Chapter 1

The Unexpected

"...iana..."

Diana slowly became conscious, her eyes heavy and refusing to open as she struggled to comprehend the distant voices shouting at her.

"...Diana..."

Who was that shouting? Whoever it was they seemed to be closer than they were before, their voices becoming less muffled. Suddenly Diana's head throbbed painfully as she was conscious enough now to feel the coolness of the hardwood floor against her back and head. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she tried to remember what had happened through the pain. Where was she? The blonde's eyes fluttered open before being assaulted with the bright lights shining from the ceiling until a figure leaned over her, shielding her eyes from the offending glow. Diana's eyes began to finally come into focus and she finally recognized the figure above her, the owner of the voice she had heard earlier.

"Oh my god, Diana! Are you okay?" Hannah stared down at her fallen friend with concern before turning to the other frozen figure in the room. "Barbara, call an ambulance!"

Barbara nodded quickly and turned to leave just as Diana was able to remember how to speak again.

"Wait," she croaked out quietly before clearing her throat. "Wait. I'm..." The blonde slowly sat up, clutching her head as the pain throbbed even more violently at the action. "I'm fine, really. There's no need for an ambulance."

"Diana, you hit your head pretty hard," Hannah said as she inspected the other girl's head, one hand on Diana's back to offer some support before she leaned in and whispered, "and your condition-"

"Hannah," the blonde said weakly, cutting her friend off as she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes tightly. Suddenly, she became dizzy and began to slump to the side before being caught by Barbara, who had appeared at her side seemingly out of nowhere.

"Okay, we need to get her to the hospital," Hannah stated firmly, leaving no room for any protests. "Barb, get your car and pull up to the front doors. And tell Croix to get in here, I'll need her help."

Barbara hesitated for a split second, concern etched into her expression before finally relenting and slowly released Diana's arm.

"Yeah, okay." Barbara mumbled weakly as she stood up and exited the room quickly.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no." The blonde began to panic as she struggled to pry her arm away from her friend's grasp.

"Diana?" Hannah looked at Diana quizzically for a moment before following her gaze to an object on the floor. Or, more accurately, many objects. The pristine violin that the blonde had been holding when she fell had broken into many pieces, scattering every which way across the slick hardwood floor. Hannah let go of a distressed Diana and watched as she shakily began to pick up the wooden scraps. "Diana you need to calm down. Barb and I will clean it up later."

"No!" The blonde's voice cracked as she looked down at the scraps in her hand and sat back on her heels. "No," she said more quietly as the tears she was trying so hard to hold back began to stream down her face. "My mother gave this to me when I was a child. I've had it for so long. And now it's...it's..." Diana breathing became shallow as her whole body began to shake.

Hannah moved closer immediately and wrapped the blonde up in a tight hug, allowing Diana to grasp onto her shirt tightly as her sobs increased.

"I'm sorry, Diana," the auburn haired girl said quietly as she rubbed circles into the blonde's back. "I know how important it was to you."

"What happened?"

Both girls jumped and turned their heads quickly to see Croix Merides standing in the doorway. The music producer was breathing heavily, most likely having run across the whole building to get there. The woman hurried over and knelt down beside Diana and began to check her over as Hannah had done earlier.

"Are you okay?"

"We need to get her to Barbara's car," Hannah stated before the blonde could answer and pulled one of Diana's arms over her shoulder. "Get the other side."

"Right," Croix responded as she mirrored the auburn haired girl's actions.

Diana let the wooden scraps fell weakly out of her hand as she was lifted to her feet. The world around her spun as she struggled to gain any kind of footing but failed, now having to lean heavily on Croix and Hannah as they began to move forward carefully. Later she would admit that she didn't remember being half carried out of the room and down the hallway toward the front doors. Her mind was running out of control, not being able to focus on one specific thing at the moment. That, coupled with the pounding of her head, led to a loss of consciousness at some point during the hasty drive to the hospital. The last thing she remembered was Hannah shaking her and calling out her name, but her exhaustion got the better of her as she slipped away into a deep sleep.

When she woke up she found herself in a hospital bed, surrounded by a sterile white environment and silence, save for the beeping monitor a few feet away. After her eyes focused enough to make out the small room, she turned her head to the side to find Hannah and Barbara sitting in some chairs only feet away. The raven-haired girl was staring absentmindedly out of a large window while the auburn-haired girl stared down at her phone, typing furiously. Diana shifted a bit in her bed to get more comfortable, causing the two girls to turn to the bed quickly.

"Diana!" Barbara jumped up and hurried over to the bed, Hannah following right behind her. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she gently took the blonde's hand.

Hannah pushed the nurses button and settled herself on the bed next to Diana's leg as the blonde seemed to be struggling to adjust to her surroundings. They waited patiently until Diana finally cleared her throat and turned her head to look at the ceiling.

"I feel fine, girls, thank you," the blonde said weakly as she closed her eyes again, giving in to the heavy eyelids that were making it difficult to keep open before she let out a long sigh.

The door opened and a young nurse made her way in before stopping in surprise when Diana's eyes opened and looked at her.

"Ms. Cavendish! So happy to see that you're awake." The woman smiled warmly at the blonde and moved to the monitors with a clipboard in hand. "Your vitals seem to be doing well. How are you feeling?" the nurse inquired as she wrote hastily on the clipboard.

"I feel fine. A little light headed," Diana mumbled before the nurse turned to her and smiled again.

"A perfectly normal side effect of the medication we administered, but I'm glad to hear you're feeling better."

The door opened once more and a tall, lanky man dressed in his issued white doctor's coat and black slacks entered. The older doctor grinned at Diana, a sparkle in his eye as if seeing an old friend.

"Hello, Diana. It's good to see you again. Although I wish it were under better circumstances." His smiled turned sad as the nurse handed him the clipboard she had been making notes on.

"Hello, Dr. Turner," the blonde replied quietly, watching the doctor intently as he dismissed the nurse and reviewed her charts. The man sighed and looked up once more, his eyes falling on Hannah and Barbara, who were waiting with bated breath for the doctor to speak.

"Ladies, if you could give us a moment alone-"

"No." Diana cut the doctor off immediately, raising her hand up in front if herself to signal the man to stop that thought. "I want them here with me. Please."

"I see." Dr. Turner's eyes flitted between three once more and he hesitantly continued. "Very well."

The man pulled up a chair beside Diana's bed and flipped to the second page of her chart before clearing his throat. "You seemed to have received quite the concussion when you fell earlier. Luckily it wasn't severe enough to be too worried about." He smiled once again, although this time it seemed somewhat forced. "What we really need to discuss is why you fainted in the first place. It seems..." Dr. Turner cleared his throat again as if he was buying time to figure out exactly how to say what was coming next. "It seems the treatments have stopped working."

Diana's blood ran cold and she froze in shock, the two girls beside her involuntarily letting out quiet gasps at the news. She stared, unblinking, at the man as her jaw tensed and her grip on Barbara's hand tightened as the doctor continued.

"I'm afraid there's not much that can be done at this point, Diana. I know-"

"How long?" The blonde cut the doctor off once again, only managing to speak just louder than a whisper as her emotions swirled around like a whirlwind inside her mind. She swallowed hard as she waited for the surprise to disappear from the man's face.

"Diana, I-"

"How long?" Diana asked again, a little more forcefully this time, her breath becoming more shallow as the panic flared inside of her at the hesitance of her doctor.

"Months, a year at the most. We can't say for sure until we find out how you progress without the treatments. I'm truly sorry, Diana." Dr. Turner watched his patient's reaction carefully after relaying the bad news. He'd no doubt seen his fair share of reactions to this kind of information throughout his career, but he seemed genuinely surprised when this particular patient made no reaction at all. She stared at him as if he had just told her about the weather rather than telling her she would pass away within a year. "Miss Cavendish?"

Diana's world had darkened around her in an instant. She stared at the older man without really seeing him as his words echoed relentlessly in her mind. 'Months, a year at the most' and 'I'm so sorry' were lyrics to a somber song stuck in her head on repeat. She had made an effort to respond, though it seemed that no part of her body was able to function in her current state. Her inevitable fate weighed down on her chest, making it nearly impossible to breathe as she clutched tighter to the objects in her hands to find something, anything to ground her panicked thoughts.

"Diana?" Barbara shakily asked, wincing from the pain of her right hand being crushed in the grasp of the blonde.

The blonde had heard her friend, but couldn't comprehend what was said. The doctor began speaking once more but he could have been speaking another language for all that Diana knew, because she heard none of it over the internal screams of fear bouncing around her skull. She was going to die. There was no stopping it, no way of delaying death's call for her.

"...the only advice I have for you is to make sure the time you have left is worth it."

These last words snapped Diana out of the fog she'd been in for the last couple minutes as her vision became clear enough again to see Dr. Turner staring back at her in worry. All she could manage was a slight nod, any words she might have had still stuck in the back of her throat as the doctor stood up.

"I'll see you back here next week then.

The man turned and made his way quickly out of the room.

Diana didn't respond as she stared at the door Dr. Turner disappeared through. The room fell into awkward silence. She could feel her friend's eyes on her. Watching, waiting, as if she was a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any moment. Little did they know that she was the exact opposite at the moment. She was numb. She probably should be crying right now, screaming, cursing God for letting it turn out this way, but she felt nothing. She felt empty, exhausted, and alone. She was going to die alone.

"Diana," Hannah gasped quietly, making the blonde turn to look at her friends for the first time since the doctor had delivered the bad news. Both girls had tears streaming down their faces as they failed to hold back quiet sobs.

Diana blinked a few times, finally taking in the distress of her friends before sitting up and bringing both girls in for a tight hug, letting them cry into her shoulders as she rubbed their backs for comfort.

"This can't be real," Barbara croaked out between sobs as she clutched the side of Diana's hospital gown a little tighter.

"Girls," the blonde spoke for the first time since the news and it proved to be her downfall as tears quickly began pooling in the corners of her eyes. "Girls." Her voice cracked as the dam finally broke and the pools flooded over onto her cheeks as she began to sob. "I love you."

The sun shone brightly through the window, blinding rays of light washing over Akko Kagari's face as she woke slowly. Her eyes fluttered open only to shut immediately when they were assaulted by the sun. She turned over and buried her face into her plush pillow and groaned.

Her head pounded from yet another night of drowning herself in alcohol in order to forget what a wreck her life had become. A temporary escape from the memories she'd give anything to permanently forget, but for a couple of glorious hours she could be free from the guilt and pain that plagued her every minute of every day. Unfortunately the morning came and she had a new list of problems to deal with, like the sudden nausea building within her.

"Shit," she hissed as she struggled to untangle herself from her blankets. She nearly fell out of bed as she finally freed herself and ran quickly to the bathroom, making it with less than a second to spare as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl, again and again until there was nothing left. She took a few labored breaths before putting her forehead on the cool seat and squeezed her eyes shut. She could feel a tear roll halfway down her cheek before falling and splattering on the floor as her muscles finally began to relax.

Suddenly, there came a soft knock on the door, making the Japanese girl jump.

"Akko? Are you okay?"

In her half asleep and sickened state, Akko had completely forgotten that she had brought someone home the night before, or earlier that morning to be more accurate. That's right. She had called Avery at the bar when she started feeling a bit lonely with the people she was hanging out with, and of course Avery came, because she always did. She was never one to turn Akko down for a good time and never expected anything more, and the brunette appreciated that. After Andrew, even the thought of a relationship sent her running the other way as fast as she could. Akko sat back on her heels and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe her mouth with before replying.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the Japanese girl croaked out, throat still burning from the acid she had rid herself of earlier. "I'm gonna take a shower, Ave."

"Okay...I'll make us some coffee," Avery called out, voice unsure, before Akko heard her footsteps slowly disappeared out of the bedroom.

The brunette sighed and shakily stood up, just now noticing that she was still completely naked from the night before, the cool air sending a shiver up the spine of her sweating body. She quickly turned the water on in the shower, letting it turn scolding hot just like she liked it, before stepping in and letting the water wash over her head and body. Akko watched the water run down her arms to her hands until finally rushing off of each finger as if she was in a trance. She was so tired of this, so tired of the drinking, tired of always being surrounded by people but feeling so lonely. She was tired of this life.

After absentmindedly washing her hair and her body she turned off the water and stepped out, dried herself off and made her way out of the bathroom and into her large walk in closet full of clothes she never wore. She shrugged on a clean t-shirt and shorts and found Avery in kitchen drinking some coffee at the counter, turning the pages of a book that seemed oddly familiar. Akko furrowed her brows as she walked by and poured herself a cup of coffee before joining her friend at the counter. She rested her elbows on the cold surface and buried her face in her hands, letting out a pained groan at the still persistent aching in her head.

"You never learn, do you, Akko?" Avery mumbled as she slid a bottle of pills and a glass of water in Akko's direction without looking away from the book.

"Fuck off," the brunette grumbled as she opened the bottle and swallowed more pills than was necessary.

Avery chuckled and turned another page while taking a sip from her coffee.

"Damn, she's hot." The purple haired girl leaned forward to get a better look at the page.

"Eh?" Akko put her mug down and leaned over. "What are you..." Her eyes widened when she made out two figures standing happily together in one of the photos on the page. "Are you looking at my school photo album?" Her voice went up an octave as she tried to swipe the object away from Avery, but failed miraculously before almost falling off her chair. "Averyyyyy!"

"Akko, I almost didn't recognize you without the tattoos. Or without drink in your hand."

"Give. It," Akko growled as she attempted to take it away again.

"Okay, okay." Avery put her hand up, putting a halt to the brunette's efforts. "I'll give it to you if you tell me who tall, blonde and gorgeous is." She put down the book in front of Akko and pointed at the girl standing next to the Japanese girl in the picture.

Akko stared down at the girl, the bright blue of her eyes popping off of the page as if it were the only color in a sea of gray. Those beautiful eyes she had lost herself in so many times when no one else was looking. If only she had realized what it was she felt before…

"Diana Cavendish." The brunette sighed and rubbed her forehead before sliding the book back toward Avery, who looked back at her with a tilted head and a curious expression.

"Ex-girlfriend?"

"Ex-friend."

"Mm." Avery nodded slowly before turning the page. "You sure? Because look at the way she's looking at you here." The girl pointed to another picture of Diana watching Akko play her guitar, an adoring smile on the blonde's face as the brunette stuck her tongue out in concentration.

"I've looked at them a million damn times, Avery, I know how she looked at me," Akko snapped back before she could think about what she was saying. Avery leaned away from her, startled at the harsh tone before the brunette rubbed her eyes in frustration. "I know that now," she said a little more quietly. "I didn't back then."

The purple haired girl stared at her distressed friend for a long moment before bringing her mug to her lips to finish the last of the lukewarm liquid. She stood up and walked toward the front door to grab her jacket off of the coat rack before turning around again with a slight smile on her face.

"Better late than never, Akko." Avery winked before opening the door and walking over the threshold. "Thanks for the good time," she sung over her shoulder before closing the door behind her.

Akko was left in the silence of her large apartment, left in haze with those last words that had made their way past Avery lips as she stared down at photo of what once had been a budding friendship. She sighed to herself and turned to the next page, revealing a new set of pictures of the start of her second year mostly comprised of her small group of friends who had become her band after they all graduated. Her former band and former friends. It seemed to be a trend in her life that she lost everything she cared about because of her selfishness. With a huff she turned the page once more, and then again and again until one photo in particular caught her eye.

Akko stood in the middle of Diana and Andrew in front of the orchestra hall after Andrew and Diana's performance. The boy had his arm around the brunette's shoulders and Akko with her arm around the blonde's shoulders. Andrew and Akko, the happy new couple, looked radiant as they leaned close to each other and smiled brightly back at the camera. But the brunette wasn't focused on herself or her ex-boyfriend, rather her eyes scanned Diana, looking so uncomfortable and withdrawn as she hugged herself, attempting to keep herself together as she fell apart right in front of Akko's eyes. Being as blind as she was, the brunette had no idea why. She had blamed Diana on their fall out, told her she was too jealous, that she was trying to control Akko's life when all the blonde was trying to do was to hold on to the brunette, to keep Akko in her life as she drifted further and further out of the blonde's reach until there was nothing left to hold on to at all.

There was a reason Akko never traveled back to the memories of her past and this was why. Her heart ached as she stared at the last photo that her and Diana were ever together in, a sudden yearning to see that girl again overcame her as she slid her fingers down the photograph. She had wanted to get away for so long, to leave this place and never look back but she had nowhere to go until now. Now, she finally had reason to move forward from this life and leave everything behind. She's was going to see Diana Cavendish.

"Better late than never."

Diana walked tiredly down the hall of her building, passing offices and large and small recording studios. This used to be home to her. The atmosphere, the colors, even the smell used to comfort her like not even her own apartment could. Ever since she could remember, her mother would bring her here after hours of begging just so she could listen to the music echoing from the very rooms she was now passing without a second thought. It was all so magical to her younger self as she practiced for hours on end on her very expensive violin until her fingers bled to be able to record her own music, to be able to cement her own name into the industry her mother had been such a prominent figure in. But now she was empty, a fragile shell of the ambitious girl she once was.

Her dreams, ambitions, and hopes slowly began to disappear when she was diagnosed with her sickness. At first she thought she could beat it. She was Diana Cavendish, after all. She thought she was strong, thought she could handle anything life threw at her until it wasn't life she was battling with anymore. It was death. Now every step forward took so much effort. Every breath she breathed brought her closer and closer to her inevitable fate. What was the point to all of this? Why was she walking down this hall toward her office like anything she did now would matter?

"Make sure the time you have left is worth it." That's what her doctor had told her. But how could she make her time worth it? How indeed. She had never been one to indulge, had never been one to choose her social life over her work. What could she possibly do to make her time worth it?

Diana had been lost in her thoughts for so long that she hadn't noticed she'd arrived at her office door and was now just staring absentmindedly at the door knob. She let out a long sigh and began to reach for the door knob but paused when she noticed that the door was already open just a crack. Had she left he office open yesterday? No, that couldn't be right. Hesitantly, she pushed the door open, peeking in cautiously as she had no idea what to expect. But what she saw, or rather, who she saw was the last person she'd ever expect to see again. Her eyes narrowed at the figure sitting in her chair, at her desk, in her office. The infuriating person was balancing a cup full of pencils and pens on her head as she spun around like a child in her plush chair. If Diana were not in the mood she was now, she would have found the childish display somewhat adorable. But this was not the time.

And this was Akko Kagari.

The one girl that managed to bring Diana to wits end in record time when they attended Luna Nova music academy together. And the one girl, she hated to admit, that made her feel things she never had before, the girl that enlightened Diana on the true meaning of head over heels. Although her crush lasted quite a while, she would never have the chance to voice those feelings when Akko began to date Andrew in their second year. She watched their relationship bloom from the sidelines, watched Akko smile adoringly at him as the pair intertwined their fingers while they walked down the halls together between classes. And she hated it. She hated Andrew for having the courage to do something she could not. Not that the brunette would have reciprocated her feelings because she doubted Akko would ever look at any girl that way.

"Oh, shit!"

Diana jumped at the sudden shout and the sound of the metal cup clanging floor along with the scattering of various pens and pencils. Akko stared wide eyed back at her with her hand over her heart and breathed heavily.

"Diana, you scared the shit out of me!"

"Classy as always, Atsuko." Diana rolled her eyes and sighed before arching her brow as she watched Akko frantically gather the scattered objects on the floor around the desk.

"Hey, how many times have I told you to call me Akko?" Akko's head slowly appeared above the desk, ruby red eyes narrowed playfully at the blonde woman.

For a split second, Diana was seventeen again in the midst of her usual playful banter with the Japanese girl. While they were complete opposites, and were more likely to irritate one another than to be friendly, they had been somewhat close at one point during their academy years. Although Akko was now older, and god she was even more beautiful, the clumsy and goofy personality she'd found so endearing in school seemed to have been left intact. An unfortunate setback for Diana's heart.

"Too many, I'm sure." The blonde bit the inside of her cheek to keep a hold on her neutral expression. To hide the fact that her heart was beating so quickly when Akko smiled at her in a way she hadn't seen in eight years.

"How is it possible you're still this stubborn, Diana?" The brunette stood up and chuckled, tilting her head as her eyes gave Diana a once over. "You haven't changed a bit."

The corners of Diana's lips turned down into a slight frown at that statement. 'If only you knew,' she internally mused.

"Everyone changes, Akko. You should know that better than anyone," the blonde said offhandedly before grimacing, instantly regretting her choice of words as Akko's smile faltered. "I didn't mean-"

"No, no. It's..." Akko looked down at nothing in particular on the desk in front of her and rubbed the back of her neck. "You're right." After a moment of silence the brunette looked up, her smile returning somewhat but the sadness still lingered in her eyes. "I guess some of us just change for the worse huh?"

"Akko..."

"Hey, it's fine. Don't worry." Akko waved Diana off and shrugged before stuffing her hands in her pockets. Making sure to avoid the blondes sympathetic gaze, she began to wander around the room to inspect all of the wall décor.

Diana watched the brunette for a moment as an awkward silence washed over the small room. Not quite knowing what to say or do, she finally closed the door and made her way around her desk to her chair. Every couple seconds her eyes would lift to find Akko as she waited for her computer to turn on.

If one didn't know just who Akko was when passing her on the street, you wouldn't think she was a former rock star by the way she dressed. She stood there in her oversized red hoodie, covering the tattoos Diana knew she had from the many pictures she's seen on the internet. Not that she was keeping tabs on the Japanese girl or anything. She definitely did not have pictures of Akko on stage saved on her home computer. After the silence wore on for longer than the blonde would have liked, she knew she'd have to be the one to break it, the irritation she felt just minutes ago having been replaced by curiosity and worry.

"Akko, may I ask why you're here?" Diana sat back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other as she waited for an answer.

Akko froze in place for a few moments before letting out a long sigh and slumping her shoulders. Slowly she turned and sat in one of the two chairs opposite Diana before finally meeting the blonde's gaze. She stared at the blonde, expression uncertain before chewing her lip slightly as she contemplated her answer.

"I...just wanted to visit an old friend?" Akko smiled nervously at Diana, who had arched an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Let's try that again with the truth this time."

"It's true." The brunette huffed and crossed her arms. "But." She hesitated as her eyes drifted toward her lap. "The other half of the truth is that I..." Akko balled her hands into fists atop her thighs before taking a labored breath. "I needed to get away from everything. I needed a change." The last words came out so quietly that the blonde could barely hear them even in the dead silent room.

Diana's heart ached at the pain she heard in her former friend's voice. This girl sitting in front of her was not the girl she knew all those years ago like she had thought only moments prior. This wasn't the same girl who defied Diana's expectations over and over again because she believed in herself enough that anything was possible. No. She could see it now that she could look closely at the brunette's features. The girl sitting in front of her looked so tired, so lost, so… broken. This was not Akko.

"Pardon my confusion, but we were not the closest of friends, Akko. Surely someone else would be bett-"

"I only want to see you, Diana." The brunette looked up at Diana with new resolve. "I had to see you."

"Akko..." The blonde closed her eyes and sighed. "We haven't spoken in eight years. Why me?"

"I..." Akko hesitated, her mouth hanging open as she desperately searched for what to say next. What would Diana say if she told her the truth? 'I realized that all those years ago that you liked me? That I liked you? That I didn't understand my feelings back then but I do now after eight years?' No, that wouldn't work. Come on, come on, come on...wait.

"I...want to write a song with you. If… that's something you'd be interested in."

Diana's eyes shot open in surprise at the request, and also in surprise at the slight blush overtaking the brunette's face and ears. Her mouth hung open as she stared back, struggling to come up with any kind of answer. Akko wanted to write a song with her. Together.

"P-pardon?"