A/N: Hello my little Game of Love family! Just wanted to take a couple seconds to express my appreciation for all the support and very kind words Y'all have given me! I'm so happy you guys are enjoying my crazy story! I love you all!

Secondly, I just wanted to let you know that this Chapter is a bit shorter than normal due to a crazy busy weekend, but I am working on a short bonus chapter for you guys that should be posted this weekend! Yay!

Now enjoy!

Chapter 21

Love And Forgiveness

Quiet.

Quiet was something Akko was not used to. Her life was always so chaotic. She woke up to chaos every morning, lived with chaos during the day, and went to bed after chaotic nights spent with five other housemates. She knew it was bound to be crazy when six teenagers lived together, but she never minded the craziness. Being rather energetic, she was thankful for it and never had a reason to slow down. Until now.

Right now she was cherishing the calming quiet as she leaned back against her girlfriend's chest at the head of the large hotel bed, the light from the television washed over them in the otherwise dark room. Diana had picked out a movie for them to watch, surprisingly a romantic comedy, which Akko would tease her for ruthlessly before they settled down on the bed and pulled the blankets over themselves. The brunette couldn't bring herself to pay attention, though. Instead of the sounds of voices and music emanating softly from the speakers of the television, she opted to listen to the music of her girlfriend's calming heartbeat. The sound was quickly becoming one of Akko's favorites, adding to the other sounds that came from Diana in their more...intimate encounters. Those would be forever be her favorites, hands down. But this sound was different. It was peaceful. It was...home. She was home when she was with Diana like this, or with her anywhere else for that matter. As long as she could place her ear over her girlfriend's chest and hear the soft 'thump thump' of a heartbeat, she was home.

Lost in thought, Akko began tracing Diana's hand with her index finger, memorizing every line and crease on her palm. As she looked down at Diana's hand, she felt a kiss being placed softly to the top of her head. The brunette grinned at the affectionate act before bringing Diana's hand up to her own lips and kissing every knuckle slowly and softly. Akko couldn't think of a way to make this night anymore perfect than it already was. If she was being honest, she wanted this night to last forever. She wanted to stay in bed with Diana and listen to her heartbeat, to exchange affection and to just...be here with the person she loved the most in this world. Why couldn't every night end like this? Could it? It certainly could if they...could they?

"Akko?" Diana softly called out, bringing the brunette back to reality.

"Hmm?" Akko hummed a reply tiredly, beginning to trace the blonde's hand once more.

"Are you okay, love? You've been...uncharacteristically quiet." Diana's voice was laced in concerned and Akko could feel her head dip to look down at her.

Even with her eyes closed, the brunette could clearly picture Diana's eyebrows furrowed in concern, and it made her smile adoringly before she turned her head to look up at the blonde, only confirming that she was right.

"I'm okay, Diana. I'm just...thinking about stuff." Akko nuzzled her head into the crook of Diana's neck and started tracing the blonde's defined collarbone now to keep her hand busy. Anything to keep away the sleepiness that had been creeping up on her, unfortunately it seemed like a losing battle as the heartbeat and warmth of her girlfriend all but lulled her into unconsciousness. She could stay awake. Just a few more minutes.

"Hm." Diana answered with simple hum, shivering slightly at the new contact and set her eyes on the television once more. In truth, the blonde had no idea what was happening on the screen. She found it hard to focus on anything else whenever Akko was touching her in anyway, or when she was with the girl in general. "If I may ask, what are you thinking about."

"Just that it's quiet. I like it." The brunette stated as her eyelids began to droop.

"It is quite nice." Diana agreed with a slow nod of her head as she absentmindedly started combing her fingers through Akko's hair. "It's nice to finally have this time together with out distraction."

"Mmm. We should do this every night." The brunette mumbled as she stopped fighting to keep her eyes open. The sensation of her girlfriend's hand combing through her hair seemed to be too much.

"Nothing would make me happier if would could." The blonde whispered as she could feel Akko's breathing become more slow and steady. She placed another kiss to the top of Akko's head and opened her mouth to say goodnight, but the brunette spoke again.

"Then we should live..." Akko trailed off to let out a long yawn before continuing. "together."

Diana's body went rigid and her eyes went wide in shock. She craned her neck to try and catch of glimpse of Akko's face to see of she was serious about what she had just said, or if she was still awake at all.

"What?" She chanced a whisper but was met with silence and a light snore from her girlfriend. Her heartbeat quickened and her breathing became shallow as she looked up at the TV again. "What?" She whispered again to herself, still unsure if that actually came out of Akko's mouth. Was she dreaming? She pinched her leg with the fingers of her free hand just to make sure. She winced at the pain and concluded that no, she was in fact not dreaming. Diana picked up the remote control and turned the television off leaving her in complete darkness now to deal with her thoughts. Had Akko really meant that? The girl had been half asleep when she said it, but does that make her words any less true? Would she even remember saying it in the morning? The blonde let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why do you do this to me, Akko?" She whispered as she leaned her head back against the headboard of the bed, now looking up at the ceiling. "What am I supposed to do with that?"

Before she could delve any deeper into her thoughts, Akko's phone lit up in the darkness just on the other side of the brunette. Diana leaned over and picked it up before the screen could go dark again. She saw that it was a message from Amanda. The blonde bit her lip and looked down at her girlfriend, wondering if she should wake Akko up or read the message herself. Would she be mad if Diana opened her phone? Chances are she wouldn't be but wasn't that an invasion of privacy? How had this night all the sudden become so complicated? She tapped her finger on the phone screen for a few seconds before she made the decision to open the message. Just in case it was an emergency. Sure, that was it. She swiped the screen and winced at the bright light that nearly blinded her. After her eyes adjusted, she opened the message.

'Hey Akko. The shut in found Chariot. Team meeting tomorrow at 9 in coach's room. Be ready to leave for the airport after that.'

Diana sighed in relief, thankful that Croix had found Chariot. Admittedly she was a little annoyed with the red haired coach for leaving her team stranded like that, but thankful all the same that she was safe. Akko will be relieved. The blonde reached out to nudge her girlfriend awake when the screen lit up once more, signaling another new message. A new message from Amanda. Again, Diana opened it and read.

'You guys are probably fucking right now so just text me in the morning to let me know when you're coming back to the room.'

The blonde narrowed her eyes at the message and clenched her jaw at the vulgar world. She didn't like that word, although she could make an exception for Akko if they were...no. Not the time to think about that. Coming from Amanda though, she could not let that slide. She began to type out a message back to the brash redhead before she could even think about whether or not it was wrong to do so. When she was done, she read it over once.

Akko is asleep but I will be sure to pass on your message. Also I will ask you to refrain from using such a vulgar word to describe intimate relations.

She pressed send and huffed as she let the phone fall onto the bed once more. Only a few seconds later, the phone screen lit up once more. Diana quickly opened it.

'Diana?'

With a sigh and an annoyed roll of her eyes, she typed back.

Of course this is Diana. Who else could it possibly be?

She held the phone, waiting for a reply that didn't come. But to her surprise, her own phone dinged at an incoming message.

"Oh this is ridiculous." She whispered through grit teeth and she reached over to the nightstand to pick up her phone before opening it and reading the text.

'What word would you use then?'

Diana thought about it for a moment before answering.

Love making.

The blonde didn't understand why she was even having this conversation right now. Maybe because she needed to get her mind off of what Akko had said earlier. She would indulge the redhead for a little while. How bad could it be?

'That's gay. And I meant fucking...not love making'

Okay, it could be bad. Diana narrowed her eyes at the message in confusion. There was a difference? So she typed out her response, curiosity getting the better of her.

There's a difference?

She immediately regretted sending that. She needed to end this conversation. Amanda was too quick, though.

'Oh my naive little princess. We need to have a talk.'

Diana sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose even though no one can see her utter annoyance. For a moment she contemplates not responding to the newest message, but she knows Amanda had no ill intentions. This is just her twisted way of trying to help. Diana's sure she has gone crazy when a smile graces her lips at having someone like Amanda in her life. The fact only confirmed when she types out another message instead of ignoring the redhead.

I am very comfortable with my love life, thank you very much. I refuse to talk about it with you.

There. That should do it. Amanda would surely respect her wishes. Right? That's when the phone lit up once more.

'Oh I've HEARD how comfortable you are princess. The walls are paper thin in that house, just so you know. Somebody probably should have told you.'

Diana stared at her phone with her mouth agape. Her face grew hot immediately as she knew that the blush that had overtaken her probably left her as red as a tomato. She was horrified. How was it possible no one had said anything about that before? And Akko...well she was certain the girl also had no idea the walls were that thin because of how loud…

"Ugh." She grumbled. "God I'm not going to be able to look any of those girls in the face again."

She tossed her phone aside and slowly slid her body down further on the bed, taking care not to wake her girlfriend, and let her head sink into the fluffy pillow. Staring at Akko now, she couldn't help but let that one sentence run through her head over and over again. In the back of her mind she knew it was pointless to take it so seriously. The brunette most likely wouldn't remember ever saying it. 'Then we should live together'. The fact Akko had at least thought about it at some point filled Diana with both happiness and anxiety. This is exactly what she wanted wasn't it? But living together would make it so much more complicated if things went wrong. Why she felt things would go wrong in the first place was beyond her. This was why she ad never let anyone become close to her. Because when they left...if Akko ever left her, it would ruin her.

While she was lost in thought, she didn't notice two eyes staring back at her in the darkness. When azure eyes met crimson, all the unrational doubt in Diana's mind washed away in seconds. The comfort and peace she found in her girlfriend's eyes could quail any fear, any turbulence she was feeling due to her unbidden thoughts. Those loving eyes brought her back.

"Stay with me forever." Diana whispered, the desperation in her voice was painfully obvious. Akko wouldn't know the reason behind the sudden plea, but it seemed she didn't care. The brunette just smiled tiredly, still possibly half asleep.

"There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be."

The next morning, players sleepily made their way into their coach's hotel room. The mood was somewhat somber, uncertainty playing on the expressions of every girl sitting around the room in awkward silence. Chariot sat in the chair next to a small table in the corner and Croix stood next to her with a hand on the red haired woman's shoulder in order to provide some comfort. Chariot's heart is racing, threatening to drop into her stomach with every person who walks through the door. There was one person in particular who she was dreading seeing today. Sure, she had abandoned her whole team, but this one person needed her more than the others at the time. Akko had been hurt. Her best player had gotten hurt because of her past, because of a twisted grudge a psychotic woman held against her for reasons she still didn't understand to this day. Sure, she knew the reasons. She had confronted Gabriel about why and the woman had answered truthfully, but in the end it didn't matter. Without the resources, they were not able to prove anything.

The door opened again, bringing Chariot back to the present and she looked up to see Amanda first. The younger redhead held the door open as Akko hopped over the threshold on crutches. Diana walked in behind her and another girl she recognized, but couldn't put a name to, entered last and stood next to Diana. The players in the room ceased any noise or whispering at the sight of their injured captain. Chariot could feel several girls glancing quickly at her to gauge her reaction to the girl in the cast. Her team wasn't stupid. They knew the weight of what she had done, especially when it came to the brunette. The only one who hadn't spared her a glance yet was Akko herself. The girl hobbled over to the bed furthest away from where the coach was sitting and sat on the edge, Amanda settling herself down next to her. After the brunette leaned her crutches on the bed next to her, she finally looked up to meet Chariot's gaze. Something in her expression made tears begin to pool in he corner of the older woman's eyes. Hesitance? Sadness? Maybe it was a lack of trust. Whatever it was, Chariot never wanted to see that look on Akko's face ever again. She could deal with the heart wrenching guilt, but she couldn't handle seeing the disappointment on her player's face.

"Everyone's here." Croix whispered into the red headed woman's ear, making her jump slightly and nod her head quickly.

"Okay." Chariot said quietly as she stood up. She fidgeted with her hands for a moment and cleared her throat, trying to build up the courage for this speech. With one look at her fiance, who gave her a reassuring smile, she took a deep breath and began. "I need to apologize for my actions yesterday. I should never have left...I should have never abandoned you when you needed me most." She looked around at the faces of her girls, gauging their reactions as she spoke. Most of them refused to look at her, while Akko seemed to refuse to look away.

"I think I need to explain my past in order for you all to understand what is going on now. As I think most of you know, I played for the French national team for a long time. I played my hardest and earned a lot of opportunities that many did not receive. I had sponsors, I was asked to attend many big events, overall I had become pretty popular among followers of the sport." Again, Chariot looked around and took a deep breath. "I wanted my popularity to mean something, to help young girls understand that their dreams could become reality just as mine hide. While I had created many allies in my rise to fame, I had created enemies as well. One in particular I thought was my best friend." The coach took a deep shaky breath but she couldn't hold back the tears any longer as they began to stream down her face. "Gabriel Moreau, the coach of the French team, had been my teammate for a while. We became very close and I leaned on her for support throughout my career. She...something happened between us, and our friendship ended rather abruptly. It was then that rumors began to spread about certain players on our team paying off referees and illegally betting on our own matches, with me being in the center of it all."

Chariot took another break to try to compose herself and wipes away her tears as she began to hear sniffling coming from around the room. She wasn't the only one crying at this point, she wasn't sure if this comforted her or made her feel worse. She didn't deserve the sympathy after the day before.

"I'll spare you the details, and just say that the rumors and criticism became too much for me to handle. Although Gabriel had been one of the many who seemed to be defending me, I later found out through some credible sources that it had been her who had started the rumors, going as far to pay off the referees in some of our games to make it seem more believable. When I confronted her about this, she admitted just about everything, and threatened to do more damage to my career and my life if I didn't take myself out of the picture. I didn't have the money or the resources to do anything about it at the time, any claim I made against her was dismissed as there was no proof, and no one was willing to come forward." Chariots shoulders slumped in defeat, yet the tears still streamed down her face rapidly. After wiping away the moisture, she continued meekly, her voice raspy and cracking. "To avoid anymore damage to myself or the ones I loved, and the sport I loved, I resigned. I gave up my contract, my sponsors, even my own name, and I disappeared. Chariot du Nord disappeared. Gabriel's mission to ruin my life stopped there until yesterday. Until she..." The red headed woman locked eyes on Akko as she trailed off. The brunette had shed a few tears, streaks of wetness lined her cheeks. "You were all hurt because of me. Akko, you were injured because of me. And I can't express how sorry I am for all of this."

Chariot went silent and looked down at the floor. The players were waiting for her to continue, but after a long moment of silence from the woman, they began to look at each other, confused on what they should do or say. A squeak from the mattress of on of the beds made all heads turn in the direction of Akko standing up and getting her crutches into place before she looked at Chariot. The rest of the players held their breaths and looked back and forth between the coach and player, anticipating as to how the captain was going to react.

"You're right." Akko stated simply, furrowing her eyebrows and staring intently back at her coach. The brunette heard a few quiet gasps and saw Chariot grow pale almost immediately at her words. "It was wrong and irresponsible to have left us there." The brunette started to move slowly around the bed, taking care not to knock her crutches into anything or anyone. "We were worried and confused, you had no excuse to abandon us like that." The captain came to a stop a few feet in front of her still crying coach. "Did you influence the game yesterday? Were you the one who broke my ankle?"

"What?" Chariot gasped and stared back at her in wide eyed shock.

"Did you?" Akko asked a little louder with her eyebrows raised.

"N-no. I didn't."

"That's right. You didn't. As much as you want to blame yourself, Chariot, none of this was your fault. This wasn't you fault." The brunette looked down at her injured ankle and then back up to her still shocked coach. "Your mistake was thinking that we would blame you. That we wouldn't stand by your side no matter what." She stepped a bit closer. "We sure as hell aren't going to abandon you because of your past or because some shitty person has it out for you. Do you understand?"

"You...you still want me as a coach? A-after what I did?" Chariot asked, voice only a little louder than a whisper at that point, but loud enough for everyone to hear over the deafening silence.

"Yeah, I do." Akko said resolutely. She stared confidently back at her coach, no doubt or hesitation could be found when Chariot searched her eyes.

"I do, too." Amanda spoke up for the first time as she stood up and nodded.

"Me too." Jasminka mirrored the redhead's actions.

One by one, each player stood and stated their allegiance with confident nods as Chariot watched in awe. After everyone was standing and silence filled the room once more, the coaches eyes locked on to Akko's once more, the latter with a small smile on her face.

"I guess you're stuck with us." The brunette shrugged happily.

For the first time that day, Chariot smiled. And first it was a smile of relief, but turned quickly in one of unadulterated joy. Tears were still rolling down her face, but not out of sadness. They were tears of appreciation and happiness. She quickly wiped them away and laughed quietly as Akko closed the distance between them and hugged her as best she could with one arm, letting the crutch fall to the floor.

"Thank you, Akko." Chariot whispered into the brunette's ear. "I'll make it up to you I promise."

"You can make it up to me by never doing that again." Akko whispered back. She felt her coach nod in agreement.

Croix sighed happily as she watched Chariot and Akko hug it out before moving toward the smiling blonde CEO still stationed by the door. Hannah had nodded and smiled at the lilac haired woman as she passed by to sit by her girlfriend.

"Your girlfriend is something, isn't she." Croix stated as she stopped at Diana's side and turned around to lean against the wall.

"She's amazing." The blonde said dreamily, smiling brightly at her girlfriend who was now animatedly talking to her coach.

"So I heard you made some people cry yesterday. Get any info?" Croix smirked as Diana's smile fell slightly, her cheeks tinted a light pink in embarrassment.

"I...might have gone a bit overboard I must admit. I think I traumatized that poor janitor."

Croix snickered at the thought of Diana making a grown man shake with fear. Although she knew now that she never wanted to be in that janitor's shoes. She likely wouldn't handle it any better. She involuntarily shivered at the thought. The blonde chuckled with Croix for a moment before she continued.

"As far as information, I wasn't able to gather much. Which is why I'm looking into hiring someone to begin a full scale investigation." The blonde ran her fingers through her hair in slight frustration.

"Ah. I knew you were good for something." Croix smirked and nudged Diana playfully, earning an arched eyebrow in return.

"If you would be so kind as to remind me, Croix, what is it that you're good for again?"

The lilac haired woman opened and closed her mouth for a few moments, searching for a witty remark that eventually never came.

"Shut up."