time they finished the job, Garon had returned. As usual, he was less than sober.

"After drinking a little, it's come to my attention that this is a happy occasion," said Garon. He stepped forward, pulling them into an awkward group hug that reeked of alcohol. "Let me congratulate you two. Married with a baby on the way!"

"Not confirmed," Jakob said quickly.

Garon ignored it. "Let me take you out to the Dragon Noodle for some great egg rolls and a big steaming bowl of foreshadowing."

And then he plopped back in his chair and fell asleep.

"We can wait until tomorrow," said Rowena.

Jakob thought he could wait until the end of time. But instead, he looked to his wife in mild panic.

"So when you said you 'probably' aren't pregnant..."

Seteth checked with Raphael about the cards as soon as possible. Raphael confirmed that he'd found them with the assassin's suicide, but that he'd figured that they were a gravy-induced dream ("Like that time I saw Darth Vader visit the prison, but he wasn't on security footage.") once the cards had disappeared from the record.

So naturally, Seteth was not in any mood to deal with Joanna's bullshit.

Approaching the sanctuary from Shields, Nohr and Rhea, he found his home in one piece. Flayn was pouring tea into her future step-uncle's cup, Joanna was serving pastries, and the dog was drinking water from a cup on the floor.

"And now the mug has dog germs."

"Hey, Seteth," said Jonah, not looking up.

"How was court?" asked Petra.

That was the wrong thing to say. Seteth sat down in the vacant seat, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a slow sip as he tried to put it into words.

"It seems I owe you all an apology," he finally began. "After witnessing two Eisner family get-togethers, I considered taking Joanna and Flayn and moving to Nebraska. On purpose." He took another sip of tea. "But then I realized that no matter how crazy the four of you get when you're together -"

The dog, much like the turkey he was named after, lifted his head to bark in a startling display of intelligence.

"Five of you," Seteth corrected himself, as if listening to a dog was a daily occurrence. "No matter how crazy it would get, taking Joanna away from her family would do nothing. It seems that no matter what, my life of as little chaos as possible is over. Somebody would undoubtedly thrust me into unsolicited havoc."

The tea party went silent.

"Was it Rhea?" Flayn asked uncertainly.

"Of course it was Rhea."

There was more silence.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Flayn asked after a moment.

"Your friend Elise is a Nohr, correct?"

"Yes."

"Please stop seeing her."

"No."

Seteth didn't press the issue. He wouldn't deny Flayn the company of anyone who made her happy. Not even boys, like Cyril and Ignatz.

Joanna didn't resume her teasing, either. "More tea?" she asked, and the calmest Eisner family get-together ever continued.