"Akko, where are you taking me? It's past curfew. We could get in trouble," Diana whispered to the brunette girl as they slowly made their way through the moonlit halls of Luna Nova. It had been after her scheduled patrol when Diana returned to her room only to find Akko waiting outside her door. Surprised, Diana had little time to question exactly why she was their, and more importantly what her mischievous grin was for, before the excitable girl had taken her by the arm and lead her down the corridor, simply saying 'she had to show her something special'.
In any normal situation, the lack of detail would have bothered her, let alone the disregard for school rules. This was no normal situation however; nothing was ever quite normal when it came to Akko. The Japanese girl was as full of surprises as she was energy, and Diana couldn't the feeling of excitement that bubbled up within her as she was led along.
"Akko," the heiress tried again, only for the shorter girl to cut her off with a soft shush.
"Don't worry about Diana. We'll be there soon, and I promise it'll totally blow your socks off!" Akko said, looking back over her shoulder, an eager smile plastered on her face.
Diana felt herself blush, as she couldn't help but be entranced by the spark of joy that shone in the other girl's ruby eyes. Akko, turned to face forward once more, breaking Diana free of her gaze, leaving the blonde witch to blush even harder, wondering how foolish she looked staring at her like that. It really would be in her best interest to get her…'troublesome' feelings for her friend under control. While looking back on it, Diana supposed her crush on Akko could have started as far back as the Samhain festival, it wasn't until after the two had stopped the potential world ending missile did Diana truly realize just how badly she had fallen for her. Up above the clouds, surrounded by a sea of stars, and the thing Diana found most beautiful was Akko's smile.
Ever since then, her crush had only worsened. It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus in classes she shared with Akko, as each time she found her attention drifting towards the brunette witch. Whether she was asleep at her desk, or her face scrunched in concentration, Diana couldn't help but stare lovingly at her. It extended beyond class too of course, as Diana was spending nearly all her free time with Akko. It wasn't uncommon nowadays to see the blue, red, and green teams all hanging out together, the nine girls having become increasingly close over the past few months. It wasn't out of the ordinary for her to be seeing Akko so much, after all they shared the same group of friends...or at least that was the rationale Diana had tried to sell to herself. In reality however the blonde girl was practically going out of her way when it came to seeing Akko. From offering to help her study to teaching her how to ride a broom, Diana saw more of Akko than she did her own roommates. Of course she was far from opposed to this, but was worried that it was making her feelings for the other girl become to obvious. She kept telling herself that she needed to tone it back, only to find she was constantly ignoring her own advice. Much like she was doing at the moment. She should have told Akko no. She should have returned to her quarters and gone to sleep. She should be following school rules, and not be wandering the halls at this hour. Yet here she was, Akko's hand in her own, as she followed the Japanese girl to see who knows what.
As the two girls walked, Akko seemed to lead her along on autopilot. Somehow the brunette girl seemed to know every hallway, corridor, and shortcut like the back of her hand. She even knew the paths of others on patrol, and was careful to tell Diana when they needed to lay low. The heiress frowned slightly at this, figuring this kind of finesse could only come from regular practice sneaking. She had hoped that Akko getting caught stealing from the kitchen less and less meant that the girl had simply stopped doing it, but now it was quite obvious she was just getting better and better at dodging detection. Diana figured that she should probably have a word with her about that at some point. She didn't get to ponder on it for much longer however, as Akko pulled her from their current hiding spot, and towards the entrance to the gardens.
"Come on Diana, we're almost there!" Akko whispered excitedly.
The shorter girl upped her pace, causing Diana to lightly jog to keep up with her. Where on earth were they headed? Was it something in the gardens that Akko so desperately needed to show her? That would have been her prevailing theory had Akko simply not blown through them all together, leading Diana towards the woods beyond.
"Wait, Akko," Diana felt herself say before she even realized it, uncertainty in her voice. Akko stopped immediately, turning to look back at her curiously. Diana slowly retracted her hand from the other girls grip, clutching it into a fist at her chest.
"Are you sure about this?" Diana asked. "Those woods lie beyond school boundaries. We could get into serious trouble for going in there." Diana looked away as she spoke, desperately trying to avoid her crushes questioning gaze, knowing a frown probably wasn't too far behind. Diana hated seeing her frown.
Instead however, Akko smiled softly, putting her hand to Diana's cheek, and slowly turning her head back until their gazes met.
"I'm 100% super duper sure about this!" She said joyfully. "I just know you'll love what I want to show you. But…," Akko said, pausing slightly before continuing. "We don't have to go right now if it'll make you uncomfortable. The last thing I want is to get you in trouble!"
Diana's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected Akko to go back so easily, and had expected her to not be upset about it even less.
"Really?" the young Cavendish asked.
"Really!" came Akko's chipper response. "I can always try and find a less risky spot anyway, maybe even one on campus."
Diana blinked at this. Now she was confused. What did Akko mean by 'finding another spot'? Once again Diana found herself wondering just what it was Akko wanted to show her. Diana sighed inwardly as she realized her curiosity was starting to get the better of her. Something like this really could only happen with Akko.
"What do you mean? What are you showing me Akko?"
Akko merely grinned in response, taking Diana's hand once more before gesturing to the woods behind her.
"Something incredible, I promise! Do you trust me?"
Diana gulped at the question. Of course she trusted the brunette girl, it would be ludicrous to say that by this point she didn't. Yet she could still feel uncertainty gnawing at her. What if they got caught? Going off school grounds without permission was a serious offense, not to mention doing it after curfew. She would probably be let off easy, being the school star, but what if Akko wasn't offered that same mercy? What if she couldn't save Akko from getting punished, or worse expelled? What if-
Diana met Akko's eyes worriedly, only to find herself entranced once again. The sparkle in the Japanese girl's eyes, the joy and excitement harbored there, all but melted away Diana's lingering apprehension. Shaking herself out of her stupor, Diana nodded her head.
"Of course I trust you Akko, with all my heart," the british girl whispered.
It was hard to tell in the dark, but Diana could have sworn she saw Akko blush as her smile widened.
"Good! Then let's go!" Akko said before resuming leading Diana into the woods.
The two were only walking a few short minutes, Akko warning Diana of any potential tripping hazards before they came upon a small clearing. As they stepped past the treeline and into the open, Akko dropped Diana's hand, turning on a dime to face her with an excited smile.
"Well, this is it!" Akko said before flopping onto her back in the grass. Diana merely stood in place, dumbfounded.
"A...clearing? You dragged me all the way out here in the middle of the night...to show me a clearing in the woods?" Diana asked incredulously.
Diana frowned slightly as Akko snorted at this, and started to laugh. Despite her ire, the heiress couldn't help but note how melodic Akko's laugh sounded to her.
"No silly," Akko said as her laughter died down. "I wanted to show you that." Akko raised her arms, and gestured widely to the sky. "Look up."
Diana did as she was told, and found her breath taken away. Up above, in the patch of sky provided by the forest clearing, a myriad of stars shone brightly. Dots of light painted the darkened tapestry as the stars seemed to dance all around them. Diana was absolutely stunned. The sight was gorgeous. She slowly turned her gaze back to Akko, a look of awe on her face. Akko smiled, patting the patch of grass next to her. Taking her up on the silent offer, Diana laid down next to the shorter girl, getting an even better view of the sky above.
"It's- It's beautiful Akko," Diana said quietly. " I haven't seen the stars this clearly since-"
"Since we stopped the missile together," Akko said, finishing Diana's thought for her. "I thought the exact same thing when I stumbled upon this place and I dunno...I just felt like I had to show you."
Despite the awe of the moment, Diana couldn't help herself from asking, "Wait what do you mean 'stumbled upon'? How did you find this place?"
Akko let out a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her head. "Oh you know… I was just...walking around?" Akko turned to the other girl, seeing that Diana was totally unimpressed with her unconvincing lie.
"Akko…" The British girl began somewhat sternly.
"UGGGH, FINE!" Akko said exasperatedly. "I may or may not have been doing some late night broom racing with Amanda...and crashed landed here after a bad turn"
"Akko! You've only just started flying! That could be dangerous!" Diana grabbed the other girl's hand giving her a disapproving look.
"It wasn't anything crazy, in my defense. We weren't even going fast, we stayed low to the ground, and Amanda even made sure to catch me if I fell!" Akko said hurriedly, not wanting the other girl to worry about something that had already happened.
"The how did you end up crashing?" Diana asked, unconvinced
"Look that doesn't matter right now," Akko retorted. "What matters, is how dang pretty the sky looks." With this, Akko turned her eyes back to the stars. Diana rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smiling before doing the same.
The two laid like that for awhile, simply staring at the stars, quietly enjoying one another's company. Feeling particularly brave, her common sense be damned, Diana even moved to lay her head on the other girl's shoulder. While Akko had initially tensed at the contact, she soon eased into it, resting against Diana as well. They must of have been lying there for hours before Akko broke the silence, raising their joined hands and point at the sky.
"Do you see it Diana? The Shiny Rod."
Diana turned her gaze skyward, looking to where Akko was pointing. There, in the sky the Ursa Major shone proudly above.
"I know it's kind of silly to say, but I kinda feel like it's watching me in a way. Almost like it's up there, looking out for me," Akko said quietly, almost at a whisper as if her words could chase the stars away.
Diana smiled, giving Akko's hand a slight squeeze as she lowered it back down.
"It's not silly at all Akko," Diana said, equally as quiet. "The Claiomh Solais choose you after all. It would make sense that it wants to make sure it's accident prone wielder is alright."
Diana couldn't help but giggle at Akko's resulting pout and whisper-yelled 'Hey!'. Diana's laughter stopped however, when she felt an affectionate squeeze from Akko. Turning to face the other girl, Diana met her gaze.
"The Shiny Rod doesn't have to keep me out of danger, because I know I can count on you for that Diana," Akko said brightly, hitting the young Cavendish with the sweetest of smiles.
Diana could practically feel her heart beat out of her out of her chest as her face lit up with a bright red blush. Trying to hide this fact from Akko, she returned her gaze to the stars. Akko giggled at her embarrassment, following suit and looking up once more.
The two once again fell into silence for awhile, before Akko broke it once more.
"The stars really are beautiful, aren't they?" the brunette asked quietly, a sort of wistfulness to her tone.
Diana slowly turned her eyes back to Akko, taking in her bright smiling face, and sparkling red eyes. While Diana couldn't deny that the stars were in fact, shining very beautifully tonight, she couldn't help but realize for the second time in her life, she found Akko infinitely more beautiful.