Hi everyone! I promise I'll go back to working on Tangled Web soon, but I was very tempted to write this story for a certain Moon-mun.
This story will be a two-shot. It is rated T for now, but when I post the next chapter I will be changing it to M because of you-know-what. XD
It was raining. Hard. Diana sighed and placed her book bag over her head, attempting to hide from the offending weather as she hurried across the grass. The storm had caused an accident on the freeway, making her late on the worst day possible.
It was finals day. And the test had started twenty minutes ago.
As luck would have it, her foot slipped just as she was about to reach the stone path, sending the woman tumbling sideways. Diana yelped, flailing as she landed on the muddy grass. Her bag fell just out of her reach. You have got to be kidding me. The woman groaned out loud, but quickly returned to her feet, snatching up her fallen bag in the process. Pushing the platinum locks of hair that clung to her face out of the way, she ignored the mud all over her clothes as she hurried toward the building.
Of course the door had to creak loudly as she entered the classroom. Of course her shoes had to squeak over the vinyl flooring as she tried to quietly make her way to the front where the blank tests were. Of course she had to trip again and would have otherwise ended up on the ground if one of the TA's hadn't caught her.
Diana refused to look at that particular person and mumbled a short apology before grabbing a test from the table and hurrying to a corner of the room. Pretty much everyone was staring at her now. Her face couldn't possibly get any redder. She lifted the flap on her bag to grab her pencil case…..
Only to find that it wasn't there. Diana felt like she was about to have a heart attack. Maybe it was underneath that binder? No, nothing. Maybe it was-
There was a light tap on her desk as a hand placed the object she was looking for in front of her. Diana froze and looked up. Leona's pale orange shirt had a muddy smear on the side, causing the platinum blonde to wince. She quickly bowed her head and reached for the pencil case, but the same hand covered her own, causing her to pause. A thumb softly rubbed the skin there, and Diana glanced meekly back towards Leona. The TA blinked sympathetically at her before releasing her hand and making her way back towards the front of the room.
Diana stared after her for a moment, but quickly realized what she should be doing. She glanced at her watch. One hour to go.
The test was actually a lot easier than she had thought it would be. The hardest part was getting everything she wanted to write down on paper, and the woman had been scribbling nonstop since she had begun to make up for her lost time. Ignoring the ache in her hand, Diana scrambled to finish her last paragraph as the teacher called for the tests. She was still writing as a TA came by to take hers. "Ahem."
Diana dotted her sentence with a period and quickly handed the papers over to an impatient Pantheon. The man gave her a once over, paying particular attention to her muddy shoes before moving on. The blonde leaned back in her chair and sighed. That was it. That had been her last final. To be honest, she was actually a bit sad. Literature had always been her favorite subject, especially since this particular class chose to cover classic Roman and Greek works. And there was always her…
Diana looked over at Leona, who was busy organizing the tests. The redhead decided to glance over her shoulder at that moment to speak with Pantheon, but instead caught the blonde's gaze. They stared at each other until the TA was forced to accept another stack of tests. She waved Diana over before she turned back around.
The blonde placed her stationary back into her bag before standing up. Her hand decided to cramp just then, and she grimaced. She flexed her joints, trying to relieve the pain. At least that hadn't happened during the test. She slowly made her way down to Leona, cautious of the fact that the mud on her shoes was cracking and leaving dried bits everywhere. "…will have the answer key, and we should have them done by the end of the week."
The redhead nodded to Pantheon as he walked away towards the professor. She turned her attention to Diana, giving her a restrained smile as she took in the other woman's disheveled state. "Did you finish?"
The blonde just nodded in response, once again staring at the muddied shirt. There was a moment of silence before Leona finally burst into laughter. Diana huffed and turned away as she felt the blood rush to her cheeks again. The laughter continued, and she began to walk away. "No! I'm sorry! Come back!"
Leona grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, you have some dirt on your face."
A warm finger scratched at the dried mud gently. Diana tried to glare at her, but she soon gave in and leaned into the other woman. "What happened? You looked miserable when you walked in. I was getting worried. I wanted to call and make sure you were alright."
The blonde sighed. "I stayed up too late studying I guess and didn't wake up as early I was supposed to today. I was still kind of on time, but there was an accident on the freeway. Then I slipped on my way here. And then uh…"
She looked down at the Leona's shirt once more. "Don't worry about that. It'll wash out easily. You look like you need more than a hug though."
Diana was about to ask her what she meant but was cut off by another pair of lips on hers. Leona pulled back from the kiss and giggled at the expression on her girlfriend's face. Diana was absolutely adorable when she blushed like that. When it was Leona's doing, of course. The blonde quickly looked around them to see if anyone had noticed. Any remaining students in the room were packing up their bags or checking answers in the book. Pantheon was speaking to Professor Jagen and had his back to both of them. No one had noticed. "Diana, relax. It's fine. No one cares anyway."
Leona smiled kindly. The other woman looked down. "I know. I'm just…"
Kind of shy. She was pulled into another hug. Diana was pretty sure that they were breaking some rules since Leona was a TA, but if the professor had noticed, he never said anything. The two women were a year apart, having met in Diana's freshman year during a dreaded chemistry lab course. They had quickly bonded over their love for literature and history while simultaneously creating a disaster out of hydrochloric acid and magnesium permanganate. When Diana had heard Leona was applying to be a TA for classical Roman and Greek literature, she had immediately signed up for the course her junior year instead saving the best for last like she had planned.
The two were interrupted when Pantheon called the redhead's name. He glared pointedly at Diana and then at Leona as he wordlessly jerked his thumb towards a stack of papers that still needed to be organized. "I need to help finish up here before I can leave. I'll catch up with you later?"
The two separated and Diana nodded. Leona's touch lingered as she headed towards Pantheon, and the blonde couldn't help but smile. It faded abruptly as her stomach growled. Quite loudly. Diana reflexively put a hand to her abdomen and made sure no one had heard. The only thing she had had for breakfast had been a granola bar. An early lunch seemed to be a good idea.
The University of Valoran had a large community center with a food court on the first floor. If students were not hanging out at the library between classes, they would be spending their time here. After cleaning off as much of the mud as she possibly could in the bathroom, Diana bought a salad and headed for the lounge downstairs. She scanned the booths for a free seat, or anyone she knew. Finally, she spotted a shock of long snowy hair. Circling around the booth to make sure that was who she thought it was – she had had the unfortunate and embarrassing episode of mistaking someone for a friend beforehand – Diana plopped herself across from them, almost sitting on a sleeping redhead in the process. She managed to catch herself and stared at a Katarina who was hogging the majority of one side of the seat. However, her movements had awoken the woman, who looked up to glare at her. "Well, excuse you too."
Diana just shrugged and opened the lid to her salad. Syndra, who had been fiddling with her phone when she had arrived, finally looked up. "Oh, wonderful. I don't have to talk to a sleeping bag anymore."
"Tsch. Like you haven't been texting Irelia this whole time anyway. Holy shit Diana, what happened to your pants? Did you fall in a ditch or something?"
She stared at the jeans streaked with brown. Diana grunted. "Something like that," she mumbled.
Katarina shook her head, sitting up and muttering something about "clumsy blondes". She folded her arms on the table and put her head on them, looking at Syndra. "So, while I was napping, did you figure out if you're going to Jayce's party yet?"
The girl in question shrugged. "Haven't gotten around to asking Irelia."
Katarina scoffed but then smirked. "She got you on a tight leash, huh? You'd think once a night would be enough, but no, it has to be all day."
Syndra scowled and opened her mouth to retort. Diana quietly munched on her salad as her two friends bickered, occasionally looking between the two. She began to get rather self-conscious as the arguing got louder and heads started to turn, especially when Katarina loudly said something about strap-ons. She opened her mouth to say so, but was thankfully interrupted. "Keep it down, you two. There are people still studying. And people that should be studying."
Diana turned around to find Ashe with her arms crossed and glaring at Katarina. The redhead shrugged, looking innocent. "What's studying?"
Ashe sighed and rolled her eyes. She turned to look at Diana, a question in her eyes. Wordlessly, the blonde moved to the other side of the booth next to Syndra, so the archer could sit with her girlfriend. "How was your final?" Ashe looked to Diana.
A shrug. Katarina cut in. "How was Leona?"
She and Syndra both dissolved into a fit of laughter as Diana's face reddened, and she ducked her head. Nudging the redhead with her elbow, Ashe just shook her head, pulling a chemistry book out of her bag. She opened it and began leafing through the pages. Syndra leaned forward. "I thought you just took your final?"
The archer nodded. "Yeah but I wanted to check a-ugh, I knew the reagent was mCPBA!"
She tilted her head back and sighed. Katarina reached out and closed the book for her. "Stop worrying, baby. Nothing you can do about it now."
Ashe's brow furrowed, but she leaned into her girlfriend anyway. Syndra's phone suddenly rang, and its owner poked at the touch screen several times. "Mmm. Got a test in half an hour. I wonder if there's anything I should review."
She smirked. Diana and Ashe both scoffed at the statement. While Katarina was infamous for barely passing her classes without attending a single lecture, Syndra was known for getting straight A's while only attending lectures. Of course it helped that she had photographic memory. She flipped her platinum hair back, adopting Katarina's earlier expression. "What's studying?"
Diana idly flicked a piece of lettuce at her, causing Syndra's grin to widen. She suddenly felt her own phone vibrate and reached into her pocket. It was Leona. Hey 3 I'm almost finished up here. Wanna come down?
Diana smiled and typed out a reply. Sure. Walking from the food court now.
Katarina leaned over the table in an attempt to see the text. "Did she invite you to some secret, empty room so you guys can have some hot, steamy-ow!"
Ashe dragged the redhead back into her seat. The archer gave her girlfriend a "really?" look. Katarina shrugged. "For the record, that was a perfectly valid question."
Diana chuckled at the two as she placed her food back in her bag. "I have to go. I'll see you guys later."
She stood up. Syndra glanced at her. "Going to Jayce's party right?"
Diana nodded and made a face. "Leona's making me go."
A glare was thrown towards a certain redhead before she could comment. Katarina sat back, smirking. Syndra wriggled her fingers at Diana. "Good. And wherever you're going, have fun."
The underlying implication was certainly still there, and the blonde spun away from her friends before they could see her blushing face again, almost missing the polite farewell from Ashe. Through the window, she could still see the sky was a dull gray, but at least it had stopped raining. A small table selling Ionian pastries was set up by the entrance of the building, clearly to tempt anyone who walked past. Diana paused in thought. She looked through her wallet. Well, there wouldn't be enough if she wanted a mooncake too…
Making a decision, she walked up to the vendor, a short Ionian woman with greying hair. The woman smiled and bowed her head in thanks as Diana paid her for a suncake. The blonde headed out, carefully placing the wrapped treat in her bag. She jogged towards the history building, where Professor Jagen happened to hold his literature classes as well. To say the structure was old was an understatement. A multitude of vines, both dead and alive, crept along the walls and over the many cracks in the grey stone. Inside, the wallpaper was in the process of, and had been so for many decades, peeling off. If one would take the time to look, they would see both water damage and mold in corners and various places on the ceiling. Diana ignored all these things as she headed towards the TA office, eager to surprise Leona with her favorite treat. She heard voices as she neared. "Pantheon!"
There was a loud thump. Curious and slightly concerned, the blonde picked up her pace. She peered through the open door and froze. Pantheon had Leona pinned against the far wall. The two were tight in a lip lock, and Leona had her eyes wide open. The blonde could just stand there staring. W-why…
She must have made a sound because Leona's attention shifted from Pantheon to her. Something flickered in the redhead's eyes as she spotted Diana, and Pantheon was shoved away forcefully. "Diana!"
Blood pounded in Diana's ears. She wanted to run, but found herself rooted in place, only able to stare at the scene before her in horror. She remembered the first time Leona had spoken to her in that smooth voice. She remembered the first time that dazzling smile had been directed towards her. She remembered the first time that soft pair of lips had been upon hers.
Diana realized she was holding her breath and gulped down a mouthful of air with much difficulty. Leona looked stricken. "It's not what you think!"
The redhead reached a hand out towards the blonde. The action seemed to break Diana out of her frozen state. She didn't know what to think. Without another moment of delay, she broke out into a run away from Leona.
"Diana wait!"
Leona shot out the doorway, only to catch a glimpse of platinum hair rounding the corner. She knew it was fruitless to attempt to catch her; Diana was much faster. The redhead gripped the doorframe tightly in frustration. Then she remembered the person behind her and whirled around. "What did you do that for?" she all but screamed.
Pantheon was silent. He seemed just as surprised as Leona had been by his own actions. A large slap echoed through the room. "Don't ever touch me again," Leona whispered.
Without another word, she grabbed her things and rushed out of the office. Her thoughts ran at a million miles per hour as she went through in her mind all the places Diana could have gone. She hurried to the library, looking in vain for her girlfriend's platinum blonde hair. When she entered their favorite café, she thought she saw it, but then the person turned around, and it was just a regular girl.
Diana liked the quiet, and given her state, it was very unlikely she would end up in a public area anyway. Leona soon realized the only place she knew of that met both criteria would be Diana's own apartment. She had a sinking feeling no one would be there though.
It had been a drizzling lightly when the redhead first began her search, but it was practically flooding when she pulled up to Diana's apartment. She got out, shielding her eyes. The blonde's silver Honda was nowhere to be seen. Leona's shoes sloshed through the water as she made her way towards the stairs. Her girlfriend….ex-girlfriend…friend who was very mad lived on the top floor.
The rain pounded heavily on the roof as she neared Diana's door. Leona hammered it with a fist, sharing the weather's enthusiasm. "Diana!"
As expected, there was no answer. She leaned her forehead against the wood before closing her eyes. The redhead eventually ended up siting with her back against the door, knees drawn to her chest. "Diana…"
Leona looked at the ground before her. Her eyes watered, but she did not let the tears spill over. She furrowed her brow stubbornly. She would wait here, until Diana decided to comeback.
And wait she did.
She refused to cry. There was no point to crying. She stared forward impassively, sharing the same position as her redheaded counterpart. The wind whistled past, rustling the leaves of the trees behind her and bringing with it the scent of salt. The sea sparkled as the sun set. The storm was absent at the top of the mountain.
Diana tilted her head up towards the empty sky, closing her eyes. With a sigh, she opened them again and shifted on the grass. She grabbed her bag, taking out a drawing pad and a pencil. The suncakes at the bottom were ignored. The blonde began to draw the view, starting with the cliff she was sitting at. She paid attention to every shadow, every blade of grass. Slowly, a beautiful picture, as if it had been taken by an old black and white camera, began to appear on the canvas. Diana bit her lip in concentration as she shaded in the ocean. She focused now on the sun. It had turned into a bright orange sphere, bathing everything in a warm glow. Of course it hurt to look at it, so Diana had to draw from the image seared into her retinas when she made the mistake moments before.
She wished she had brought her paints with her today. It wasn't doing this drawing justice to not color it. The blonde looked back out, shielding her face. The sun was only peeking halfway over the horizon now. It reminded her of Leona's eyes. Diana frowned at the thought and looked back at her sketch, suddenly lacking the motivation to finish it. Glumly, she placed the drawing back in her bag. "'Ey! Little lady! Temple is closing soon!"
The blonde turned to find Braum with a poro in his arms. He must have noticed her expression because his bushy eyebrows furrowed. "Eh? Why no smile on pretty face today?"
Diana turned back towards the open sea, shrugging. She felt more than heard Braum stomp over and sit next to her. The poro let out a small squeak. "Come now! Tell Braum. He shall help!"
A few years ago, while looking for a good place to stargaze, Diana had happened upon a temple in the mountains. Curious, she had ventured in to find a ragtag group of people who took care of it as well as lived there. The place was not devoted to any particular religion, but it was a spot where one could meditate and pray to whoever they wanted. It's what the residents claimed anyway. The blonde herself had always wondered about the curious moon-shaped symbols the building sported.
Braum himself was a foreigner, likely from Scandanavia, given the accent and his appearance. He was a burly man, but also one of the kindest people Diana had ever met. He grinned at her now. The blonde blinked out of her reverie, realizing he was waiting for a response. She shook her head. "It's stupid. Don't worry about it."
Braum laughed loudly, clapping Diana on the shoulder and almost knocking her over. "Bah! Mother always said, 'No such thing as stupid!'"
He beamed at her again, and the blonde felt herself slowly return the expression. However, it faded. "It's…Leona," she finally said, "I, uh, found her kissing a guy."
Braum rubbed his mustache in thought. He dug into his pockets, as if looking for something. After a few seconds passed, he took it out. "Leona is girlfriend in picture, yes?"
Diana looked surprised. "Where did you get this?"
She reached out to take it from him. "You dropped in when you came here last time. It looked important, so Braum kept it for you."
The blonde remembered that day. Leona had dragged her into a photobooth and promptly told Diana that she would not be allowed to leave until they had taken at least twenty pictures, preferably fifty. Most of them turned out to be goofy, with both women making faces at the camera, but there had been some nice pictures, like this one. Leona was behind Diana with her arms wrapped around her shoulders. Their faces were close together, and the blonde was still red from her girlfriend's previous antics, but both were smiling widely. "Did you talk to her?" Braum interrupted.
Diana blinked, realizing she had been daydreaming again. The girl turned her head to the side, dropping the picture on the grass. "No…I came here."
"Ha!" the large man boomed, causing both Diana and the poro to jump. "You must have faith. She seems like very nice girl. Perhaps it was simple misunderstanding."
The blond didn't answer, looking down and trying to find the truth in Braum's words. Maybe it was an accident? Leona had seemed distressed…or was that a look of shock? Shock that Diana had just walked in on her and-
The large man must have sensed her doubts, because he put a hand on her again, much gentler this time. When Diana glanced back up, she was met with a smile. "This poro here. Runt of the litter. Smallest one Braum has ever seen! But! He is my favorite! You know why?" Braum handed the small creature to Diana, who took it with surprise and shook her head, "Because he has strong heart! Like you!"
The large man thumped his chest and then pointed at the blonde's own. "Tell me now," he murmured quietly, "Do you trust Leona with your heart?"
The blonde stared at him. "Yes."
He released her. "Then there you have it. Follow your heart, Diana."
Diana blinked. Well…she didn't have much to lose, did she? She wanted Leona back, but what if she had already lost her? Was there really a point in trying?
A squeak once again interrupted her thoughts. The poro in her lap was staring up at her, tongue lolling out. It rolled onto its back, exposing the heart-shaped patch of fur on its belly. Follow your heart. Diana couldn't help but smile. Yes, there was a point in trying.
She glanced at Braum, who was looking at her with knowing eyes. "I have to go," Diana announced.
The blonde quickly deposited the white puffball into the burly man's arms and dashed off, only turning back to wave when she heard Braum's "Good luck!"
Diana crossed her arms glumly, watching as Leona strode out of the administration's office. "You didn't have to do that you know."
"I did. Just because you have a different opinion on something doesn't give them a free ticket to harass you," Leona put an arm around the blonde's shoulder, "I wish you had told me about this earlier."
Diana just shrugged as well as she could. "I don't really care what they think. Jagen has a high opinion of you though. You probably just ruined it."
Leona just laughed. "If he's going to be mad over something like this, I wouldn't want his opinion anyway."
"But you got into that fight for no reason, and-"
The redhead cut her off with a forceful kiss on the cheek, almost knocking her girlfriend over.
"Some people are just worth fighting for."
The lights at Leona's apartment were off. It had stopped raining, but the air was still rather chilly. Diana peered around, looking dismayed. She knocked. Then knocked again. She checked her phone. Jayce's party had started an hour ago. Maybe Leona had gone with-
The blonde shook her head, refusing to finish the thought. She kicked at the ground, sighing. Guess she had been wrong. The girl hunched her shoulders and trudged back to the car.
The drive home was a long one, and it gave Diana time to think. How could she have been so stupid? She and Leona were so different. Why had she even thought that they would have a chance at being together?
Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the steering wheel tightly. And Leona didn't even bother to tell her she wasn't interested anymore. Because Diana was no longer important.
She scowled. The rain was suddenly pouring down again. Large droplets attacked her windshield as she pulled up into her parking space, braking hard before the car could smash in the wall. The door slammed, and Diana stomped up the stairs. Her nails dug into her palms as she recalled the last expression she had seen on Leona's face. It had been shock; shock that she had accidentally been discovered with him, shock that she now had to tell her girlfriend, who she probably-
Diana, along with her thoughts, stopped at the top of the stairs. Her anger faded for a moment to be replaced by surprise.
Leona was sitting at her doorstep.
