Ursula didn't bother trying to hide her smug grin at the meeting.
Diana and Akko not only completed their collection errand, the students also managed to gather a surplus of ingredients, surpassing the professors' expectations. They arrived before dinner time the night before, but Ursula insisted the pair eat and turn in early. Ursula took the magic cache and turned it in for the two grateful witches. She was relieved to see them in person again. Errands weren't easy and with all the creatures charged with magic, anything could happen!
The professors of Luna Nova summoned Diana and Akko the next morning to talk about their errand, and Ursula didn't mask the I-told-you-so grin from her peers. The usually meek teacher was bursting with pride for her students.
"There were no complications on the errand. I noticed that there was an increase of magical creatures and wildlife, most likely due to the return of magic." Diana reported in her usual 'lecturing stance' (Akko's words), back straight and hands behind her back. Akko fidgeted a bit in her spot. Usually, the only time she was summoned was because she was in trouble.
"Even if there were more critters and creatures are out there, being able to catch so many is quite a feat!" Lukić cackled. "You didn't use Miss Kagari as bait, did you?"
Akko opened her mouth to retort, but Diana responded before she could get a word out "Actually, Akko has a very keen eye. I was impressed at how easily she located the items on our list. Her innovative thinking made collecting the more annoying ingredients easier when compared to my previous errands." Diana ended with a smile, "I'm glad she was with me."
"It wasn't a big deal. Diana taught me a lot of stuff while we were there too! I want to help her next time too! If that's ok?" Akko requested, uncharacteristically shy.
"My, you two are quite a team! You're doing Luna Nova a huge favor and I continue to expect great things from you both!" the headmistress chuckled. "I also have some good news to share! After you and your friends solved the Missile Crisis, so many people wanted to find out about the witches who saved the world. Luna Nova has received generous donations from various supporters! Everyone wants to pitch in and aid the Academy that mentored such fine witches. But…" Holbrook trailed off.
"What's wrong? Isn't it a good thing that Luna Nova has more money?" Akko asked with a look of confusion. Diana, being used to these conversations had a guess about what the headmistress was going to say next. "Could it be you are having difficulty deciding how to split the funds?" she inquired.
"As sharp as always Miss Cavendish," Holbrook sighed "While we have plenty of funds, if we were to split it equally it wouldn't be enough to make any significant changes. We need to choose which departments should receive funding."
Immediately the Professors were bickering amongst each other. Everyone wanted to fight for their own department, giving reasons as to why they needed the funding. Headmistress Holbrook gave the two stunned witches a shrug. See what I have to put up with?
Suddenly Akko's hand shot up and she raised her voice over the disputing educators. "I have a suggestion!" she boomed. She stole the attention of everyone in the room, including Diana who nearly jumped out of her skin at Akko's outburst. "Miss Kagari, we can't spend the funding on apple tarts and pools of pudding. If only you filled your head instead of your stomach!" Badcock responded sarcastically.
The room fell quiet.
It was an unspoken rule amongst the professors to avoid criticizing (insulting, more like) Akko in front of Ursula. Akko always seemed to bounce back to her cheery self, so many of the teachers never hesitated using venom in their word.
Until Ursula began to defend the 'dunce' aggressively.
Ever since her hair returned to its fiery red color, Ursula's attitude changed to match. She was still timid and amiable, but as soon as she got passionate about something, especially Akko, she commanded the attention of all present. An uncharacteristically serious Chariot du Nord would steal the spotlight, paralleling her past self on the stage. As Akko and the former performer grew closer, Ursula's protective nature grew correspondingly.
Diana usually defused these situations before they escalated, but she couldn't always be ready. The heiress had hoped that the professors would be more understanding after seeing all of Akko's progress, but it seems that things weren't so simple. Diana could feel the tension in the air and glanced over at Akko's favorite teacher. The Japanese girl had been spending a lot of time with Ursula before their collection errand, which would mean…
The ferocity in Ursula's eyes would have made a dragon cry.
"I believe a good teacher should always be open to suggestions from their students. We need to work together to make Luna Nova better." Ursula said with a faux smile. There was no stuttering or stammering and her voice seemed to cut through the air. Her words were logical and in no way out of line or offending. Her simple statement had no malice, yet her voice seemed to shake Diana to her core and it wasn't even directed at her! Once upon a time, Diana believed logic was the king of all arguments, but after experiencing a truly angry Ursula, she knew emotion could be just as powerful.
It was hard to argue when you couldn't breathe.
Akko felt the change too but remained mostly unfazed. It may have been because of her bond with her teacher or maybe it was because she tended to be oblivious to these sort of things; Akko turned and met Ursula's eyes with a look of uncertainty. "Go ahead, Akko. We're all listening." The astronomy teacher assured her student and subtly commanded her coworkers.
"Yes, dear! We'd love to have the input of our students." Holbrook chuckled. She found Ursula's change to be useful in settling down arguments and wished the younger teacher would speak up in other matters as well. She often opted to sit out of major decisions, drowned out by Finnelan's call for tradition. It was a shame, a young mind with fresh ideas being forced into submission or outright ignored. It's no wonder she and Akko shared such a strong bond, the headmistress thought.
"We should invest in the greenhouse!" Akko responded confidently.
"The greenhouse?" Finnelan parroted disbelievingly.
"I was thinking that since it's so difficult for Luna Nova to collect ingredients, we should grow them instead. I mean, most of the ingredients were plants and fungi anyway. We would need to gather much less on collection errands if we just grew them here! Since Diana and I brought back extras, maybe we could start there?" Akko continued.
"And who will take care of the greenhouse? Our staff is already doing all they can and we won't be able to afford it for very long if we hire new caretakers." Badcock challenged, mindful to watch her tongue around the mama bear glaring at her from across the room.
"The students of Luna Nova can," Diana chimed in. "Akko and I were discussing this last night over dinner. We were wondering if there was an alternative way to gather the ingredients since after we graduate, it will be a burden on the staff. It seems quite a few students are interested in volunteering. We have potential recruits already."
"Yeah! Sucy was all for it when we brought it up!" Akko chirped. "Everyone always said that I was one of the worst students to attend Luna Nova, but you still gave me a chance! If I never had the chance, the collection errand would have taken forever and I'd probably be causing (more) trouble."
"I believe if the students are given a chance to give back to the school, it would strengthen morale as well. It would create a sense of community," Diana finished.
Ursula's intense expression softened as she gazed at the pair of young witches with a gentle expression. "I told you to rest and instead you continue working to help the school." She chuckled. Akko and Diana returned the smile bashfully.
"I agree with Akko and Diana." Lukić concurred. "That's because it's right in your department!" Finnelan quarreled. "I also think it's a pretty solid plan. I'm all for it." Nelson announced. "We'll continue this discussion later. I'm sure our little heroes here don't want to hear old women bickering about finances." Holbrook smiled. "You two are dismissed. Thank you for your idea as well. We should have faith in our students."
As Diana and Akko turned to leave, Holbrook stopped them with one last comment. "Girls, before you go, I want you to know that I'm very proud of you both. Not only did you complete your task, you went above and beyond! We're so lucky to have you both."
The duo departed with matching smiles.
After Classes (Red Dorm)
"Don't you have a date with Diana or something? Why are you lingering around here?" Sucy inquired while mixing a strange bright pink potion.
"Gah! I told you we were going to meet up and study together. We usually have duties after class, but the professors told us to take it easy." Akko defended.
"Diana is usually the subject of all your 'studying' anyway." Sucy retaliated.
"I'm starting to regret telling you guys." Akko pouted.
"We've known for a while Akko," Lotte chimed in. "You could have told us at any time. We're here for you and we've been supporting you two!"
"I know, you guys always have my back! I knew how I felt, I just didn't know it was love." Akko smiled.
"Akko, you're an idiot." Sucy stated, making Akko's pout return, "But you're our idiot and we'll help you in any way we can. So, what's on your mind?"
"You picked up on that, huh?" Akko laughed nervously.
"Akko, what is it?" Lotte asked gently.
"Well—"
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Akko sprung up to answer it while Sucy and Lotte shared a look. They are definitely continuing this conversation later.
"Good Afternoon, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Andrew said while noting the look on Sucy's face. I most certainly interrupted something, he thought.
"Andrew! You're back from Italy! Did you bring me something?" Akko asked excitedly.
"Akko!" Lotte chided.
Sucy rolled her eyes, "Akko, Uncle Andrew only brings gifts for good little witches."
"Good witches? Oh my, it seems I have the wrong room," Andrew played along. He even pretended to walk away.
"Andrew, that's not funny! I'm a changed woman!" Akko cried after him.
Lotte snickered, "Pff, woman."
"I thought you guys were supposed to be supporting me!" Akko whined.
After they were through with their shenanigans, the trio and Andrew started to catch up since his last visit. Andrew has been busy since the Missile Crisis, attempting to unite the magic community with the government. He often left the country on business trips and conferences, making sure to buy souvenirs for his new friends. While he recounted his most recent trip, Akko told him about the Summer Woods. Andrew noticed the way Akko's eyes lit up when she talked about how amazing Diana was.
He was happy Akko found someone that made her beam like that. He wondered if he would look at someone like that too someday. "Andrew, there's something I need to tell you." Akko started seriously. Andrew had a feeling he knew where this was going. "There's a girl I like."
"I see," Andrew responded nonchalantly.
"I like girls," Akko repeated.
"Indeed," Andrew affirmed.
"Andrew!" Akko nagged.
"I heard you, Akko. So, what happened with Diana?" He asked, wanting Akko to get to the point.
"Wh—what? I never said anything about Diana…" Akko stammered.
"Was it supposed to be a secret?" Andrew inquired, eyebrows raised.
"Basically, everyone knew Akko was in love, except Akko," Lotte explained. And Diana.
Akko groaned.
After Akko's 'big reveal' The group continued to chat and joke with each other, mostly teasing Akko about her puppy love, until Andrew had to leave. He handed the souvenirs and sweets to Lotte, not trusting Akko to actually share the treats and said goodbye.
Coincidently, he ran into Diana who was on her way to Akko's dorm. The two have never really gotten along, but he figured if Diana could put a smile that big on Akko's face, she couldn't be all that bad. "Good afternoon Diana."
"Good afternoon Andrew. What brings you here?" Diana asked politely, her perfect mask in place. The boy resisted the urge to roll his eyes, Diana wasn't going to make this easy. Though, given their history it was understandable. Baby steps, he thought. "I was just dropping off some souvenirs at Akko's dorm." He responded. He noticed the way the noble's façade faltered, a small smile appearing at the mention of Akko's name before it morphed back into her usual neutral face when she remembered who she was talking to. "You two have become friends rather quickly. What kinds of topics do you talk about with Akko? I can't see her sharing much in common with a statesman?"
Andrew knew this wasn't a jab at him since Diana wasn't cruel, just cold. She was honestly curious about what on earth they talked about and he couldn't blame her.
"You, mostly," Andrew smirked.
Diana's mask completely dropped.
"Akko talks about you a lot, I feel like I know you better now." Andrew continued, watching as Diana tried to hide how flustered she got from that simple confession.
"Oh," Diana gasped. "What kind of things does she say about me?" she inquired hopefully, looking every bit like a maiden in love.
Andrew's smirk grew into a mischievous grin, "I apologize, but I must be off. You could always ask her yourself." He started to walk away and a frustrated Diana called after him.
"Andrew!"
He waved and continued his trek. Seeing a reaction from Diana made her feel so much more human, he was sure he could get along with this new Cavendish eventually. However, not yet because teasing her was too fun.
Andrew hoped that one day, those two would attend one of his parties as a couple.
Author's Notes
DuwangChew caught me! I love Zelda and Breath of the Wild is one of my favorite games! I used some of the creature names from that game, like the Hightail lizard. I'm sure you've all noticed, but I avoid making up spells and I have a difficult time coming up with cool creature names. I'll write "capture spell" instead of like, cageus magicus, or some crap. I tried on that one and see where it ended?
Anyway, I've never felt like Andrew was an antagonist. I feel like he's now one of Akko's buddies and the official twitter said that they have a "guy-guy" relationship, so a bromance I guess. I wanted to make this fic follow closely to cannon. I didn't want to make Andrew a bad guy just to make the plot move forward, ya know? Plus, them being friends means more shenanigans! I love me some shenanigans! Dianakko shenanigans with their silly friends and wingman Andrew is some of the best kind of shenanigans!
I used google translate to read reviews that are in Spanish. Seriously! Don't hold back!