Author's note: Cross posted on Ao3. I do not own Little Witch Academia.
"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name."
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Akko was trying to be a better witch, a better student. Really, Diana could see that she was. But her paying-attention-during-class and studying-for-an-adequate-amount-of-time skills still required a lot of refining and fine tuning.
As the end of the term drew nearer, and with final exams just around the corner, Diana had taken it upon herself to facilitate a proper study routine for the easily distracted witch. Because if anyone up for the task of boosting Akko's grades into something passable, it was the heir to the Cavendish family.
And it was helping, at least marginally. Akko's marks had increased, slowly but surely in the past month that Diana had taken her under her prodigious wing. But old habits die hard, and avoiding studying seemed to be second nature at this point.
"Akko," Diana chided, not even glancing up from her rapid scribbling. "I don't see you studying."
Sputtering, Akko glared back defensively. "Nani?! You're not even looking!"
Her writing stilled, and Diana spared Akko an accusatory look before returning her attention back to her neatly written notes.
"What is it you're having troubles with?" Diana finally offered after dotting the end of her sentence and looking up at Akko over her large tome.
Akko peeked up at the sound of her voice, having slumped despondently face down into the pages scattered across her side of the table. Diana was torn in between rolling her eyes and laughing at her companions melodramatic antics.
"These star charts are making my head spin." She said, voice muffled against her notes, before bolting upright with a mischievous grin and messy fringe. "In fact, they're making me see stars!"
This time, Diana actually did roll her eyes. Akko deflated with a whine.
"Aww, kuyashii! That was a good play on words!" Pouting, Akko sank back down onto the table, resting her chin on her crossed arms to glare up at her unappreciative classmate.
"Yes, your mastery of English idioms is quite impressive," Diana deadpanned, although it was much harder to suppress the quirk of her lips at Akko's second slip of mother tongue. "But that's not going to help you pass Astronomy, now is it?"
Groaning obnoxiously, Akkos buried her face back into her arms. Diana's expression softened at the display of frustration, cerulean eyes tracing Akko's defeated form. Her fingers twitched against the pages of her book, as if they wanted to reach out to provide a touch of comfort. But she reigned them in, curling them into a tight fist instead.
"It's already past curfew," Diana said after a moment, rearranging her face back into its normal, collected façade. "We should retire for the night."
A prolonged and undoubtedly dramatic sigh emanated from Akko and she began shuffling her papers messily into her bag. Shaking her head at her friends inability to remain organized if her life depended on it, Diana casted her various books to magically realign themselves back onto the shelves with a flourish of her wand. Once the table had been cleared and heavy bags had been heaved over their tired shoulders, the two witches made their way up to the dormitories.
The halls were otherwise silent as their footsteps echoed through them, candles lighting the way and casting shadows over the portraits of past headmistresses lining the walls. Akko had once confided that she felt like their eyes moved, as if they were always watching her as she passed underneath them. Under the eerie flickering candlelight, Diana couldn't agree more.
The blonde tore her gaze away from the creepy paintings to look sideways at her companion, wondering if Akko was also feeling unnerved walking through the dark corridors. Maybe, if she was uneasy too, they could hold hands... Just to stay brave, no ulterior motives whatsoever on Diana's part, of course.
The witch in question had been oddly silent since leaving the library, not that Diana really minded a small break from the usual mindless chatter, but the brunette seemed to be paying no mind to the wandering eyes of the headmistresses or anything around her at all. Instead Akko seemed quite lost in thought, one side of her rosy bottom lip tucked between her teeth. The sight caused Diana to swallow to in order to recall what she had been thinking about a moment previously.
Suddenly, Akko stopped dead in her tracks, effectively slamming Diana back into the present alongside her.
"Did you hear that?" Akko stage whispered. Diana frowned, unaccustomed to being the one not aware of her surroundings. She tilted her head, trying to pick up on whatever it was that Akko had just heard.
They had stopped at the bottom of the stairwell where the Professors wing split from the student dormitories, and as Diana strained her ears she could faintly hear the timbre of voices drawing closer from down the Professor's hallway.
Akko grabbed her arm roughly, and pulled her away and into a nook in the wall on where they would be obscured from view. Pressed up against one another in a cluster of limbs, Diana's ensuing protests were quieted beneath Akko's fingers.
"Shhh, " Akko hissed, her breath fanning against Diana's neck. "I can't be caught out past curfew... again."
Dianna resisted rolling her eyes, knowing fully well that whatever professor was out walking this late would let them off the hook. She was a Cavendish, after all. Even if hanging out with Akko and inadvertently getting pulled into her schemes was starting to tarnish her spotless reputation of always being well a behaved student.
But as the once unintelligible voices materialized at the top of the stairs, Diana obliged Akko's command and remained silent. Only because she was curious, not because she had become rendered mute under Akko's touch.
One voice unmistakably belonged to Professor Chariot.
"...know you're disappointed that it didn't work. But look at how far you've come with your research, you'll be able to use it to help so many more people!" Came her raspy voice, sounding kind and consoling as ever. Diana turned away from Akko to just barely poke her head around the corner of the nook and see who the other speaker was; Akko gripped her arms from behind to peer over her slightly taller shoulder.
They both gasped inaudibly when the two moving figures came into view on the staircase, and Diana and Akko shared a look of shock as they quickly retreated back against the wall.
Walking down the stairs with Professor Chariot was none other than Croix Meridies.
It had been nearly a year since Akko had used the Grand Triskellion in order to stop Croix's renegade Noir Rod missile from destroying the whole country and restore magic. While Akko, with the unstoppably kind heart that she possessed, was able to forgive Croix after the incident, Diana was for one glad that she would be under strict surveillance during her repentance research for the cure to the Wagandean curse.
"None of that matters if I can't even help you." Croix mumbled, her voice so small that the two hidden students could barely hear it echoing down the corridor. Diana and Akko slowly leaned back out into their previous position to catch another glimpse of the scene unfolding between the two older witches. Their previous professor looked defeated and weary; her grown out hair pulled into a haphazard top knot and a figure so willowy that a gust of wind would be able to knock her over.
Chariot reached out to grasp Croix's hands with her own, halting them both at the bottom of the stairs. Something unspoken seemed to pass through them, and their fingers seamlessly intertwined.
"Croix," She started, her tone so tender that Diana felt a wave of guilt for intruding on a moment that was definitely not meant for her or Akko to witness. "I know you will do absolutely everything in your power. But if you can't cure me, then it's –"
"No!" Croix's booming voice cut Chariot off, who flinched but didn't step back. The lavender haired witch had the decency to look remorseful before pulling her hands away to clutch at her scalp, looking wracked and slightly mad with guilt. "I promised to only come back with the cure and I failed. It's my fault that you were contaminated in the first place, and now I need to... I-I need to make up for everything thing that I've done to you."
Even from their hiding place, Diana could see the way her current and ex professors eyes had begun to swell with emotion, and it stirred something so powerful within her chest that she held her breath in attempt to slow the rapid pace of her heart. Could Akko feel it pumping violently where she was pressed up against her?
"The only thing you need to do, Croix, is to come and visit me more often." Chariot began after a silent moment of contemplation, reaching up to untangle Croix's anxious finger from her hair and hold them once again in her own. Croix stared down at the gentle smile, awestruck, with silver tear tracks glistening under the candlelight. "Je vous attendais pour revenir à moi..."
Having only a limited knowledge of French, Diana could just guess as to what Chariot had mumbled, but what happened next gave her an idea; it was as if a match had been struck and dropped into a pool of awaiting oil, the whole corridor erupting in blinding flames.
The two older witches, once best friends, once enemies, curled around each other like smoke, melting into a desperate and frenzied kiss.
Feeling even guiltier than before for spying on such an intimate moment, Diana reeled back into the nook, heart racing much faster than before. Akko, however, seemed unable to pull her gaze away; her mouth slightly gaping and a hand curled over her chest. Her crimson eye glittered under the candlelight, but Diana couldn't read the expression swimming in them. Perhaps it was as complex as what Diana was experiencing herself; guilt, curiosity, embarrassment, but mostly surprise.
As Diana continued to fixate on the smooth profile of her friend, once rival, with an orchestra of sighs accompanying the rustling of clothing in the background, it felt as if a door was slowly being opened in her chest. One that had maybe always been there, but was just revealing itself to her.
Maybe Akko felt it too, for she finally turned to look back at Diana, and the door threw itself wide open, releasing such a powerful surge of emotion that she barely managed to stay upright. It was too intense, and Diana had to close her eyes and steel herself against the wall as she felt Akko slide back beside her.
They stayed that way, pressed against each others sides, hearts pounding, in complete silence until well after they heard unintelligible whispers and the padding footsteps signaling Chariot and Croix's departure.
Even after the halls returned to their silence and the coast was clear of any wandering lovers, Diana and Akko still walked the short distance back to their dormitories without speaking. Diana wasn't sure what she'd say even if she could summon the words to roll off her tongue, the atmosphere surrounding them felt so charged that it might strike down any attempt.
Instead they exchanged an incredibly awkward wave that was really more a spasm of the hand, barely making eye contact, before Diana all but ran back to her own room. Luckily, Hannah and Barbara were fast asleep so they didn't have to witness the usually composed witch in such an embarrassingly frazzled state.
As Diana crawled into her bed, she tried to make sense of everything she just witnessed, trying to comprehend the feelings swirling around in her stomach. Why had seeing Chariot and Croix kiss affected her so? Sure, it was definitely surprising, but she was beginning to realize that it was more than that. She wasn't ignorant to women having romantic relationships, but she had never knowingly met any couples, let alone seen seen them kiss in person. And that kiss... she was sure it would be burned into her memory forever.
Seeing the way the two women had been so wrapped up in their own passion, so oblivious to the world outside of each other's embrace, it was like a page out of a romance novel. But alive and visceral, swirling behind her eyelids; the way Chariot's fingers had threaded through lavender locks, how Croix's hands had slid around Chariot's waist, drawing her so close as to banish every atom of space that kept them apart. Diana couldn't smother the sigh the memory drew out of her. It was tantalizingly beautiful, tender, awe inspiring and every other clichéd adjective she could think of all at once.
But yet another emotion simmered beneath the surface, which she could barely deduce as... jealousy? Unconsciously frowning, Diana attempted to grapple with this new sensation. If it wasn't because she craved Chariot or Croix's affection for her own, then what was she jealous of?
Akko's profile then flashed across her minds eye; how she had looked beneath the flickering candle light in the hall that night, messy chestnut hair backlit to look like strands of gold, a lovely flush rising in her supple cheeks. How she looked the first time she successfully rode a broom, eyes crinkled and a contagious gleeful smile breaking across her face like sunlight. How she had looked sitting across the table from her, eyes twinkling like the first stars at dusk when Diana had given away her most precious Shiny Chariot trading card. Her smile, her laugh, the scent of her hair when she pulled Diana into an affectionate hug... Oh.
With a quiet gasp, Diana shot up in her bed, eyes wide as the realization dawned on her. She was envious because she herself wanted to express her affections towards the one she cared about in the same way Chariot and Croix had in the hallway.
But with... Akko. Diana wanted to be wrapped in a passionate embrace with Akko while the rest of the world melted away around them. To feel their mouths lock and unlock in an ardent kiss, to hear the way she'd gasp at Diana's fingers threading through her long chestnut hair, to feel their hearts swell as one, to beat in time as a symphony of unspoken confessions...
The image played dangerously (over and over and over) in her mind as she settled back under the covers; the feeling it procured rooted in her chest uncomfortably, insatiable and persistent.
"Brilliant," Diana muttered woefully, rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes as if it'd scrub the fantasy away. "I'm in love with Akko."
Notes: Nani - expression for "huh" or "what"
Kuyashii - expression of defeat, like "aw c'mon"
Je vous attendais pour revenir à moi - "I've been waiting for you to come back to me"
Finally getting around to posting this here. I've recently been posting more on Ao3, so feel free to follow me on there under the same username if you'd like to see updates sooner!
Hope you enjoyed my my first crack at a LWA fic! I'm a firm believer that good ol' LGBTQA representation is the greatest aid in validating and understanding one's own sexuality and whatnot, so I hope this fic will come across as accurately portraying that journey.