'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
That is to say, no one of importance was in the town, as due to improving relations with the witches, most people had flocked to Luna Nova for the Luna Nova Academy Holidays Ball. The first big event Luna Nova had held for the general public in… forever. Nobody could remember a time when relations were so good.
"And that is why I want you all on your best behaviour. Please refrain from doing anything to jeopardize the newfound reputation of our Academy. Assignments will be handed out in your final course of the day. Class dismissed." Professor Finnelan ended as she dispelled the magical projector she had been using.
Everyone made to get up and out of the class. Just Magical Astronomy left to go, and they would all be free to get ready for the massive ball that was to take place later that day. The students chattered amongst themselves as excitement danced in the air. No one was more excited than Akko, as she skipped around Lotte and Sucy while chattering on about how pumped she was to be part of the party.
Specifically that she'd be actually a welcome guest for once.
"Miss Kagari, if you would please stay behind for a moment, there is a concern I wish to discuss with you." Professor Finnelan called out to Akko's retreating form.
At this point in her studies, Akko knew she shouldn't be too nervous, as her grades had dragged themselves out of the tank and firmly into respectability since her rededication into being the greatest witch in the world. Old habits died hard, however, and she wrung her hands as she walked back into the class.
"Do not fret, Miss Kagari. I wish merely to tell you in advance that you shall have no part to play in preparation of the upcoming festivities,"
Akko widened her eyes at this, but before she could interject to defend herself, Professor Finnelan finished her point.
"This is not to imply that you are incapable of carrying out any tasks we assign you, but instead to reward you for catalyzing this party from your unsealing of the Grand Triskelion. As a further reward, Miss Cavendish will also be freed of her duties for today so that the pair of you might spend more time together."
Akko's expression morphed from one ready to defend herself to one of joy immediately.
"Oh, Sensei, thank you thank you thank you!" She squealed. She jumped to hug her Professor, but looking at Finnelan's face before carrying out her action held her back. The woman's expression was not different from her usual scowl. Instead, Akko settled on an overly-energetic handshake (with both hands to Finnelan's one), then skipped out of the room, somehow in an even better mood than before.
After she left, Professor Finnelan sat down at her desk again, glad that Akko had taken the bait. The decision to keep her off any major preparation duties had of course been to protect the ball and the sanity of the faculty, but as Professor Callistis (the name she still wished to be called) had suggested, they had obfuscated their reasons in order to make Akko feel better about the situation.
Professor Finnelan had found this roundabout method to achieving the same goal unnecessary, but seeing her student's genuine joy instead of dismay, she decided that she could stand to use this tactic more often in the future.
"So what did the professor want to talk to you about? You look happy." Lotte asked once Akko had caught up. They hadn't been waiting for very long, so it must have been a short chat, but Akko was beaming.
"She said I wouldn't be part of any preparation for the ball!" Akko exclaimed, smile only growing wider.
Seeing the confused look on Sucy and Lotte's faces, Akko quickly clarified.
"But she also said Diana wouldn't have to do any work either! You know what this means?"
"The professors are getting Diana to babysit you?" Sucy asked.
"Date Night on Ball Night! Yay~!" Akko finished, bulldozing over what Sucy had drawled.
"I guess that's one way you can look at it." Lotte mumbled. "Anyways, I wonder what me and Sucy are going to get assigned to? Oh! In Nightfall Volume 23 when..."
As the girls talked, they had made their way to Professor Ursula's room. Walking in, Akko made sure to scan the room for Diana, skipping up to her to gush until the class started.
"Diana! Diana! Did you hear the news? I'm not doing anything to prep for the ball tonight, and neither are you!" Akko blurted, somehow managing to go from skipping full speed to stationary with both her hands holding Diana's in the blink of an eye.
"No I have not heard. I would have imagined the professors would require me to oversee the operation. Where did you find out about this, Akko?" Diana asked, confused. She didn't think think it was an overstatement to say that she was needed to keep events such as this organized. Akko also seemed considerably less down about this then she probably should have been.
"Professor Finnelan told me after last class! You know what this means?" Akko asked, leaning in Diana's personal space more with each word.
"The faculty would like me to ensure you stay out of trouble?" There was no other explanation to Diana. Suffice to say, she was still confused at Akko's joyous mood.
"C'mon! First Sucy, now you! No, this means we get to have Date Night on Ball Night!" Akko ejaculated, her eyes inches from Diana's.
A few months ago, Diana would have physically recoiled from the proximity. As it was now, she merely sighed as she finally understood the reason for Akko's cheer. She was surprised, though, that Professor Finnelan had presented the situation so positively. Usually she would have been direct about Akko being a danger to everybody else, and a menace to the structure of the preparations.
"I suppose that is one way to see the situation. Then, I'll see you for our date after this final lesson of the day. I look forward to it." Diana replied with a small smile. There was no reason for her to burst Akko's bubble.
"I'm so pumped Diana! It's going to be great!" Akko exclaimed as she gave Diana a parting peck before making her way back to her seat.
Diana's cheeks lit up instantly. They may have been dating for a few months now, but public displays of affection were still unexpected.
Unexpected, but not unwelcome.
Right as Akko made her way back to her desk, the bell rang to signify the start of the period, but there was no sign of their Professor.
The students didn't have to wait long though, as they witnessed a holographic-looking form of their teacher materialize in front of the class.
"Good afternoon, class. For the last lecture before the Holiday Ball, I figured none of you wanted to learn about any constellations, so instead, I decided to teach you all some magical applications of astronomy. This first one is a projection formed by magical stars. A constellation you can cast, if you will. Despite what I said, in this class no one will ever escape the wonders of learning about obscure ancient myths and lines that somehow form people." The voice of Professor Ursula's spell contained an ethereal quality that ghosted over the class, applying itself like a warm blanket to the hearts of the students.
"Now, constellation magic can only be cast as a projection of real stars, and their approximate positions. Think of them as modified versions of constellations that actually exist. With that in mind, can anyone name the constellation I have based my own form after?" Professor Ursula asked the class.
As usual, Diana's hand raised itself, firmly but smoothly. What was more unusual was that Akko also had her hand raised, in more of a 'her arm shot up so quickly it looked possessed' style. Given the opportunity, Professor Ursula chose her favourite student.
"Akko, please go ahead."
"Sensei, you used the Cassiopeia constellation!" Akko shouted at the projection. She was pumped to be able to show that she had been paying attention to Professor Ursula's lectures,
"Great work, Akko. Cassiopeia is correct."
"Yay~! Thanks, mom!" Akko yelled to the front of the class.
The apparition at the front of the room instantly shattered, as the real Professor astral projected herself to her spot behind the lectern. A blush lit up her face as she coughed in her hand to regain some composure while Akko had ducked her own head down into her desk with a squeak.
Professor Ursula coughed into her hand a few more times before turning up to look at the class, many of whom were doing their best to contain snickers.
"Moving on, class. What I just did was an astral projection of myself onto my apparition. Think of the created version of me as an anchor I dragged myself to through space. That is the visualization you all will need to cast the same spell. Now that you know the preparation to cast each spell, I will write out the incantations on the board.
For the creation of an astral copy, the format is subject, then constellation, followed by the latin 'solidatur' meaning 'solidify'. Of course, subject is what your wand points to, then constellation is what constellation is the most similar to what you are attempting to clone.
For the teleportation spell, the evocation is a simple 'Ad Astra', which means, 'to the stars'. Make sure your subject is your copy, however. We've had some interesting experiences with Ad Astra being taken too literally by users' wands, so it's usually a later-year spell.
Now, if you would please divide yourself into your teams to practice, I will call up one team at a time to receive their assignments. Have fun!"
As the class divided itself to start learning the two spells, the first team was called up.
"Green Team, if you would please come up to accept your roles in the Ball." Professor Ursula called over the rising din of the class.
As Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka made their way to the front, most of the class stopped to see what the first jobs would be. Amanda stepped up first, before realizing there was nothing to draw names out of like at the Samhain Festival. As she looked around the desk to see if she missed it, Professor Ursula took out a clipboard from one of the drawers and turned to face Amanda.
"Now then, Amanda. You're first, so you get first pick of your job. Would I be correct in saying that you want to do drinks?" Professor Ursula asked.
"That depends, teach. What do I get to do?" Amanda asked, trying to eye up the clipboard to see what else she could do. Finding some juice and water for a bunch of stuffy muggles seemed like it wouldn't be the most fun thing in the world.
"Well, you see, usually Luna Nova has a strict no-alcohol policy due to varied legal ages for drinking for the different origin countries of our students." Ursula trailed off.
"But we can't celebrate holidays without a bit of eggnog, can we? And if we have eggnog..." Professor Ursula finished, slyly.
"Ya got me, teach. I'll take the job. I got plenty enough Irish blood in me to whip some somethin's up." Amanda said, signing her name next to drinks.
"Next, Constanze, we require someone to clean the halls, especially the banquet hall that our party will be in. I believe your robots have this ability?"
Professor Ursula's query was answered with a big thumbs up.
To ease the burden on you, we'll have a special guest who can help. I do believe you know her. She'll be waiting at the main entrance at 3:30, so if you could bring your bots there at that time, that would be wonderful. Do you have any questions?" Shaking her head no, Constanze walked up and signed her name next to 'cleaning'.
"Finally out of the Green Team, Jasminka. Would you be so kind as to be in charge of food preparation?"
"Of course, Professor. Leave it to me." Jasminka walked forward to sign her name.
After the Green Team, the others were called to the front one by one to pick their jobs. For the Red Team, Akko went up anyways so as to not get awkwardly left behind, while Lotte got decorations and Sucy got 'drunkenness cures'.
"I'm pretty sure that wasn't actually supposed to be on the clipboard, Sucy. I saw her add it in after she suggested it to you." Akko said as they got back to their spots.
"That's fine with me. What matters is that I get to brew something. It's a shame I can't try the alcohol antidotes out on you first, though, Akko." Sucy replied.
When the Blue Team went up, Diana saw no need to follow her teammates up and instead stayed at her desk to continue to practice.
"Hannah and Barbara, if you two would be so kind as to be in charge of decorations, we would greatly appreciate your combined décor expertise." Chariot told them.
As her roommates were being assigned their role, Diana succeeded in conjuring a small mouse. Making a small note of her initial triumph, she proceeded on to create a common kitchen rat. She already had a spell in mind to work up to, and with only hours to spare, she needed to hurry.
The assignment of the rest of the class was as uneventful as for the first few members, everybody receiving an job they were at least relatively satisfied with.
In terms of the 'lecture' part of the lecture, by the end of the period, only Diana had progressed beyond creating astral mice, as most everybody struggled with stability of their first created forms.
Of course, Akko had found a novel way to mess up the spell, somehow making herself a ghostly donkey, but the novelty of her ability to defy expectations and the innate rules of magic alike had worn off sometime in the first year, and all that resulted from her making an ass of herself was Diana dispelling the ears, nose, and tail from across the room once she took notice.
Akko's cheer had refused to die in spite of the setback, and she'd jumped right back in to trying to get the spell right. Indeed, her good mood had carried through to the ringing of the bell that signified the end of their school day, causing Amanda to take notice. The Japanese witch was usually content, but for her to be this happy for this long provoked some curiosity.
"Yo Akko, I know you usually like being in your mom's class," Amanda started as snickers emerged from some members of the motley crew,
"But you ain't usually this hyper. Did Diana promise to do something frisky with you after the party tonight?"
Akko and Diana both felt their faces giving very good approximations of a stop sign, but Diana, being a little more controlled, jumped to defend herself and her girlfriend.
"I'll have you know, O'Neill, that I plan to do absolutely nothing 'frisky' to Akko. She is a pure and fair maiden who does not deserve to be defiled."
"Ever, Diana?" Akko asked, her chin wobbling and her bottom lip moving up combining to give her a look not too different from a kicked dog.
Although Diana had moved to defend Akko's chastity, why had the latter turned to her with such a downturned expression? What would be the correct course of action in this situation?
"Eh? uhm, ah-hum. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day, thou art more lovely and more temperate?" Diana's voice slowly petered out. Perhaps quoting sonnet 18 was not exactly the best course of action, but atleast Akko's frown had morphed into a pained grimace of confusion. Not a worse expression.
"Diana, as your friend and classmate, I just gotta let you know." Amanda broke the silence that followed the dramatic restating of the timeless classic,
"Y'all the gayest human being i have ever had the privilege of knowing. God bless." Now Diana realized that far from being 'not exactly the best' course of action, a spontaneous quoting of sonnet 18 had definitely been 'one of the worst' courses of action.
Also, she was most definitely not the gayest human being they knew, that prize had to be Akko's, whose joy was always unmatched.
Instead, if Amanda had insinuated that she was the most homosexual…
She perhaps would not have defended herself too much.
"I'll see the rest of you later at the ball. I say the rest of you cause I'm pretty sure the Dianakko pair's going to be in some hallway closet somewhere snogging or whatever y'all call it up in here if I go looking for them. Anyways, see ya nerds!"
As Diana stared after Amanda's back, she realized that the earlier insinuation had in fact been targeted at her homosexuality, not at her constant state of happiness.
D*rned h*ck and blast, she would make sure to get her revenge at a later date, no matter the accuracy of what had been said.
"The rest of us have jobs to do too, so we'll be leaving the two of you lovebirds be. Save some facemunching for when I'm free and have my camera later." Sucy said as she also took her leave, prompting most of the group of girls to do the same.
"Sucy! It's not like that!" "What we do is not facemunching!" Akko and Diana yelled out, in perfect harmony in terms of timing, but not exactly in terms of content.
With the merry band of friends mostly gone, Diana turned to the only other person left, Akko.
"Akko, darling, we must have a chat sometime about the people you choose to associate yourself with.
Whomever so rudely implies we would be performing lesbianly oral sparring in public during the organization phase of such a grand event can be no friend of mine."
"Diana, Sucy's just teasing us, and Amanda's not wrong, you know. You're the gayest person we all know. And you know I love you for it.
Also, maybe you should really just say public kissing to describe what we do instead of… all that." Akko said, taking Diana's hand in hers to start walking down the hall.
"Just because Amanda is correct, doesn't mean she is right." Diana huffed.
"And I love you too." Diana finished, with a peck on Akko's cheek. (after making sure there was no one around to witness the act, of course)
"Tell me, Akko, do you prefer this colour, or this one?"
With the free time they'd been given, the pair of Diana and Akko had decided to choose their outfits before doing anything else, at Akko's suggestion. Her reasoning of it giving them more time on their date later was sound to Diana, but Akko'd had ulterior motives.
Picking outfits now allowed Diana to try on more of them without time constraints, meaning Akko got to see her girlfriend in more cute dresses than she would have otherwise.
"Mmm, I don't know, Diana. Maybe you could model each one to help me decide?" Akko imagined that Diana would look cute in either, of course, but why imagine when she could see the real thing?
Diana could guess Akko's train of thought, and merely cocked an eyebrow at her girlfriend.
"Try the pink and frilly one first!" Akko said, pointing at the one in Diana's left hand.
"Now that you mention it, this one really is frilly. I doubt it would suit me." Diana did not know how she hadn't seen before, but this would look quite… excessive on her.
"I do not think this dress quite suits my style. Perhaps you would care to try it, instead?"
"Eh? But I thought we were looking at dresses for you, first!" Akko hadn't expected to be put on the spot already. Had Diana seen through her and spoiled her fun on purpose?
"As much as I am certain you enjoy watching me model, you also require something to wear. Besides…
You look cute in clothes such as this." Diana said, the last part with a mumble.
"Awww, Diana! Well, if you want me try this out because it's cute, how can I say no?" Akko singsonged.
A flourish of magic from Akko's wand, and the dress had been altered to fit.
"Alright, now let me go and change." Akko said.
But a flourish of magic from her girlfriend's wand, and Akko was wearing the whole ensemble already.
"C'mon, Diana! Putting it on is half the fun!" Akko groaned.
"I did not feel like waiting." Diana replied simply.
At that. Akko flapped her mouth a few times.
"You are the gayest person I've ever met." She finally said.
Diana had schooled her expression until this point, but she could not fight the blush on her cheeks now.
"Don't worry, Diana. I love you for it. Now then, how do I look?"
Akko gave a little twirl, and all the frills and laces on her dress fanned out. The move gave Diana an impression of a windchime, which would not normally be associated with beauty for her, but it fit her partner perfectly. Diana gave a little thanks that her cheeks were already flushed, because a few degrees more of redness would not matter. Her embarrassment would be contained.
"I'm love you." Diana let out.
Akko crumpled to the floor as he tried valiantly to hold back a tidal wave of giggles.
"Hey Diana, it's not that bad! No one else heard it!" Akko laughed (again) as the pair strolled down the hall.
"Please. No more mention. If word got out, I would not require the faculty to expel me before I forcibly removed myself from the Academy." Diana's face had escaped her hands some minutes ago, but her cheeks were still flame-red.
"By the way, the dresses we have on now are quite similar to the ones we wore to the Hanbridges' party last year, are they not?" Diana said, desperately attempting to change the subject.
"Hmm, now that you mention it, yeah, they're pretty close. Of course, mine doesn't look like a droopy rag anymore now that I've… filled out." Akko was perfectly willing to drop Diana's display of gay in the Blue Team's room, especially if it gave her an opportunity to waggle some eyebrows at her girlfriend.
"Akko, as much as I love you, my love for you is hardly influenced by your physique. As long as you remain satisfied with your health and are soft enough to cuddle, I am content." Diana said.
"Diana, you're so sappy. And gay." Akko said, looking around the hallway for anyone else before planting a light kiss on her girlfriend's cheek.
"Thanks for being you." She finished.
"I appreciate you as you are, as well, Akko."
"Yo lovebirds, I'm about to hurl. Save that romcom stuff for the bedroom later!" Amanda shouted as she passed them by.
Although the hallway had been empty just a moment ago, Diana and Akko realized they could now see the entrance to the banquet hall, with Wangari posted outside welcoming guests in. Their proximity to the main event had also dramatically increased the amount of people around.
"Shall we then, Akko?" Diana said, changing their linked arms from a hand-in-hand hold to a 'm'lady' grip.
"Muh-lady." Akko replied, drawing out the final vowel as she pretended to swoon.
Diana could not stop shaking her head until they had entered the banquet hall.
Especially when Wangari had laughed in her face as they passed by.
But upon entering the banquet hall, any thoughts of Diana's to drag out the display of her discontent went with the wind.
Banners announcing the event were strung from the rafters, in all their red and green glory. Lights, also in Christmas colours, were curled around every surface, providing the light that the banners had taken from the room in shadows. Confetti seemed to have been suspended midair by some feat of magic, or perhaps labouriously strung up by many helping hands, reflecting and directing rainbows in every direction. The hall would not have looked out of place in a fantasy holiday movie.
"Kirei…" Akko breathed.
"I must commend Hannah and Barbara after the event." Diana added, in more control of her words but no less in awe.
The girls took a few steps in, basking in the multicoloured glow, before Akko saw something that did not quite belong.
"Professor Croix! Is that really you?" She shouted, at the person with lilac hair talking to Professor Ursula.
"Oh hey, kiddo. Fancy seeing you here." Croix replied. Absent her cape and in a tux, she looked nothing like the supervillian she had been one year prior, and a lot more like a haute couture model.
"Fancy seeing me here? But this is my school! How's travelling? You gotta tell me all about it!" Akko said, stars in her eyes as she imagined the kinds of things Croix had done recently.
After having found the cure for the Wagandea Sickness, Croix had roamed around the continent for magical research, dropping in every so often to update her favourite student on her exploits.
"Now, Akko, I am sure Professor Croix has come here to make merry and relax, not be pestered." Diana cut in, pulling Akko back a bit to give Croix space to breathe.
"I don't mind, Diana. I'm sure being around Akko is a great way to have a... good time." Croix said, wagging her eyebrows at Diana.
"If you would please excuse us, girls, I must take your former Professor Croix aside to teach her not to misguide the youth. Merry Christmas to you both." Chariot said, smiling serenely while dragging Croix away.
"But Chérie, how will they learn about the birds and the bees without me to impart my expertise? Chérie!" Croix yelled, her voice becoming fainter until it was lost in the general murmur of the party.
Neither Diana nor Akko wanted to know what fate befell their intrepid teacher.
Suddenly, the ambient music stopped as someone tapped on the mic to get the partygoers' attentions.
"Hello, 'ello, this thing on?" Amanda slurred over the P.A. system.
"Yo, aight, I ain't sayin' this parteh's lame or nuttin', but we gotta go hard. We gotta turn up! Where's the dancin'? The bumpin' and grindin'? Where's the extremely memely public displays of affection?"
Diana felt a small shiver down her spine at that one, as if she were the one being addressed.
Akko also felt a tingling at the base of her neck, but she knew her being addressed wasn't a hypothetical.
"Anyways, this next number was chosen by yours truly, enjoy, ya fuchelcucks!"
As the mic turned itself off, everybody who knew Amanda braced themselves for what was to come, prepared for some ungodly,ear-shattering Britney Spears classic or something similar.
Their efforts were in vain, however, as authentic Norwegian Death Metal started blasting over the speaker.
All in attendance made to cover their eardrums, but the music played for only three seconds before the speakers blew up.
The sound system having been cranked to ten at that very moment, the power drawn from the Sorcerer's Stone became too much for the poor circuits, which had fried themselves. And as anyone who knows circuits knows, once one part of a circuit shorts, without a breaker,
The whole thing goes up in flames.
Thusly, shortly after green fire erupted from the announcing system, the lights followed suit and spontaneously combusted, creating the merriest of tinkling melodies as each bulb in each line cracked in turn.
At the end of the failure of the lights, just seconds after Amanda had decided cranking Norwegian Death Metal was a Swell Idea, the whole room was plunged into darkness, people panicking, screaming, and pushing over each other to try to find a way out.
"Diana, this is bad. We have to do something." Akko shouted, clutching her girlfriend with all her strength to make sure they wouldn't be separated.
"I very much would have liked to save this for later, but I suppose it is needed now." Diana murmured, barely catching Akko's ear.
"Akko, you remember how to use the Shiny Rod, yes?"
"Of course, but it went back to the stars last year, so how do we use it here?" As Akko said 'here', she pointed to the chaos developing in the banquet hall, dimly seen in the moonlight.
Diana plucked a hairpin out of her girlfriend's hair, making a part of it fall.
"Sorry for that, but trust me.
Ursa Minor Solidatur!"
Unlike most everyone else, Diana had brought her wand with her in the folds of her dress, and she used it now to cast the spell she had been saving to impress Akko with.
"Woah! That's… That's the Shiny Rod! Diana!"
"We have no time to marvel, Akko! Say the words!"
"Phasansheer Shearylla!" At Akko's spellcast, the Rod flew to the roof of the hall and expanded, turning itself into a sky full of small green lights.
Everybody who had been jockeying for position stopped to cast their gazes upwards in wonder at the display. Taking advantage of the momentary calm, Professor Ursula used her wand to cast a megaphone spell.
"Everybody, that concludes our indoor display of magic for the Luna Nova Academy Holidays Ball of 2017! We hope you've enjoyed. If you would please make your way in an orderly fashion to the large grass field outside, our final show is starting soon!" She yelled.
At Ursula's prompting, everybody settled down to make their way out. No shards of glass had rained down, so they assumed it had been an extended show after all.
Constanze and Professor Croix shared a high five as they left the hall, their cleaning robots chirping happily behind.
"And now, welcome to the outdoor portion of the show! We call this 'A Believing Heart is Your Magic!'" Chariot broadcasted across the crowd.
"With the help of my partner, Croix Meridies, you will gaze into a world the likes of which you have never seen before! Do not be alarmed at what you are about to see."
The professor duo launched into a modernized version of their decade-and-half old Shiny Chariot Show, complete with centaurs, birds, raging robot monsters,
and stars.
Constellation upon constellation burst forth from their wands, dancing across the night sky, each given a short spotlight before exploding and reforming into the next set of lights.
As the show wound down, Diana and Akko, who had stayed behind to make sure every last person was out, leaned into each other just outside the doors of the school.
"I can't believe you were learning how to make the Shiny Rod, just for me." Akko said, both hands in her partner's.
"Knowing the potential of the spell, I could not refuse the challenge. Despite the circumstances, did you find it satisfactory?"
"Diana, you big nerd, what do you think? That you were going to put in that much effort over one day just for a single use like that… Thank you."
They leaned deep into each other's embrace, then their lips closed the distance, just as a final round of fireworks added more stars to the night sky.
Chariot and Croix, from their position on the stage, saw the pair kiss, and had their own embrace after taking a final bow.
Chariot wiped a tear from her eye.
"Our daughters, they grow up so fast." She softly whispered into Croix's hair.
"Ma chérie, you make us sound old. We're not even 30!" Croix pouted. Chariot only responded by giggling into the hug.
The curtain drew its way across the stage, and the professors broke the hug but took each other's hand as they made their way off.
A comfortable silence developed between them as they walked, but Chariot's expression turned catlike on their way to rendezvous with the heroines of the day.
"Say, Croix, I never asked you about it before, but your hair's a slightly different colour than it was back when we were students." Chariot murmured slyly.
"Hm?" Croix sincerely hoped Chariot wasn't insinuating what she thought she was, because...
"Is it possibly because you dye your white hairs out, Miss We're-Not-Even-Thirty?" She finished with a grin.
"Chariot!"
And that's all, folks! Thanks to the people over at lwasanta on Tumblr for organizing this whole shindig. I tried to make my writing here as... adventurous as possible (let's see how many memes go here!) and I had a lot of fun writing.