This fic is inspired by the stunning short film In a Heartbeat, you guys should definitely watch it if you haven't already. Also I'm quite excited to hear your thoughts on this because this is the first Hannah and Barbara shipping fic I've written. Anyways I hope you enjoy this! :)
"Diana," Hannah said, cheeks red and her body heaving with hasty breaths of air. Her hand's grip on the bookshelf side that separates her teammate from them in their dorm room as her desperate hazel eyes meet blue.
"Hannah," Diana reply, pushing out of her chair as the legs scrape the flooring. She drops the book she was learning from and rushes to Hannah's side, concern written all over her face as she guides Hannah to the small couch in the centre of the room. "Hannah, what's wrong?" She asks, one hand on her shoulder as the other waves her wand, soundless magic causes the tip to flicker with light as a jug and cup of water floats to the coffee table.
"Barbara," Hannah admits after taking one long gulp of the water, placing it back on the coffee table for the floating jug to refill it.
"Barbara!" Diana repeats, her concern face shifts to intense worry as she automatically rises to her feet, the grip on her wand tightening. She would've left already were it not for Hannah holding onto the fabrics of her skirt, her head shaking, a motion to tell her that she got it all wrong.
"Barbara is not what's wrong Diana, Barbara is the cause of what's wrong," Hannah clarifies as she takes another sip of water.
Diana looks at her, a hint of confusion on her face as she sits back down. "I don't understand what you're talking about Hannah."
Hannah takes one more sip of water before turning to her with an exasperating sigh, "I don't understand what's going as well in all honesty." Hannah leans back on the couch, her eyes casting to Barbara's bed before she looks up to the ceiling. "I don't know why but when we held hands the other day when we were practising dual casting like we always do my heart was beating so fast. I want to say that's the adrenaline because this was a new spell but when she held it today it happened again and it went even faster than before! I thought it was going to explode!"
Hannah sat up this time, her head dipping forward, hazel eyes searching for the answers on her hands as they close and open gently. "This isn't the only occurrence as well, when she smiled at me when I showed her that my first batch of cookies after baking with Jasminka and told me that they were really tasty, my heart was tingling like something was there with it and my cheeks were so hot, I thought they were on fire!" Hannah glances at the balcony, her eyes lost in a memory of black hair being blown gently by the wind, the moon illuminating her face and the excited gleam in teal eyes. A soft smile grew on Hannah's face, a pink blush spreading across her face.
"Then," she breathes, voice airy and light, "When she was reading her nightfall last night on the balcony I don't know why but my heart wasn't working properly. It was skipping beats and- and there was no blood going to my legs because my knees were feeling so weak. I knew maybe everything will be better if I looked away but I couldn't stop staring..." Her face falters when the memory fades, her eyes switching from happiness to worry as she looks to Diana. "Diana… is anything wrong with me?"
Diana looks at her, her mind in deep thought. The obvious thing was coming to her mind however, she knows Hannah would not believe her if she can't see the obvious signs already, not to mention she would be in a lot of denial with her true emotions if someone told her. She knows she was when Amanda told her the blunt truth around her confused feelings with another local witch. An idea comes to her and she stands up before heading over to the bookshelf to try and find the right spell one of her ancestors made.
"I believe I might have a spell to help you figure out what is happening, however, the solution is up to you," Diana explains as her fingers trace the spines of her old leather books, old family names leave her lips until she pauses with a grin, finally finding what she was looking for. Her hand takes a book out, a book that was covered in dust and made Diana cough lightly as she brings it to the coffee table. Hannah stays silent as she eyes the book in wonder whilst Diana flips through the pages before she points her wand at a spell spoken in the lunar alphabet. "This is the spell that will help you, Hannah."
"Really?" Hannah grins, her head moving closer to the page as she blows on it to clear up a bit more dust that settled there. Her brows furrow at the unfamiliar language and she looks up to Diana for help. "What does it do Diana?"
Diana leans forward to read the text clearer, the incantation a small murmur on her tongue as she repeats the words again and again. "This spell will allow us to speak to your heart, your inner heart, the one that holds the emotions, the one that is responsible for what you're feeling." She explains before glancing at Hannah, a reassuring smile on her face, "This spell is quite simple and I assure you the extraction won't hurt at all, that is, of course, you want to try this out."
"Yes," Hannah nods, her eyes fixating on the half faded illustration, the drawing of a curled boy holding a curved object in his hands, Hannah couldn't figure out what the object was, the full image was lost to time. Her eyes meet Diana with a golden passion as her head nods feverishly, "I want to try this."
It takes no less than ten minutes for Diana to learn the words off by heart and know them well enough that there would be a minimal backlash to the spell casting. "Are you ready?" Diana asks wand held firmly as she looked at Hannah. They moved to a bigger clearing in their room, pushing the couch into the coffee table so that they have space to stand.
Hannah nods her head, both hands covering her heart, finding solace on the rhythm it makes against her chest. Her eyes closed as soft red lights surround her and a calming warmth envelope her body. Small flutters tickle her chest as it beats more frequently. A soft weight pushes through her skin, the pain is none existent as a velvet texture brushes against the palm of her hands.
When she opens her hazel eyes and looks down at her hands as the red light dissipates, she catches the eyes of another pair of hazel eyes. Her jaw drops as she stares at the object she holds in her hands. A red heart, cartoonish in colour and shape with hazel eyes and a yellow bow worn on the right side. She knew whose heart she held instantly, she was holding her own. "Hey, Diana," Hannah laughs nervously, her eyes reflecting how close she was to fainting when they reach Diana, the fact that she was holding her own heart hitting her like a brick and was quickly overwhelming her. "Wh-What what do I do now?"
"First of all calm your emotions and normalise the situation," Diana orders when she walks to her and leads her to her bed. "I'm aware how surreal this is but you need to clear your mind so that you can fully hear what your heart is telling you or else heart will be muddled with mind and you might be even more confused." Diana's hand clasp her shoulder, motioning Hannah to look at her as she mimics breathing techniques. "Try and control your breathing Hannah."
Hannah nods at her, her hasty breath slowing down as she stares at her heart in her hands as it smiles at her, giggling when Hannah tries not to freak out again but from excitement instead of panic. "Hi," she laughs, voice a bit breathless, even more, when her heart waves back with a black cartoonish stick shape hand and arm. "Oh Jennifer, Diana's it's talking back!" Hannah squeals in excitement.
"I can see that," Diana muses, laughter evident in her smile. She moves back to give them a bit of space and privacy, it was a heart to heart talk after all. "Now that you're both comfortable with each other you can ask your heart why it's acting like that towards Barbara."
"Right," Hannah grins, a small nod her way to show Diana her thanks before she looks back at her heart. "So uh, what's up with the whole Barbara thing lately?"
The heart, her heart swoons, hazel eyes gushing with a sudden twinkle in their eyes as it floats up in the air, their hands together and resting on its cheeks as it twirls several times before it lands back in Hannah's hands.
"I'm really sorry, but I don't understand what you mean," Hannah admits sheepishly, bringing her heart closer to her face to see if she can understand it a bit better, a tinge of guilt hits her stomach when her heart looks at her slightly aghast that she can't see what it sees. "Do you have other ways of showing me?" Her heart smiles giving her a quick nod before it flies up to her level the top of her eyes where it closes its eyes and leans it's against Hannah's head.
Before Hannah had any clue on what was going on, her mind exploded with memories and images of the same person, the same person she sees every day, the same person that caused this entire thing to happen in the first place, Barbara Parker. No memory changes, not in content, perspective or lighting, there was no special effects like it was a love bee's sting. Everything was the same, yet, everything was so different.
She wants to say that it came to her within seconds notice when she saw the first wave of treasured memories but she knows that a second can last an eternity and she spent a second's eternity in awe and wonder after this realisation, this revelation hit her. She, Hannah England was falling and falling hard, for her best and closest friend Barbara Parker. It came to her quicker than a second did like the sting of a love bee but this sort of love was genuine and real.
It was too real in fact, for her to handle. In the middle of everything, memories circling in this love fest tornado Hannah was scrambling to find something else, something to say that she wasn't so deep into her subconscious affections but the way her body reacted to her friend's smile, laughter and the way she looks at Hannah proves her otherwise. The storm of butterflies inside her that moves in time with the exhilarating sparks streaking across her bones like they were copper wires prove her otherwise.
When she finally snaps out of this revolutionary reverie, her face is burning again, her cartoonish heart is spinning around her, making adorable noises that they see eye to eye, that both mind and heart think somewhat alike and the heat reached tips of her ears when she remembers why she's blushing so much. She liked Barbara and not just in a friend way, not in crush way either. No, she just had to have this feeling be dormant and then suddenly explode on her like a volcano, her mind racing to catch up with her heart where she realises she likes her, a lot. She would say love if she wasn't so scared of this sudden concept, especially when her mind is attacked with questions she doesn't know the answers to. How long has she liked her? Does anyone know before she did? Does she know?
"Well, did you find what you were looking for?" Diana asked, scaring Hannah so much that she falls back on her bed. Diana pauses at the foot of the bed before taking a step back when she sees the terrified face her friend holds. "Hannah," she says slowly, her voice soft to show she does no harm. "Are you okay?"
She wants to yes, she wants to say that she's perfectly fine with liking her best friend, she wants to lie her that everything is fine and that she just startled her. She also wants to tell her the truth, that she's kinda terrified of liking Barbara, that she has no clue what to do now, that whilst she loves-no likes Barbara she is scared of her, of what could happen next, of changing their long formed friendship because of a bunch of sudden feelings she feels for her.
"Do you-" Hannah starts suddenly before she catches herself. She looks to her hands, ignoring her heart still fluttering near her, concerned on what's happening, and she swallows hard. "How long have you-" she tries again before she stops herself when she sees herself reflected in Diana's clear blue eyes. She tries a third time, then a fourth, then a fifth but nothing leaves her mouth. Her mouth opens and closes like a gaping fish and her voice is stuck, wedged in her throat as she no longer finds the strength to even look at Diana.
"You want to know how long I knew you liked Barbara?"
"So you did know before me," Hannah whispers, trying not to feel faint as more worries, more questions jumble around her mind, she tries to stay strong, to not cry as she looks up at Diana but she can tell from the shift of expressions going from bad to worst on Diana's face that she is nothing a good job with that. Without giving Diana a chance to speak, Hannah's voice finds the courage to speak her mind. Literally, as questions fire at Diana left, right and centre.
"How long did you know? Does anyone know? Was I that oblivious? Were my actions so obvious? Does Barbara know? Is this is even the right thing? Am I feeling the right thing?"
"Hannah!" Diana shouts, a vocal slap across Hannah's face as Diana sits right in front of her, holding her hands to give reassuring squeezes. "I only became aware of your feelings for a few months, you coming to me for help only solidified what I assumed however I am only aware because we've known each for years and I can sense after sharing a dorm with you two for a period of time that you two have this special connection that I don't share with any of you, understand?" She explains in a slow manner so that Hannah can let this information sink and use it to calm down. Hannah nods in response, her breath starting to calm down as well.
"I, however, cannot speak for everyone else about your romantic ways of affection but I can speak for everyone when I say we know that you two appeared to be the best-est of friends as a first impression. As for Barbara's feelings herself, I cannot answer that at all." Hannah nods once more, her emotions more or less at a standstill.
Diana takes this a cue to continue however she squeezes Hannah's hands tighter, her face leaning a bit closer as she looks deep into her hazel eyes. "Hannah, what I say next is the absolute truth and don't listen to anyone's differing opinion." She looks up at Hannah's heart who smiles, getting her plan and rests on their intertwined hands.
"This," she starts, motioning at the heart beating between them. "This is the right thing because this will never be the wrong thing. Liking someone the same sex to you is never the wrong thing. If that's how you feel then that's how you feel, there is nothing wrong with that." She smiles this time, a tinge of a blush bloom on her face as she resists the urge to look away but she knows sharing this information will help Hannah feel welcome in this new discovery. "I too actually like someone in that way in Luna Nova," she admits.
"Really?" Hannah asked astounded because as far as she knew, no girl in Luna Nova tried to catch her attention or asked her out. In the same way, no girl stands out that Diana could possibly like. She smiles when Diana nods, blushing in admitting it. A sense of belonging flows through her as she sighs in relief. She was not alone in liking girls as a girl. The thought alone made her heart soar in happiness, in fact, it did. Laughter left her lips when her heart flew under and over their hands, chortling in cute laughter as well. "So who is the special girl then?" Diana looked at her, her cheeks growing darker as she mumbles the name of the lucky gal.
Hannah didn't believe her.
"Oh Jennifer," she exclaims, her hands leaving Diana's as she falls back on her pillow, one hand massaging her temple as she tries to see how this was ever possible. Diana with- how? "Are you serious?" She asks, her head looking up to see Diana look at her with a solid firm nod before her head falls back on the pillow, both hands comforting her mind as it tries to comprehend what, how or why this happened. Every time she pictures them interacting it ends with a huffy fit or an argument, even when she sees them individually she can't see how Diana fell for such a person. This news was a more shocking revelation than her realising her feelings for Barbara and that's saying something.
"Since when did you fall for Akko of all people?" She asks bluntly, fully sitting up so that she can understand the whole details of this attraction. "I don't mean that as a bad thing by the way," she adds quickly just realising she kinda insulted Diana's crush. "It's just that you and her-"
"It's okay I understand," she smiles, a tad bittersweet as she looks away to the ground, the blush still on her cheeks but fainter. "I am very aware that not many people would see Akko as a suitable partner, the differences in class and attitudes to life in general and how we interacted before..." she ends it there with a sigh and a deep sense of guilt shot through Hannah's heart as she remembers how she treated the girl before.
"What made you fall for her, if you don't mind me knowing?" Hannah asks with caution as she moved closer to Diana, holding her hand to show her support. She hopes she didn't come off as insulting, she's actually very curious about this because as far as she known Diana, no one made her be like this at all.
The thought made Diana's smile that was gone before return and a sense of joy swept through Hannah knowing she made her feel a bit better. "Akko," Diana begins, her smile growing even more with the mention of her name. "Has this sort of, I don't know how to explain it but you just can't ignore her. Even when she isn't doing anything wild and is paying attention you are just aware that she's in the same room as you. Akko lacks any way of being subtle but she makes up for it with her expressions like when she smiles at you and only at you..." She pauses there, red flushing her cheeks, a stray curl falls against her cheeks. Diana dips her head before she pushes it back behind her ear. "It feels like the world stopped moving."
Hannah chuckles, nudging Diana with her elbow so that she looks at her. "I'm happy you found someone like her in your life, Diana," she smiles, noticing the small glimmer in Diana's eyes at her support. "Now fully thinking about it, you too kinda look cute together."
"I'm sorry?" Diana asks the colour darkening on her face which causes Hannah to laugh even more.
"I'm being serious," Hannah laughs, covering her mouth as she looks at Diana's deep crimson face, her mouth stuttering in tsundere denial. "A girl from a high-class society falls for this simple country witch. It's kinda cute and besides," she removes her hand from her mouth and flashes her a supportive smile. "I think she'll be good for you, I hope things go well for you two."
"Well," Diana says before clearing her throat, trying to regain her composure from before but the failing attempt only makes Hannah giggle. "I'm glad to know that I have your support in liking Akko and I hope you and Barbara work out well too," she paused there to look at her, eyeing with caution as Hannah looks away at the mention of her crush's name. "That is if you wish you continue and develop your feelings for her." Hannah remains silent, the heart that was ignored by both of them, floating near Hannah and patting her shoulder. "You are aware it's perfectly fine and normal to like girls and it's even fine to like your best friend right?"
"Yeah I know," Hannah gives her a small but wry smile as she sits up a bit straighter, turning to face her friend and teammate. "I know it's okay to like Barbara and maybe I might do something to bring us closer in the future but right now I'm just kinda lost on what to do next."
"I know the feeling," Diana chuckles as she looks out to the window and the balcony. "I understand that our scenarios though similar are still different, so I can say is follow your heart's desire."
Hannah looks at her before she turns her attention to a photo frame on her bedside table, a nostalgic smile coming on her face as she holds the frame gently between her hand. It's a photo of Hannah and Barbara in their first week of Luna Nova, their hands holding close as they are deep in a tight embrace, smiling and laughing out of excitement. She can still even hear the lingers of their laughter from so many months ago. "Follow my heart's desire huh?" she murmured to herself, eyes lost in nostalgic reverie, mind consumed with the thought of her teammate.
A little giggle, a childish giggle snapped her out of it, her eyes opening wide in a slow motion as her eyes catch something she didn't see before. A little heart, her heart with a yellow bow snuggles up against Barbara in the photo. She completely forgot that the heart was still there floating around her. "Uh, Diana?" Hannah asked with a nervous jitter in her voice, her heart not caring at all that her person was starting to panic. "Why...is it still floating?" She turns to her, a nervous expression on her face. "I thought it left."
"I thought so as well," Diana said slowly before she went back to the spell book, flipping through pages in a hurried motion. Upon finding the page, she buries her nose deep into the words, her head rising with a gasp. "Oh dear…" she laughs in a scared manner.
"Oh dear? I don't like the sound of oh dear," Hannah said quickly, pitch becoming higher through fear as she stares at her heart with caution as it snuggles more and more next to Barbara's image.
"It seems that the heart would only return when its desire is fulfilled and will not stop unless it is broken or the counter spell is used against it or after a month's time where the spell would disappear," Diana explains, feeling sorry as the colour drains from Hannah's face.
"Wait I thought we did do that!" Hannah exclaims, watching the heart as it twirls around before bouncing on Barbara's bed then flying up to Hannah's face in pure joy. "That's how I found out that I like Barbara!"
"I believe your heart merely showed you what it desires but it has not accomplished said desires."
"Oh dear," Hannah breathes as her mind envisioned several scenarios of the heart being with Barbara, though most were pleasant but embarrassing. The rest were not and were, in fact, the worst thoughts possible. Lost in thought she fails to notice that her heart was no longer in front of her but was zooming around to find a means to escape and accomplish its desires. "Oh dear," she repeats, falling back on her bed again, eyes looking at the ceiling as she tries so hard not to faint. This was just great.
"Hannah, for your sake please do not faint on me," Diana begs, worry evident in her plea which made Hannah to sit up and look at her. She follows her line of sight and where her wand was pointing to before she straightens up immediately. The heart, her heart was trying to open the handle of the door but despite its efforts, the door merely rattled in one place. Cartoonish hazel eyes meets Hannah's and it smiles, soaring between the distance to hold her finger and drag Hannah to the door. Hannah tries to hold her ground but the suddenness of it all causes her to stumble and be dragged away with the power of love.
"I can't," Hannah said as she massages her head, the small heart gasping in anguish after it failed to make Hannah open the door for them. "I'm a bit scared," she explains softly with a wry smile as the heart squished her cheeks for an explanation. "I know you felt like this for a while now but this is all new to me." The heart looks at her, hazel eyes swimming in sorrow before it lights up in determination and gives Hannah a thumbs up. Hannah, in turn, looking in horror as she realises what the heart was going to do.
"Diana, trap the heart!" She calls as she leapt up to try and catch her heart. The heart was too quick however and zooms up, flying to the side as a jet of green energy misses it by a few inches. The heart chortles thinking this is all a game before giving a reassuring smile to Hannah as she jumps up to try and catch it again. "It's going to try and meet Barbara!"
"Don't worry Hannah, I don't think it has a way to escape," Diana reassures, shooting the same bubble trap spell everywhere like fireworks as the heart zooms circles around them near the ceiling. Hannah as well kept on jumping up and down to get the capture the heart yet she misses each time. Instead, she pops bubbles that joined the fray, where Diana's spells hit different small objects like a spare book or a throw cushion.
Hannah covers her head as a cushion fell on top of her before she shoves away to the side in irritation that nothing is working. The cushion crashes into the couch, hitting the glass cup that was left there, shattering the entire scene as all eyes stop to look at the coffee table. The glass rolls side to side, however not a crack seen but the water was quickly covering the wooden floor. Hannah and Diana sighs in relief that nothing precarious was broken but that relief didn't last long.
A high pitch squeal became warning sirens in their ears. They both lock eyes on the floating heart, following the gaze of it's hazel eyes which lands at partially open balcony door. Then they looked at each other in a fraction of a second, a silent urgent message communicate between their eyes before Hannah ran to the door, her heart zooming at it in record speed as well. Spells flew from Diana's wand, each one still missing the heart with a hair's length whilst Hannah leapt over fallen books and cushion, racing her heart to the door before the unexpected happens.
Hannah miscalculated her last jump, her foot being splashed with cold water as she stepped into a puddle. She slipped, crashing to her bottom as she slides across the wet floor, her hands outstretched to try and hold onto something but failing. To make matter's worse, the moment she touched the door, the momentum she built up pushed the door open even more. Her mouth wide open in horror as her heart flew out to the open and spun around, giving her a smile before it jetted down to find Barbara.
"Oh Jennifer," Hannah breaths before she fainted on the balcony floor, the sudden turn of events overwhelming her.