Epilogue

"Prosecutor Gavin."

Klavier turns to face the unexpected voice, smiling to see Apollo Justice, Clay Terran, and Trucy Wright standing in a tight knot at the edge of the rope that separates the gallery crowd from the lawyers, prosecutors, and defendants prior to the trial.

Apollo grins at him. "Go for the throat, Gavin."

Klavier can't help but return his smile. "Herr Forehead, I fear that you have suffered some kind of head injury and are rooting for the wrong side."

"No." Trucy rolls her eyes, practically bouncing in place, her hands tight aroud the red rope. "We're rooting for the side we think is right."

"Also the side that has better hair."

Apollo elbows Clay roughly in the side.

"Hey, he does!" Clay takes a half-step back, pressing up against others in the crowd. "I'm not part of the justice system. I'm allowed to be shallow about my side if I want to."

"Well, hopefully you will find that I have both better hair and the evidence on my side." Klavier strokes a hand along his braid, trying not to look like he is preening.

It has not been an easy three months, for him or, he suspects, for those who have been supporting him. Not that you could tell it from the way that Trucy and Apollo and Clay act, from the way Edgeworth and Ema treat him.

They trust him.

It had been a slow realization, one that took almost a month of work with one of the therapists that Edgeworth recommended he look into. They trust him to tell them what he is capable of, to do what he says he can do, and he must return that trust with honesty.

Which is why he has not stood in court for almost two months.

Two months during which he slowly put the pieces of his life back together. Two months of trying different tactics and medications to make sure he can sleep at night. Two months where he found if he doesn't force himself to try to write music or practice, if he just acts when the urge takes him, he is able to do it. Not as easily as he did before music became so tangled up in betrayal and pain, but since when did dark themes keep music from being good?

Not that they are all dark themes.

"We'll be rooting for you, Klavier." Trucy reaches across the barrier, and Klavier steps closer, takes her hand and presses a chaste kiss to the back of it.

"I am honored to have you in my corner, Fraulein."

"I think we should go out to celebrate tonight." Apollo is still smiling, his hands now clasped on the red dividing line. "Win or lose or draw, it's good to see you back in court, and it's definitely worth a bit of celebrating."

Clay elbows Apollo this time. "Especially if it's on Prosecutor Gavin's tab, eh?"

Holding out his hand, Klavier smiles his easy, winning grin. "A handshake to seal the deal, then?"

"Sure. Though I don't mean you need to pay, I can cover it, we're—"

Klavier takes Apollo's hand firmly, pulls it to his lips, and kisses it just as he had Trucy's. "That is payment enough for anything the two of you could eat. Mr. Terran will have to either pay for himself or give me his hand."

One of the bailiffs clear her throat behind him, clearly asking him to move along, and Klavier leaves a laughing Clay and Trucy with a stammering, red-faced Apollo as he heads for his place in court.

It will not be quite as much fun as facing off against Apollo Justice, but he is actually looking forward to this trial, and that, in itself, is enough reason to smile and celebrate.