A couple of days have gone by since the incident between Akko and McCallister. Diana is unsure of her recent actions and if she has the right to like Akko after not doing something to protect her from previous abuse...

This One-Shot takes place a couple of days after chapter 4 but before chapter 9. So basically Diana and Akko are still friends and Croix is still away from Luna Nova not knowing that something happened to Akko.


"Did you hear about what happened three days ago?"

"I was there! I saw it all with my own eyes!"

"Is it true then that Diana challenged Sarah?"

Closing her eyes, Diana does her best to move around the hoard of students following her around. All she had heard during the day had been rumors of what occurred in the gardens and the fact that the heirs of two of the nine olde families were in a dispute.

Yet nothing about what McCallister did to Akko, Diana thinks darkly while managing to not yell or react to the many voices and whispers coming her way.

Although Akko had reacted after Professor Ursula talked to her, the blonde witch knew that recovering from what had happened was not going to be easy for the brunette. In fact, it didn't shock her to see that Akko missed classes and that she was absent during lunchtime. Instead, she had gotten some sad smiles from Lotte and Sucy, who ate their food and carried an extra plate on their way back to the dorms.

Wondering if she had the right to go talk to Akko, Diana didn't know if the brunette would welcome her presence. Specially since until she was saved by Akko at the Cavendish Manor, Diana had not done anything to stop the other students from laughing at Akko.

Did she really have the right of caring and feeling like this when she had also silently bullied Akko?

Closing her eyes, she decides to go to the Astronomy Tower and get some lecture notes for one of her exams. Although she tended to be focused, today had been an exception and she had found herself thinking about soft eyes and brown hair.

Discovering that her feelings went beyond friendship right when this happened was certainly not the best time.

Entering the Astronomy Tower, she calmly goes to the classroom and only stops herself from entering when she hears voices coming from inside the room.

"I'm alright." she hears Professor Ursula saying softly.

After that it's all quiet.

"If something has happened?" the red-haired woman asks carefully. "Nothing in particular."

Nothing? Diana thinks confused.

Will she also pretend that everything is fine like the rest of professors?!

Walking inside the room angrily, Diana is ready to speak and make her presence known when she notices that Professor Ursula has tears in her eyes.

Not knowing what to do, and with the professor's eyes now on her, she sees that the woman is holding a phone in her hand.

That is the moment Diana realizes she must have been speaking through it.

And if her memory served her right, that one was one of the phones Croix had given to Akko before she left Luna Nova.

Which meant that the older witch was probably speaking to the lilac-haired woman.

"Yeah, I'm still here." Diana sees Professor Ursula respond while giving her a dejected smile. "Of course, I will subconsciously let Akko know that you want her to call you." she chuckles sadly. "Yes, yes, I know she has that way to get into your heart." she finishes the call and moves to one of the many chairs in the room.

"Professor…" Diana starts to say but is interrupted by the older woman.

"She can't know." Ursula whispers dejectedly. "If Croix were to find out about what happened to Akko…"

"She would come to Luna Nova and break her parole." the younger witch realizes why the red-haired woman had been pretending that everything was alright. "I'm sorry, I just thought…"

"I wouldn't blame you for thinking that." she chuckles bitterly. "Because everyone else in Luna Nova is acting like what happened to Akko was nothing more than silly child-play."

"What do you mean?" Diana asks worriedly. "Do the teachers know?"

"Yes." Ursula says bitterly.

"Then why is McCallister still going to class?! She should be expelled for using magic against a fellow witch!"

"Sarah McCallister will not be expelled."

"Why…" Diana says angrily.

"Because there is no physical evidence of the attack occurring. And Akko cannot say anything about it without having a panic attack." Ursula closes her eyes dejectedly. "And if Akko is not the one doing the complaint then there's no ground for them to expel McCallister."

"That is bullshit!" she screams and doesn't care about her language. "People saw what she did to Akko! There are witnesses!"

"And there are some who claim Akko started it all."

"You mean McCallister's buffoons." she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "This is not fair."

"It is not." Ursula agrees and Diana notices how the woman grabs the table tight.

Too tight for it to not hurt.

"Professor…" Diana goes forward and grabs the woman's hands, noticing right away that they were bleeding.

"I…" Ursula closes her eyes. "I'm sorry you have to see me like this." she whispers and tries to take her hands away.

"I can heal this." the blonde heiress says and murmurs the incantation. "And seeing you like this soothes me." she moves her wand through the older woman's hands carefully. "It soothes me to know that you care that much."

"Thank you." the older witch gives her a sad smile that does nothing to calm Diana.

"How is she?" Diana whispers softly.

How is Akko...

This makes Ursula stare at her.

"I noticed she has been missing class…" she closes her eyes. "And during lunch I tend to see Lotte and Sucy carrying a plate with food to the dorms."

"She's not doing well." Ursula whispers sadly. "She's scared of leaving the room and won't eat unless we bring her food."

Diana closes her eyes.

"I was planning on making my way there as soon as I finished my talk with Croix." Ursula gives her an understanding smile. "Would you like to come?"

"I…" Diana closes her eyes. "I'm not sure I should…"

"Why not?"

"I just feel that I could have done more for Akko." the blonde witch murmurs dejectedly. "That my silence allowed people like Sarah to abuse Akko thinking that there are no consequences for their actions."

"This goes beyond you, Diana. And, while your silence may have been hurtful to Akko at first, it wasn't done out of malice. What matters now is that you're making things right by being the friend Akko needs."

Because I realized I like her…

"Am I really?" she whispers and stands up from the desk. "Please, give Akko my regards and best wishes."

This makes the older woman give her a sad smile.

"I will." she promises. "But you know Diana, I bet she would appreciate it more if it comes from you."

LWALWALWA

"She would appreciate it more if it comes from you."

Those words Professor Ursula had told her kept coming back to Diana ever since she left the Astronomy Tower.

She knew that Akko was not angry at her. In fact, she was certain that the brunette saw her as a friend.

But Diana didn't see herself as a being a good friend towards Akko.

And that was what was stopping her from going to visit the Japanese girl.

"So it seems like the old witch is stopping the talks." Diana hears a familiar voice saying from the other side of the wall.

"Yes, that is what I heard." Sarah says with a dark smile. "They're scared that witches like Akko will get hurt."

"Is that something that should make us feel better?" one of the girls asks hesitantly. "That they're terrified of what we could do to other girls?"

"If they're weak and incapable of defending themselves then that's not our fault!" she gives her a menacing look. "Just look at that dumb Akko! For all her talk about magic bringing people happiness, it certainly made her cry in fear when it was being used against her!" she laughs loudly. "I mean, did you even see her today?!"

This makes Diana close her eyes and try her best to remain calm.

She was failing miserably.

"I heard some younger witches say that she missed classes today."

"Good riddance then!" Sarah says proudly. "Perhaps we should just stick to making this dumb brunette see how magic can be so that she actually leaves Luna Nova!" she proclaims and that's all it takes for Diana to get out of her hiding spot.

"You…" she says darkly to Sarah who notices her and gives her a knowing smile.

"Well if it isn't Diana Cavendish, the defender of the weak." Sarah chuckles evilly. "What are you doing here instead of being with dumb Ak…" she was saying but is shut up by Diana who hits her on the face.

"Sarah!" the girls with her scream and do their best to keep Diana from her.

"Don't touch me!" Diana yells and manages to push them away from her. "She!" she screams while pointing her wand to McCallister. "She deserves this!"

"You just punched a McCallister." Sarah says completely shocked.

"You deserve more than that!" the blonde witch says darkly. "What you did to Akko, I can never forgive you."

"What I did to her is what everyone else has been thinking of doing." Sarah exclaims angrily. "She's not one of us, Diana! Why are you defending her like this! Why, when before you could barely even stand her?"

"Because she's special!" Diana screams with tears in her eyes and she knows McCallister saw them.

"Because you like her." the witch chuckles evilly. "You, a member of one of the nine olde families, likes a joke of a witch. How ironic."

"Don't speak of Akko in such a way."

"What will you do if I don't stop? Attack me with a spell? You know the moment you do so your family will be ruined."

"You think I care about that?" Diana gives her a dark smile. "That my family's name is more important to me than the happiness of the girl I may grow to love?"

This makes Sarah give her a surprised look.

"You're just bluffing. You're too proper and a good girl to do this." she still takes out her wand.

"You messed with the wrong person Sarah." Diana says and also puts herself in position.

"Damn it Cavendish!" Sarah screams while her friends move away and a small crowd starts forming around them. "I don't wish to fight you."

"Because you know you will lose." Diana says simply without lowering her wand.

"She's not worth it!"

"She's worth everything." the blonde heiress says surely.

"Then I guess I'll also have to teach you a lesson." Sarah proclaims and a group of girls surround Diana with wands in their hands. "Now, while you may be very capable of beating me in a duel, I do not want to take that risk."

"I always knew you were a coward Sarah." Diana doesn't hesitate and keeps her wand ready.

"Bitch." Sarah says and raises her wand to start the attack.

Like McCallister had said, although Diana was very good at magic, it was impossible for her to avoid getting hit by 10 spells coming her way. So, while she nullified most of them, there were two that managed to hit her. Closing her eyes in concentration, she stood up and launched her own attack, making most of the witches Sarah had lose their wands.

"Don't stop hitting her!" Sarah exclaims while launching a strong spell. "She's getting weaker."

Huffing in exhaustion, Diana used an explosion spell to create some distance between her and Sarah's goons. Using that time to concentrate and canalize her energy, she was thankful for all the stamina training she had started after the Shiny Rod incident.

It was that what was keeping her on her feet.

"Why won't she get tired?!" Sarah screams and throws a much stronger spell. "Damn you, Cavendish!" she shrieks and Diana is not prepared for the strength behind the spell, which makes her finally lose her wand.

Looking up, she can see Sarah making her way towards her with an evil smile on her face.

"That took long." Sarah sneers while grabbing her hand roughly. "For being all by yourself, you gave us a pretty good fight." she chuckles and hits Diana on the face. "That was for before." she hits her on her stomach. "This one is for being annoying." she continues hitting her and Diana feels like she's close to losing consciousness.

I'm sorry Akko…

LWALWALWA

"Akko…" Ursula says to the younger brunette softly. "How are you feeling?"

This makes the Japanese girl give the older woman a soft smile.

"Better now." Akko tries to sound confident. "I'm sorry for causing you all such troubles." she addresses this to Lotte and Sucy as well.

"Your wellbeing is what matters most." Lotte says with a warm smile.

"We just want you to get back to your usual self so I can continue my potions trials." Sucy murmurs from her desk.

This makes Akko chuckle warmly.

"I'll try my best." she then looks at Ursula who is trying her best to smile. "Sensei, it wasn't your fault…" she whispers softly.

This makes the older woman give her a surprised look and for her friends to get out of the room.

"I think that all of the time we've spent together has made us grown close." Akko starts to say calmly. "And that just like you know me I know you." she smiles. "And I've noticed the way you look at me. As if you were blaming yourself for what happened when we both know it wasn't your fault."

"I was supposed to protect you Akko." Ursula whispers dejectedly. "I promised that I wouldn't let anything hurt you. And I failed miserably." she says with tears in her eyes. "When I saw you look so terrified and incapable of recognizing the people around you, I was so scared and angry." she confesses softly.

"And that's why I love you Sensei. Because you care about me." Akko gives her a warm smile.

"I love you Akko." the red-haired woman corrects her while hugging her tight. "I want you to be happy and for your dreams to come true."

"Knowing that makes me happy and is enough for me. To have your support and my friends close." the younger witch is going to say something more but is interrupted when the doors to her room open.

"Amanda?" she asks pleasantly surprised while separating from Ursula.

"Akko! You will not believe what is happening!" she says worriedly.

"What is wrong?" Akko asks softly.

"Diana…" she simply says and this makes the brunette freeze. "She's fighting McCallister."

"What?!" the brunette witch asks panicking. "Why would she do that?!"

"Because McCallister said that she would continue attacking you."

This makes Ursula get up from her chair and move towards the door.

"Akko, I'm sorry, but I have to go alert the principal." she apologizes while leaving the room.

"Well, that was an expected reaction…" Amanda is saying but notices that Akko has gotten up from her bed and is putting her shoes on. "Hey, where are you going?! You're supposed to be in bed?!" she continues saying but is ignored by the brunette who simply grabs her wand and goes out.

"Shit!" Amanda huffs and follows Akko away.

LWALWALWA

"Sarah!" one of the girls says worriedly after watching her friend hit Diana many times. "She's a Cavendish! You can't do this."

"Do you want to trade places with her then?!" Sarah says evilly and the girl gulps. "Because I will not stop." she looks around them to the mass of people that had formed behind her. "Does anyone want to trade?"

No one says a word and this makes Sarah chuckle knowingly.

"Thought so." she turns around and stares at Diana who is doing her best to not show how much this was hurting her.

"Don't worry Diana, soon enough I'll have you screaming." she promises and before she can land another hit she's stopped by a familiar voice.

"I will take her place!" they all hear and that's when both Sarah and Diana see Akko coming determinedly towards them.

"You!"

"Akko!" Diana stands up and groans in pain. "You're outside."

"Well, I heard you decided to go all Rambo and I had to come see that." Akko jokes and this makes the blonde chuckle.

"You and your weird movie references."

"Why are you doing this?" the brunette whispers softly to her. "She was not attacking you. She was just after me."

This makes Diana give Akko a very serious and determined look.

"I'm doing this because I care about you, Akko. Because I want you to be happy and safe here in Luna Nova." she stretches her hand to caress the brunette witch's face.

"But I'm not worth this." Akko says softly while tenderly holding her friend's hand.

"To me…" Diana says with a warm smile. "You are."

This makes Akko blush brightly and look away from Diana, who merely chuckled at the sudden embarrassment the Japanese girl was showing.

It was very cute.

"You can't say stuff like that." Akko murmurs embarrassed.

"Why not?"

"Because you may not mean it the way I want you to mean it…"

This makes Diana give Akko a soft and understanding smile.

"I don't think many people would go to such lengths…" she points at herself. "Just for a friend…"

Akko just gives her a surprised look that again makes Diana chuckle.

But, this time, it hurt her.

"You're hurt way more than what you're making it seem!" Akko tells her with sad eyes. "Because of me."

"This is not your fault Akko." Diana tells her tenderly while trying to caress her face, screaming in pain when she realizes Sarah had hit her there.

This, in turn, makes Akko stare angrily at the girl in front of her.

"You…" she whispers menacingly to Sarah, who for some reason gulps in fear. "You did this to her."

"She got in my way." Sarah tries to say nonchalantly. "And if you don't step away you're next."

"I…" Akko takes a deep breath. "You can get away with hurting me." she says firmly. "But I will not let you hurt my friends. Specially Diana."

This makes the blonde witch stare at Akko with wonder in her eyes.

"I was terrified of coming out because of what you did to me." Akko confesses and this gets the attention of all people surrounding them. "I didn't want to face you because it made me remember of how others like you had hurt me in the past."

"Akko…" Diana whispers sadly.

"But the moment I heard Diana was out there fighting for me… I just knew I had to do something. I couldn't let her fight alone." she takes out her wand. "So go ahead and fight me instead of her. I'll take her place because although I may be weak when it comes to magic, I believe in my friends and if they think I'm worth it, then who am I to tell them otherwise?"

This makes the people surrounding them start clapping and voicing their support for Akko, who was not taking her eyes away from Sarah.

Sarah, in return and while watching how everyone was reacting to Akko, decides to just get this fight over with. Knowing that the biggest threat in there was Diana, she focuses her spell towards the blonde who had lowered her defenses and was hurt from her previous attacks.

"Murowa!" Sarah screams her spell and immediately notices it being pushed away by Akko. "Whaaat." she huffs surprised but prepares another similar one. "Murowa!"

Akko yet again deflects it.

"Murowa! Murowa! Murowa!" Sarah kept saying and each time she did the brunette witch deflected it. "Come on! Attack me!"

"I will not." Akko tells her firmly. "I will protect Diana with everything I have, but I will not attack you."

"Well, if I cannot hit you with magic…" Sarah says angrily while getting closer to Akko. "I will do it with my fists." she exclaims and prepares her punch.

Closing her eyes, Akko is expecting to feel some pain from the hit.

What happens instead is that she sees Ursula standing in front of them with her hand extended so that Sarah's punch would land on her hand.

"Professor Du Nord!" Sarah says worriedly while staring at her, then at Akko and Diana who were on the floor. "This, I was just defending myself from their attack."

"Were you really?" Ursula asks her menacingly and that's when Sarah remember that Professor Du Nord is really close to Akko.

"I see, you won't listen to what I say because of your relationship with this person." she says while pointing at Akko and notices Ursula flinch. "Which makes me wonder what you, a very talented witch, sees in such a pitiful person like Akko."

This makes Ursula take a step forward that is quickly noticed by Akko who grabs her hand.

"She's not worth it."

"I'm not worth it?!" Sarah laughs manically. "I'm worth more than your life!" she exclaims and quickly pushes Ursula out of the way. "Belga Veeda!"

"Akko!" Ursula screams because this spell went beyond a normal and legal spell. Akko wouldn't be capable of deflecting it.

"Akko!" Diana screams as well and does her best to stand up and get her wand.

Akko, meanwhile, closes her eyes and just thinks of the people that matter to her. Diana, Ursula, Croix, Sucy, Lotte, Amanda… All of their faces go through her mind and it's all she's focusing on. Not the spell, nor the screams of the two people she cares most about can distract her.

"Slonhon Deance" Akko simply says and all the people that were witnessing the fight noticed how Sarah's horrible spell slowly but surely became a beautiful flower.

"Wow!"

"How did she?!"

"Wasn't that a forbidden spell!? How did she transform it to a flower?"

"Akko…" Diana whispers in complete awe and relief.

"How?!" Sarah shrieks in anger. "How did you do that?!"

"Miss McCallister." they all hear Principal Holbrook's voice from behind them. "Could you please explain to me what you were trying to do?"

"Me?" Sarah asks confused. "Defend myself?"

"By using a forbidden spell against the life of a student?" the older woman asks firmly. "I hope you're aware of the consequences students face when using such spells."

This makes Sarah gulp and stare at the director in complete shock.

"Please Professor Finneran, go ahead and accompany Miss McCallister to her room where she will gather her things. After that take her to the station and make sure her parents are aware she has been expelled from Luna Nova."

"You cannot mean this! Sarah says angrily. "I'm a member of one of the families of the nine olde! My parents will not let this stand."

"I think your parents will understand my position when I show them this video of their daughter using forbidden spells and physical force against students that didn't attack her." Principal Holbrook tells her somberly. "Now, please follow Professor Finneran." she repeats her order and Sarah knows she has to obey. "And for the rest of you…" she addresses the people surrounding them. "Return to your dorms." she orders them and they all do as said.

Going forward, Sarah notices Akko has gone to where Diana was laying and was currently helping her stand. Making sure of moving close to them, she notices the way the blonde witch blushes and how the brunette girl is being overly clumsy. They both liked each other and it was obvious that she couldn't just let that stay.

"Your family…" she says to Diana who turns to look at her. "Will never accept her." she smirks evilly.

"That…" Diana says confidently. "Does not matter to me." she goes ahead and grabs Akko's hand while saying so, making the brunette blush brightly.

"We'll see." Sarah smirks. "You'll both see me again."

"I hope not." Akko murmurs while watching Sarah being taken away.

"Now, Miss Kagari…" Principal Holbrook says. "On behalf of Luna Nova I would like to apologize for the way you have been treated. I promise you that from now on we will not let behavior like this go by and that there will be more witches like you coming to Luna Nova in the near future."

"Witches like me?" Akko asks happily. "Do you mean?" she stares at Ursula who nods in confirmation.

"Starting next year, we'll have witches from non-magic families coming to Luna Nova as well."

"That's great!" the brunette witch says happily while laying down next to Diana and holding her close. "Did you hear that Diana?!"

"Indeed." she chuckles softly. "It will be good for Luna Nova."

"Although, if they're as reckless as Miss Kagari to not move out of the way from a forbidden spell, they'll be a handful." Principal Holbrook says with a warm smile while walking away.

"By Jennifer, that was scary…" Akko huffs and screams in pain when she feels two hands hitting her head. "Ouch!" she says while holding her head. "Why did you do that?!"

"Why didn't you move out of the way?!" Ursula complains to her while holding her close. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry." she apologizes softly. "I just, something inside of me told me that I was capable of stopping that spell." she then gets close to Diana who is still holding her stomach tightly. "And I'm sorry you're feeling so much pain."

"It will pass." Diana smiles brightly at her.

"If only I could take it away…" Akko wishes and unconsciously caresses Diana's stomach.

When she does, the two girls can feel magic flowing through them and in a matter of seconds Diana notices that her body has been healed.

"Akko!" Diana exclaims in complete shock and runs towards her friend who is just as surprised as she is. "You, you healed me."

"I did?" Akko asks confused. "But I didn't even use my wand or a spell…" she thinks but then merely smiles and holds Diana tight.

"Akko!" Diana blushes. "What are you doing?!"

"How?" is all Ursula can think of saying.

"I'm hugging you, of course!" Akko says happily. "And, showing you my feelings…" she whispers to a blushing Diana who hides her face but still squeezes Akko harder.

"Then I'll also start showing you mine." the blonde witch promises while moving towards the dorms.

What I just saw… Ursula thinks while remembering how Akko's magic had reacted to Diana being in danger… Is something that needs to be further explored.