Day 6: Stars

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

Chapter 6.

Diana always seems to be busy with duties given to her by the teachers or Headmistress, but Akko knows there are some days when she's more swamped than others. Today is one of those days.

Diana has been running errands, delivering papers, organizing files, and performing all other sorts of helpful tasks for the older witches without ever showing so much as a sigh of dismay about any of it. She accepts every request with pride and confidence. The teachers don't necessarily know she's already busy with other things to do, so Diana is eager to assist them in any way she can.

She's always been this way, and Akko admires her for it, at least to a certain degree. But it's days like this when Diana is stretching herself thin when Akko starts to feel defensive about her, wishing she'd speak up and learn how to say no every once in a while, for her own sake.

But when she considers Diana's feelings, she knows if it was Akko herself being asked to do things by people she wanted to impress, she'd do as many of them as possible. So Akko has no right to go up to Diana and pout at her to stop, no matter how badly she might want to.

By the end of the day, Diana is visibly frazzled, but she begins her usual patrol duties without complaint or hesitation. It's all Akko can do to secretly tail her and remind her about dinnertime when it arrives.

At this point, Diana pauses her patrol and joins Akko and their other friends for supper, but the very second Diana is finished eating, she's back on her feet again.

"My patrol lasts until curfew tonight," she announces. "Hannah, Barbara, I will see you later tonight. Everyone else, good evening." With a dip of her head she takes her leave.

Akko whimpers after her.

"That girl, she works way too hard…"

"Tell us about it," Hannah sighs.

"Working too hard is what makes her Diana," Barbara adds.

"I know, but still…" Akko grabs her hair and starts muttering to herself, trying to think of something she can do for Diana. And miraculously, she actually gets something. She jumps up from her chair like a jack-in-the-box, startling the other witches at her table.

"I got it! Lotte, Sucy, don't wait up for me!" And before anyone can say anything, Akko takes off after Diana.

She follows her at a distance, making sure Diana doesn't notice her presence, waiting until the final moments leading to curfew are finally up. At 9PM, Akko doesn't waste a single second in dashing forward from behind a pillar and grabbing Diana's hand.

"Diana!"

Diana gives a short, surprised scream.

"A-Akko-?!" She quickly covers her mouth, blushing and eyes wide before lowering her tone. "You startled me! What are you doing here?"

"Sorry." Akko loosens her grip on Diana's hand just a little, not enough to let go, but just enough to easily slip her fingers between hers to interlock them. "But you're free now, right? You're done with everything?"

Diana blinks at her in confusion, but nods.

"Yes. I've just got to report my patrol to the Headmistress and-"

"Gaaah, you can do that tomorrow! Headmistress Holbrooke knows you finished your patrol like you always do! Tell her in the morning. But for now, come with me!"

"E-Eh? Akko-"

But Diana has no hopes of swaying Akko's made-up mind. Akko begins pulling her by the hand down the empty hallway, and Diana hastily follows, trying to get answers from her.

"Akko, what's gotten into you? And how did you find me so quickly? Don't tell me you were following-"

"Never mind that!" Akko says. "I have a job for you now Diana, so just come with me."

"A job?" Diana's tone turns a bit more serious now. "Of course. If there's something you require assistance with, then I will gladly-"

"Geez, you're so uptight, Diana!" Akko wails. "Don't worry about it! Just come with me!"

"Akko, I'm afraid you aren't making much sense…" But even so, Diana follows her to the exit doors. When she realizes Akko intends to take her outside, she speaks up again. "Akko? Curfew has passed. We are no longer permitted to go outside. Unless… is there some sort of emergency?"

"Yes!" Akko says. "It's a huge emergency! Super important!"

"Oh dear. What could-"

"Come on!" Without explaining anymore, Akko pulls her outside into the cool, quiet twilight.

Crickets are already chirping and buzzing, and tiny golden lights are dancing through the grasses - some fireflies and some faeries. Akko is now all but dragging Diana along, still without properly explaining the situation. Diana frantically tries to keep up.

"Akko, please!" she gasps. "What is the matter? What is the emergency?"

Akko pulls her a few more paces forward, then comes to a halt. She looks upward and then points to the sky.

"There!" she exclaims. "Diana, look! The sky is sooooo pretty!"

Diana nearly stumbles to a halt beside her.

"Pardon…?"

Akko turns to her and grins.

"See? That's the emergency! The sky is so pretty and you're missing it!"

Diana blinks several times.

"Akko…"

"Nope!" Akko stops her. "You've been working too hard today, Diana! You didn't get a chance to stop and smell the roses, so now I'm making sure you have the chance to stop and look at the stars! You need a rest!"

"So then there is no emergency-"

"Yes there is! I just told you!" Now Akko takes both of Diana's hands and pulls her another step forward, where fewer trees block the sky and more stars twinkle into view. "The emergency is that there are so many stars to look at and so little time to see them! You've gotta help me, Diana!" There's a cheerfulness in her tone that matches the sparkling in her eyes.

Diana is relieved to hear there was no real emergency - at least, not in the sense she'd been thinking of. As Akko begins slowly twirling around in the grass, Diana is lead along with her. Akko giggles, amused by Diana's puzzled expression. After a moment, she comes to a pause.

"Diana?" she prompts. "Sorry. I know this isn't a real emergency. I just…" Akko drops her hands and shuffles her feet. "You were working so hard today. I just thought it'd be nice for you to take a breather. This was all I could think of…"

Diana starts reprimanding herself now for not speaking up before Akko could look so guilty like this. Diana takes hold of the girl's hands once more and gives a squeeze.

"Akko. You have no need to apologize. In fact, I must express my gratitude." Akko perks up, and Diana leaves a quiet kiss on her cheek. "You are absolutely right. It is an emergency that no one is admiring the stars tonight. Only we can fulfill those roles."

"Diana…" Akko's face lights up brighter than the half-moon above them, and all the stars in the sky seem to twinkle in her eyes. She throws her arms around Diana in a big hug. Diana accepts, hugging her back with vigor.

Eventually, the two of them get to settling down in the grass, lying side-by-side on their backs to gaze up at the night sky. Akko makes quick work of finding Diana's hand and holding on gently.

"It's still so amazing to me," she sighs. "Shiny Rod is up there, watching over all of us."

Diana smiles to hear the bittersweetness in Akko's voice. She feels a pang in her chest, and can only imagine Akko is feeling the same. Diana squeezes her hand.

"Yes. You've properly returned the light and the stars and the magic to their rightful places, Akko."

"Not me!" Akko corrects her. "We did! You and me and all of us, Diana!"

"Of course. You're absolutely right."

A breeze drifts over them, and the chorus of crickets becomes a little louder. For a moment, both witches are silent, admiring the sky and all of its brilliant stars. Akko curls her fingers through Diana's and inches a little closer to her.

"Hey, Diana? How many stars are there?"

"Far too many to count," she replies. "However, we have named many of their constellations."

"Do you know all of them?"

"Most."

"Ooooh! Tell me, tell me!"

Diana chuckles.

"Very well. Let's see… if we're going alphabetically, there's Andromeda, Antlia, Apus, Aquarius…"

Diana goes off listing them all, and Akko listens more to the sound of her voice than the words she is saying. She turns her gaze back to the stars, seeking out the seven that once composed the Shiny Rod. She finds them easily, as they always seem to shine a little more brightly than all the others in her eyes.

Akko lifts her other hand and waves up at them, and she believes they twinkle back. She closes her eyes for a moment, listening to the hum of Diana's voice as she continues listing constellations.

"Then there is Ophiuchus… Orion…"

"Oh!" Akko says. "The belt, right? I can't believe the Ancient Greeks could see such amazing images in the stars! It's incredible!"

"Indeed…"

"I mean, even when Professor Ursula showed us them in class, I couldn't see anything until the lines got connected! What about you, Dia…na…"

As Akko turns her head to look at her companion, she tapers off as she realizes Diana is asleep. Her grip has gone limp in Akko's now, her eyes have fallen comfortably shut, and her breathing has become as deep and slow as the wind.

Akko smiles, turning onto her side to face her now rather than the stars. She curls a lock of Diana's white hair around her finger, then gently lets go of her hand in order to hug her instead, loosely draping an arm across her stomach.

"You worked super hard today," she murmurs. "So sleep all you want!"

Akko kisses her forehead and rests her head on Diana's shoulder for a while, enjoying the coolness of the night since Diana is so warm. She just has to make certain she doesn't fall asleep too, or else they'll both get in trouble.

Akko glances at the stars when she can, but for the most part she would rather look at Diana instead.

She stays snuggled up to to her, listening to the steady beat of her heart for a long time before she feels herself getting drowsy. Leaving one last kiss on Diana's cheek, Akko pushes herself up now and gathers the sleeping witch into her arms. She rests her forehead against hers for a moment, then gets to her feet with a yawn.

She carries Diana back inside for the night, making sure to give her one last kiss before handing her over to Hannah and Barbara to bring to bed.

Akko returns to her own room and crashes into bed with a happy sigh, with the sight of the stars still in her mind, and Diana's warmth still in her heart.

A/N: I've done them stargazing before too but listen... I wanted Akko carrying her ;w;

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