Akko had a plan. It was a genius plan, born from her natural intellect and inspired heavily by the glistening pixie dust Diana had oh so thoughtfully thrown in her face during her great escape. And despite being a genius, foolproof plan, the materials needed were all surprisingly simple to obtain. All it required was a big, black cloak, some contraband from Constanze, two brooms from the training field and a favor from Professor Ursula.
And Diana, but finding the blonde witch was the easy part. Akko would bet her Shiny Chariot Card that the blonde witch would be hiding in the greenhouse where the Jennifer Memorial Tree was housed. Call it intuition, or her finely tuned Diana sense, but Akko knew, just knew, that the blonde witch would be hiding there, what with her connection to nature and her ancestor, the Olde Witch Beatrix. After all, it was the only place on the school grounds Diana would feel even remotely comfortable at after being so forcefully punted outside of her comfort zone.
By the time Akko was done gathering her items and making her way to the greenhouse, the sun had long since set, leaving only a clear night sky and crescent moon in its wake. But hey, Akko thought grimly as she opened the door to the greenhouse, at least we'll have a good view when things start going boom.
Even without the warmth of the sun, the inside of the greenhouse was still stuffy as heck, though that probably had something to do with the cumbersome black cloak Akko was wearing, never mind the brooms strapped to her back. Akko hardly gave it a thought as she approached the massive oak. She paused briefly to admire what was left of the chrysalises from the Pappyodylia, the sight wringing a reluctant smile to her face, before turning her attention back to the massive tree.
"I know you're there, Diana."
No response. That was okay. Akko hadn't really been expecting one anyway. Still, she continued talking as she circled the base of the tree.
"C'mon, Diana, you know you can't hide forever from me." Akko knocked on the trunk, testing if the force would dislodge anything. No luck. Akko moved on. "Like, it's literally impossible. I was voted most likely to find the needle in the haystack through sheer stubbornness in elementary school, so you know I'm gonna find you, sooner or later."
Still nothing. Akko huffed. So Diana wanted to play hardball, huh? Bring it on.
Akko sucked in a deep breath. "HEY EVERYONE DIDJA KNOW THAT DIANA CAVENDISH HAS A BIG FAT GINORMOUS CRUSH ON-!"
"AKKO!" and just like that, Diana shimmered into view on a large branch near the middle, beet red and utterly scandalized as she dropped her cloaking spell. "You can't simply announce-! That's- have you no shame?!" she spluttered, gesturing indignantly with her wand.
Akko rolled her eyes. Pot meet kettle and never mind the fact that there was nobody around to hear them, human or otherwise. "Yeah, yeah, don't you dare move. I'm coming up," she said, ignoring the feeble protests from Diana as she hefted herself up on a low-hanging branch. Oof. Actually, this probably wasn't a good idea, considering all the junk she was carrying on her. Well, too late to back down now. Akko lifted herself up on another branch. Just jump, jump, jump, ju- oop, that's not a branch oh crap, falling falling FALLING-!
A tendril of bright golden magic whipped out from above and wrapped around Akko's ankle, jerking her to a forceful stop. Unfortunately, what it didn't stop was the whiplash and the painful impact between her skull and the tree. Hullo dark spots my old friend.
Akko swore under her breath, blinking furiously to try and clear the spots in her vision. Somehow, thankfully, she had managed to hold onto everything. Small comfort. "Owowowowow, kay next time, just lemme fall."
The magic tendril did not deign to respond, choosing instead to slowly haul Akko to the top, where she was met face-to-face with an upside down Diana. Or was it right side up? Akko wasn't sure, what with all the blood rushing to her head
Despite the dim lighting, Akko could still make out Diana's features. She was still dressed in her school uniform, but the put-together witch looked uncharacteristically haggard. Somehow, the bags underneath her eyes had deepened, and Akko saw bits of stray leaves scattered about in her ordinarily pristine hair. Exasperation, nervousness, and worry all warred on her face for a second more, before exasperation finally won out.
"Do not tempt me," she muttered, flicking her wand again. The tendril flipped Akko right side up, depositing her on the branch before fading out of existence.
Akko brushed herself off, checking to make sure everything was still in place. You could never be too sure after all. "Thanks."
Diana nodded stiffly. "It was nothing," she said, hesitating a second before gesturing at Akko with her wand. "Do you- are you in need of medical attention?"
"Nah, I'm good. Hard head, ya know?" she said, knocking it for good measure.
Diana nodded again, crossing an arm over her chest. "Good. That's good."
"Yeah."
And with that pithy statement, the most awkward silence in the history of awkward silences descended upon the two. All of the energy, the righteous indignation Akko had mustered up in the last few hours beforehand had popped like a balloon, replaced with a heart that was beating just a tad too fast, which spelled disaster for Akko's plan. She had to at least pretend to be angry at Diana for her plan to work.
Akko chanced a glance at Diana, only to catch the blonde witch staring straight back at her. Diana flinched at being caught before quickly averting her gaze to her feet, a soft pink blush highlighting the tip of her nose.
Well, that's just freaking adorable… Wait, no angry, remember? Angry! Rarrr!
Diana shifted her weight from one leg to the other, eyes still fixed on her feet. "What are you doing here, Akko?" she asked, with the faintest hint of accusation in her voice.
...Annnnnnnd suddenly, not so hard to be angry!
Akko bristled. "What am I- are you being serious?" She took a small step forward (it was a big branch, but Akko wasn't going to take any chances) right into Diana's personal bubble, eyes blazing and hackles raised as she prepared to give the blonde witch a piece of her mind because first of all, how dare she and second of all how dare she.
Akko took another step, gratified to see Diana flinch and take a step back in response, looking to all the world like she was quite regretting her word choice. "You know exactly why I'm here, buster!" she jabbed an accusing finger at Diana's chest. "So don't even try to play dumb with me! It may have worked last night but not this time!"
Diana's eyes darted wildly, looking desperately for an escape route and finding none. The arm crossed over her chest tightened, as if bracing herself for the worst. "I… Must we talk about this now?" she muttered, trying to stall. Her request didn't come out with a whimper, per se. But it came prettttty close.
"Oh, so we're not gonna talk about the big, bloated, bright blue elephant in the room?"
"That's not-" Diana stopped, putting a hand bewilderedly to her brow. "Why is the elephant blue…"
Because blue just so happened to be Akko's favorite color (and the color of Diana's eyes) but unimportant! What was important, was that Akko kept that indignation engine hot and running before she totally lost all her nerve and Diana saw through the smoke and mirrors. "Never mind the fact that you tricked me into thinking you'd been spiked by a LoveLove. Again. Bet you thought it was hilarious, didn't you, playing me like a dummy." Akko scoffed. "Sure know how to make a girl feel special, Diana."
If people could physically wilt like flowers, then that was precisely what was happening to Diana. At the last part though, Diana's head shot up, stricken. "N-no! Akko...that wasn't my intent to-to- insult your intelligence or-or-
"And let's not forget," Akko interrupted before Diana could get in another word edgewise, "once everything was said and done... you pixie bombed me! In the face! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff out of hair?"(Surprisingly not that hard, bless you, Lotte!) "And after all that…" Akko fixed Diana with a hard, hard stare that would've made a gorgon envious, "all you can say is not now?"
For the first time since Akko had known her, Diana had no response. Her mouth moved up and down, but no words came out, as though she had suddenly lost her voice. After a few wordless seconds, she simply hung her head, looking thoroughly, utterly miserable.
"I… I…"
For a second, Akko felt her resolve falter. Geez… Diana's reaction was like kicking a puppy but worse, like- like kicking over a box of ten puppies. Wrapped up in pink bows. With a box of bunnies by the side. So much for keeping that indignation engine even running. Akko held her accusatory posture for another second.
And then she backed off. "Fine." She shrugged. "We won't talk about it."
Diana's head shot up. "I...P-pardon?" she began, caught off guard. Before she could get any further, Akko stuck a broom in her face.
"Let's go flying."
Now Diana appeared wholly lost, blinking almost owlishly at her, then the broom. There was a brief uncertain moment of hesitation where Akko thought Diana would refuse, for whatever reason and that would totally screw with the plan. But the moment passed, and Diana gingerly took the broom from her hand. She stared at it for a second, before looking back at Akko, expression apprehensive.
"Where to?"
Akko didn't respond. Instead, she settled down on her own broom and concentrated on the magical energy flowing in the leylines beneath her. "Tia Freyre!"
The broom lurched to life underneath her, wobbling precariously in the air for a second before adjusting to a shaky idle. Akko bit her lip. Well, crud. A shaky broom wasn't a good sign; flying magic was mostly dependent on the caster's inner emotional state and the fact that her broom looked ready to keel over and die any second now spoke volumes about hers.
Glaring, Akko focused as hard as she could and somehow managed to smooth out the worst of the wobbling. She gave it five minutes before it reverted back to a quivering mess which was plenty of time to get where she needed. Hopefully. Maybe.
Next to her, Diana had seemingly not noticed her struggles or had chosen to ignore them tactfully. She muttered the incantation and Akko noted with a sympathetic wince that the blonde witch's broom seemed to be suffering the same problem as hers; it hovered almost anemically in the air.
"Follow me." Akko pushed off the branch, not waiting for Diana's response. There was a brief moment of panic as Akko's doubt and the forces of gravity took their hold on her. But then the broom kicked into life, and with a sigh of relief, she began to cruise, albeit shakily, in the sky. A second later and Diana popped into vision to her side, following a little back.
The two of them were silent as they flew. Akko took the moment of reprieve to check the conditions of the sky. She took a deep breath through her nose of the night air. Chilly, but not unbearably so. And the sky was still blessedly clear, the crescent moon the only source of light in the darkness. Excellent.
As she observed everything, Akko found her gaze inevitably wandering over to her flying companion. Even on a broom, Diana's posture was textbook perfect, her gaze laser-focused on the horizon as her hair trailed gracefully behind her in the wind and wow, if that didn't take Akko's breath away. It was like….like looking at a painting, but a really, really good one, like the best painting, ever. Or… no. It was more like….like… aw, screw it.
Diana was stunning, simple as that. And maybe that wouldn't be so bad in comparison if the blonde witch had some sort of ugly inner flaw, like having a hobby of making fun of the poor or being a morning person but nooooo, she just had to be gorgeous on the inside as well. Heart twistingly, stupidly, gorgeous, inside and out. Just looking at her made each beat of Akko's heart twitch with a sharp pang that left her giddy, terrified and exhilarated, all at once. For a second, Akko debated just dropping the act and confessing everything out into the open, just so that her heart could get off the rollercoaster that was Mr. Emotions Wild Ride.
Uh, hullo, Akko here, I've had this super big crush on you since forever and I just found out through my (clinically) insane friend and a cup of tea that I thought was spiked but not actually spiked that you also sorta, kinda, maybe have a crush on me back?
Pfft, yeah. Like that would ever work.
Suddenly, Akko noticed a familiar structure closing in the distance and she pulled up lightly on her broom. "Stop here," she called out to Diana, pointing down.
She saw recognition spark in Diana's eyes as the two of them touched down on the platform to the leyline station. As Akko dismounted her broom, she noted with some nostalgia that the last time she was here at the station, she had been trying to convince Diana to stay at Luna Nova instead of heading back home to run the Cavendish estate. What had been her reason to get Diana to stay again? Oh yeah. Something, something can't-let-my-destined-rival-leave something something.
Rivals, riiiiiight.
Akko snorted. Apparently the Nile flowed strong in this corner of the world as well.
"What…" Diana spoke up, breaking the silence. She glanced over to Akko, before averting her gaze, clutching her broom like some sort of lifeline. "What are we doing here?"
Akko faced away, crouching down and began pulling out all her supplies and placing them on the ground. "You'll see. Just sit tight," she gestured vaguely with her hand before fixing the blonde witch with a suspicious squint. "You better not even think about running off again, got it?"
Diana flinched at the accusation, but she nodded in assent. Satisfied, Akko turned back to her growing pile of items and began carefully sorting them. The crystals that Constanze had lent her looked to be intact, despite the rough handling earlier at the memorial tree. Thank the Nine for that. Her experience with pyrotechnics was limited but Akko was sure anything that had even the slightest chance to go boom around her was best handled with caution. And behind several blast walls, but hey, beggars, choosers and what not.
Akko took out her wand, opening up the compartment on the side and clicked one of the red crystals into the currently empty chamber. She waited for a second, frowning when nothing happened. She gave her wand a vigorous shake and, with an unsteady flicker, the green glow at the tip finally turned a weak crimson. Oooookay. So far, so good?
"Akko…" she heard Diana say behind her. Akko ignored her, too busy concentrating on the task at hand. "Akko…" Diana tried again. There was a moment of silence. And then, quietly...
"I'm sorry."
That got Akko to pause, her heart suddenly stuttering at Diana's whispered apology. She gulped but kept her back turned to Diana, instead readying the next crystal. Her hands shook a bit and she willed them to stay steady as she listened.
"I'm sorry," Diana repeated, and judging by her quiet tone, she really did sound repentant. Wretched even. "Last night, it… it was never my intention to insult your intelligence or to make light of your feelings. I didn't- circumstances played out in a way that I could never imagine and… and I panicked. I took advantage of your trust because of that. It was a wretched, despicable, selfish thing to do and I- I know…"
There was a tense pause where Akko didn't even dare to breathe.
"I know it seems like I'm putting on airs but… I swear to you, on my family name, I never meant to cause you any harm. I swear. I… I…" she heard Diana swallow thickly.
"I cherish you too much to do such."
The last part was whispered so quietly that Akko had to strain her ears to hear it. The crystals laid inert in her hand, completely forgotten at the moment. When Diana spoke next, there was a catch in her voice.
"I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate. And I understand, if you wish to b-break all relations with me, I-I..."
Screw the plan.
Akko shot up, the sudden movement sending her cloak into a flurry. She heard Diana inhale sharply, but Akko made no move to turn around. Instead, she looked up at the sky above her, focusing all her attention on a starless night.
"You drove me crazy for the longest time, you know?" Akko said, addressing the silence. "Your grades, your looks, your…" she gestured helplessly at the sky. "Everything. Just everything about you made me want to pull my hair out and gnash my teeth, because no matter where you were, or who you were with, you always, always, always shined brighter than everyone else. Always. And that drove me nuts because I just… I just...
I just wanted so badly to shine as bright as you did."
There was no response from Diana. Akko hadn't been expecting any. This was her moment. She took a deep breath, her fingers shaking as she unbuttoned her cloak.
"Well, guess what?"
Without warning, she spun on her heel, tearing the cloak off with a satisfying flourish, letting it float off in the sudden, fortuitous breeze. She placed her hands on her hips, standing tall, taller than she actually felt.
"It's my turn now."
Diana's eyes boggled. Standing there, in a close replica of Shiny Chariot's outfit in all of its splendor, Akko let a hint of satisfaction seep into her posture at Diana's visceral reaction. The gaping mouth alone was worth the extra pounds and effort the cloak Akko had used to conceal the Shiny Chariot outfit because damn if she didn't feel like she was on top of the world at the moment.
Now comes the hard part.
Spurred on by the sudden bout of confidence, Akko used her toe and kicked her broom up, catching it with a twirl. She turned to face Diana and put on her biggest, brightest grin that just had to be visible from the moon and beyond.
"Just watch! I'll show you just how bright a star I can be!"
And with that, Akko turned and jumped.
As the wind rushed past her, she heard Diana yell out in surprise, "AKKO!" but she ignored it, concentrating instead on one final prayer to her magic. Ooh, hey, Magic, my buddy, my pal, my ol' frenemy. I know we don't always get along but if you gave me just five to ten minutes of your full cooperation, you'd be doing me a real solid, kay thanks!
As best as she could with gravity's pull on her, Akko forced the broom underneath her feet so that she was standing on it and with a shout, "Tia Freyre!"
The broom lurched beneath her and Akko nearly lost her balance, remembering to shout out just in time a sticking spell as she sped into the night sky. Heart pounding, Akko settled into a speedy cruise as she got her bearings. Holy Shiny Rod, how the heck did Amanda make standing on her broom look so easy? In hindsight, it probably would've been a good idea to ask Amanda for some tips before attempting to ride the broom with her feet for the first time, ever.
Akko tested shifting her weight to the left and right and grimaced as the wood let out an audible groan before obeying her commands. Well, at least she was going fast. She did a few quick circuits, more to try and impress her audience than anything before moving on to the next part of her plan.
Reaching down, Akko took out the pouch at her hip and lifted the top, nearly getting a faceful of pixie dust for her troubles thanks to the wind. Freaking pixie dust. Easy enough to clean up if you knew the spell but just as easy to make a mess with if you weren't careful. Or facing mach-speed wind force, either or.
Coughing, Akko released the pouch, letting the delicate golden sparkles trail behind her like the tail end of a comet. With her other hand, she opened her wand and jabbed it at the golden path. The tip still had the crimson glow, but it seemed dimmer than it had been a minute earlier. No time to worry about it now though.
"Diphulaniado!"
A crimson orb coalesced at the tip of her wand and with a mighty heave, Akko lobbed it straight into the trail.
The reaction was immediate. As soon as the orb made contact, it exploded, a rainbow of sparks of every which color shooting forth. Akko yelped, putting up an arm to cover her eyes and somehow managing to keep her balance on the broom as the shockwave sent her careening. Once she got her bearings, she stopped and gaped. When Constanze had promised her a flash and a bang, Akko had been expecting something along the lines of some pretty, low-key fireworks, not the freaking sun exploding in her face holy crap.
Well, too late to back down now. Despite having the visual flair of a miniature supernova, the fireworks also seemed to have an approximate lifespan of nothing. Already, the rainbow glow was fading into the dark. Akko gritted her teeth and willed her broom to begin speeding into the sky as she prepared her next one.
"Diphulaniado!"
Another cacophony of sound and color exploded behind her, this one smaller than the one before. Akko cursed and fired again. Constanze had assured her that the crystals would shoot continuously once they absorbed enough pixie dust, but like a picky fire spirit in a campfire filled with fuel, they were refusing to catch and light.
"Diphulaniado! Diphulaniado! DIPHULANIADO!"
The last orb she fired must've heard the frustration (desperation) in her voice. There was a massive, ear-shattering bang! that sent shockwave out in every which direction and finally, finally, the sky began to light up in a chain reaction of dazzling sounds and colors. Boom! Btoom baBOOM!
Akko panted heavily, hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath as she surveyed the fruits of her labor. A beeping sound from her wand forced her to look down. The battery meter flashed red at her before the compartment opened up and spat out the spent crystal. Welp, there went the last of her magic. She was flying the broom entirely on fumes and sheer stubbornness of will at this point. At least the fireworks were working as intended now. They were striking, they were dazzling, they were…
Allllllllready dying out. Akko groaned. Craaaaaaap. She had to move fast if she wanted the fireworks to serve as a backdrop to last into the final most crucial part of her plan AKA The Firework Confession. Turning the broom around, she began descending to the platform, willing the stupid broom to go faster before her time ran out.
The broom must've somehow sensed her frustration and decided to retaliate. A quarter of the way down, it jerked spastically once, twice and with the creaking groan of wood, went dead beneath her feet.
"WHOA!"
"AKKO!"
Thankfully, she wasn't too high up, so Akko at least managed to land on her feet. The momentum pitched her forward and she was left pinwheeling her arms like an idiot as she tried to stop...
And ran right into Diana's outstretched arms.
"Akko! Are you alright? Akko!"
Akko looked up. Diana stared back at her, the worry plain in her eyes as she drew her closer, completely missing the colorful display of light behind her. All of Diana's attention was on her, like she was the only person in the world at the moment. This close, Akko could make out every feature of Diana's face all framed in the light.
"Akko, please," she pleaded, drawing her even closer. She cupped Akko's face and Akko found herself leaning slightly into the touch. Diana was just so warm. "Say something."
Right. The plan. Right. Akko had a speech and everything memorized for this moment. She was having trouble remembering how it began though. Her thoughts were just a fuzzy jumble in her head. There was a ringing in her ears. How did her speech start again? Oh right.
Akko opened her mouth.
"I love you."
Diana froze.
… Wait. That's not how the speech starts. That's not how it starts at all… What did I just say?
...
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyy gaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd
Akko tore herself out of Diana's grip, backpedaling furiously. Diana let her and just stared back, her expression frozen, eyes the size of saucers. Crap, crud, cripes. Too much, way too much, too soon! "I-I mean I-I," she babbled, searching for any excuse in her head to what she had admitted. So much for the speech. "I...I…"
But there was no excuse forthcoming. Nothing. Akko dropped her hands. There was nothing she could say to salvage the situation. Nothing. All pretenses of the plan had been lost.
She lifted her head to look back at Diana. The pang in her chest was back now, the feelings of fear and exhilaration amplified tenfold. She could physically feel her entire body trembling as she laid her feelings bare.
"I love you," she admitted again. "A-and I know that sounds stupid coming from me since I'm not as smart or as pretty or-or-or as brilliant as you." Akko swallowed, feeling her chest constrict in terror, in liberation, she didn't know.
"But I will be, one day! I promise! I-I'll work hard and show you, that-that I can be a star too! I promise! I- !"
A particularly sad whine from behind interrupted her confession. Akko turned around and her heart sank as she saw what was left of her pitiful magic spell. The fireworks were just dismal pinpricks of light now, fading into the nothingness. No. No, no, no! Angrily, Akko whipped out her wand.
"Diphulaniado!"
Nothing. Standing there, in the fading light, Akko felt the back of her eyes prick uncomfortably. She rubbed furiously at them before trying again. "Diphulaniado! Diphulaniado!"
A feeble spark ignited at the tip. It flew a few inches haphazardly in the air before it simply died out, giving up the ghost, leaving them in darkness.
"I...I…" There was a lump in her throat, making it impossible to speak. It didn't matter. There was nothing worthwhile left to be said.
"I just wanted to be your star," she whispered into the empty sky, "like how you're mine."
There was no response. Akko closed her eyes, kneading them with her knuckles. Stupid. Stupid. What had she been thinking? She was just Akko, a stupid, stupid witch who just got lucky. She wasn't special. She wasn't a star. She was- she was...
A warm hand closed over hers. Akko's head shot up.
Diana stood next to her, staring up at the empty sky. Her expression was unreadable, but the hand in hers was gentle.
"You silly girl," she whispered, and there was such an overwhelming fondness in her voice that Akko stopped breathing. "You silly, beautiful, brilliant, wonderful girl."
Slowly, Diana raised their hands, holding the wand high above their heads. The wand suddenly sparked, crackled and began to glow, brighter than before, a veritable beacon in the dark.
"I thought you knew, Akko."
Akko couldn't breathe. She could only stare upwards at their hands. "K-know what?" she whispered.
Diana turned her head, looking Akko straight in the eye. There was fire in her gaze, fire mixed with a slew of emotions: Passion, understanding, joy and most of all, a fierce adoration, so overwhelmingly strong that it took all of the air out of Akko.
"You are already… my shooting star!"
And with that, she brought their hands down.
Tendrils of every which color burst forth from her wand, flying out as a crescent stream of bright, sparkling ribbons. Akko watched, mouth open, as the beams of light rose up and began streaking across the night sky in a shower of falling stars. One by one, they began to explode like fireworks. Each flying spark turned into another shooting star that burst into color as well. With each burst of color, another one took its place and it showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.
It was the perfect combination, a celebration of her own magic intertwined with Diana's, mixed into a shimmering amalgam of light and color. Not even in Akko's wildest dreams could she imagine Diana's answer to be so crushingly beautiful. It was perfect.
"It's gorgeous," Akko whispered.
"Yes," she heard Diana agree. Akko turned, expecting to see Diana gazing fondly to the sky at their handwork. Instead, she was met with Diana's fond gaze staring back at her. "It is."
And then she smiled.
Just like that, Akko felt the last of her doubts melt away and she couldn't help but smile back, feeling the warmth wash over her like a wave. All her worries and fears before, they seemed so silly in comparison, when she had Diana's hand in her own.
Still smiling, the two of them turned back to regard the showering stars. Diana was silent and Akko followed suit, content to bask in the lights. She rested her head on Diana's shoulder and her smile widened when Diana shifted to bring her closer.
Nothing could make this moment more perfect. Nothing.
"I love you too," Diana whispered into her hair.
...Was it possible to die from smiling? Because it physically hurt Akko's face to smile as hard as she was now.
The two were silent for another second more, before Akko lifted her head to give Diana a wry smirk. "So. Shooting star, huh?"
Diana shrugged offhandedly, looking a tad sheepish. "It seemed apt at the moment."
"Suuuuuure. Just admit that you were awake the whole time when I said I liked you last niiiiiiiiiiiight…" Akko trailed off at the confused look Diana gave her, "but you actually weren't awake when I said that and I just outed myself didn't I, ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," she groaned, hanging her head. "Me and my big mouth."
Diana laughed, a tinkling sound that sent the butterflies in Akko's stomach to her entire body. "I don't think it matters much now, does it?" she said, turning to face Akko, clasping both hands over Akko's. "You would've committed to the same actions regardless, correct?"
Akko looked down at her hands and felt her mouth make another wibbly-wobbly, happy smile. "Maybe," she admitted with a huff, scuffing her toes. "You know me. I like to put on a show and all. Probably ditch the cloak next time though. That thing weighs a ton."
"I can only imagine," agreed Diana. A particularly loud firework had both of them turning to regard the display. When she spoke again, her tone was light, almost forced.
"But… if you are feeling slighted," she hesitated. Her eyes seemed to focus on a spot below Akko's nose. "I feel it only proper to rectify said slight, yes?"
The statement was so utterly Diana that Akko couldn't help roll her eyes, still smiling fondly. "That better mean something along the lines of 'please shut up and kiss me.'"
Diana flushed, a pretty pink color that was made all the more lovely by the lights, but there was determination in her eyes as she nodded earnestly. "E-essentially, yes."
With a knowing smile, Akko pulled away, taking a step back before putting her hands behind her back. She closed her eyes and pushed her face forward. "Ready whenever you are."
There was a pause, the sound of clothes rustling from what Akko could only assume was Diana's way of mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. Which actually was a smart idea now that Akko thought about it because holy crap, Diana Cavendish, THE Diana Cavendish was about to kiss her, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap she wasn't ready, she wasn't ready AT ALL.
Diana stepped closer and Akko's own heart began pounding more furiously than it ever had in her life, intent to escape her chest and explode like another shooting star in the sky. She could actually feel her heartbeat in her face.
She heard Diana clear her throat before placing a hand underneath her chin and gently tilted it upwards and Akko stopped thinking, focusing only on the sound of Diana's breathing as it got closer...and closer… and…
"What are you kids doing here?"
Instantly, the two sprang apart. Akko blinked, disoriented, a little confused, a lot pissed off.
"It's against the rules for students to be on school property this late at- is that you, Akko?"
Akko blinked again, focusing on the familiar voice coming from the other side of the leyline platform. "Wha- who- wait, Herbie?!" she screeched. Are you freaking kidding me?! Of all times, why now?!
The minotaur janitor in question crossed his arms sternly. "I can ask you the same thing. The staff can overlook a lot of stuff but sneaking into school property to set off some fireworks? Nuh uh."
Akko groaned in frustration. Nine Olde Witches, why now? Of all times, why now?! "Look, Herbie, I know this looks bad and honestly, I don't have a good explanation either, but would you mind going away for like, just five freaking min- mmph!"
Apparently, Diana had grown just as impatient, stepping forward to place her lips on Akko's, audience be damned. It was a first kiss that highlighted just how inexperienced they both were. Teeth clacked against each other and Akko was preeeeeety sure that their noses weren't supposed to smoosh together like that.
Yet, in that moment, with the stars falling and bursting behind them as the perfect backdrop, all she could think was wow, softer than her hands!
Thank the Nine her mouth was otherwise occupied.
When they finally separated for air, Akko stumbled backward, seeing stars in her vision thanks to the oxygen deprivation. That seemed to be the theme for the night, stars in her vision.
"Wowsers," Akko mumbled, her vocabulary currently limited at the moment. "Wowsers."
Diana nodded, looking as stunned as Akko felt. "Wowsers indeed," she mimicked.
The two caught each other's eyes, and Akko erupted into giddy giggles as Diana joined her a second later. Because, wowsers, indeed? It was just so silly, yet so right to describe the bubbly feeling coursing through her from head to toe as Diana held her close.
Finally, when the laughter ran its course, Akko took the chance to peek past Diana. Herbie had covered his eyes with both hands, yelling something about rules and yadda yadda. "We're probably going to get a lifetime of detention, aren't we?"
Diana followed her gaze and frowned, more out of annoyance than worry. "Most likely."
Akko kicked up her broom, catching it like a pro. "Feel like committing a little evasion of justice before we turn ourselves in?"
Diana's frown turned into a conspiring smile. "Most definitely."
"Then hop on! Tia Freyre!" Without a problem, the broom shot up. Akko situated herself on the broom (sitting down this time because let's be real, standing while flying was plain terrifying) and let Diana wrap her arms around her waist as the blonde witch sat side-saddle. She turned around and grinned, feeling ridiculously, stupidly happy. She didn't feel like stopping anytime soon either. This moment in time was everything Akko had ever wanted, and more.
"You ready? Let's ride the stars!"
And Diana smiled right back at her, brighter and more captivating than any star in the night sky. "Together!"
"Together!"
And with that, the two took off, blazing a dazzling trail for the shooting stars around them.
Me: I'm done! That's it! Shooting Star is complete, after so many plus words and months, I am completely, 100% don-!
Also Me: HANNA BARBARA OMAKE DO IT YOU WON'T
Me: ...Shit
