Chapter 3:
Over the past few weeks, Leona had found Diana in the library doing her own research and chose to sit with her, eventually asking Diana to help her with her own studies. Leona explained that she had heard that Diana was good with research and studying and that she needed some assistance with her studies, feigning that the work given to her by the Elders was too difficult for her. Diana picked up on Leona knowing everything she was showing her quickly, the Chosen wasn't too great at feigning ignorance, Leona continued to puzzle Diana but Diana chose not to let Leona know she knew.
A few weeks eventually went by where Diana didn't see Leona at all, she wasn't surprised that Leona had stopped seeing her, figuring that the Chosen's momentary curiosity had worn off and she had gone back to doing more important things. She finally ran into Leona one day outside the Solari temple, she was speaking with a tall, well-built Rakkorian man wearing a helmet. Diana watched the interaction from a distance, watching as the man took a step forward and Leona took a matching step backwards to create space between them. She could see the look on Leona's face was a poor attempt at pretending to be interested in the conversation. At first Diana had felt the smallest pang of jealousy, at what she wasn't sure, but the feeling settled when she saw the way Leona made attempts to distance herself from the man.
"I would love to say yes, but I have already got someone else that I'm taking to the festival. Thank you for the offer Pantheon, maybe next time." Leona said with a soft smile before looking past the man she had referred to as Pantheon, spotting Diana looking at them. Leona gave Pantheon a short nod before heading over to where Diana was standing, part of Diana wanted to flee at the sight of Leona coming towards her but she felt herself stuck in place, waiting for Leona to reach her.
Once Leona reached where Diana stood, she looked over her shoulder briefly to make sure that Pantheon was no longer anywhere near them before turning her head back to Diana, the slightest of smirks on her face. It was a smirk that made Diana avert her eyes, she had never seen anything more than a gentle smile on the Chosen's face, it was only when Leona began speaking that Diana managed to force herself to make eye contact with the woman in front of her.
"Do you know about the Rakkorian light festival that's happening this weekend?" Diana furrowed her brows at the idea of Leona asking her this, wondering where this was going. She still couldn't read Leona's intentions, was this event just what she rejected Pantheon for?
"I've heard of it, I don't know much about it." Leona smiled at the sound of that, obviously eager about something.
"Good, I want to take you to it, the less you know about it the better, so don't go off and research it, okay?" Diana scanned her eyes over the Chosen's face as she considered the invitation.
"Sure." The way Leona beamed after she accepted made her confusion worth it, settling with making the woman happy even if she didn't really know what was going on. Diana wasn't sure why she agreed, being anywhere near Leona made her so nervous she wanted to be sick sometimes and she didn't care for sun or sun worship in the slightest, but she was going to try get herself to let go and go with what Leona had planned.
"I'll meet you at the front of the Solari temple on Saturday morning then." Diana nodded in agreement before she watched Leona return back inside the temple they were standing in front of.
Saturday came quicker than Diana expected, she had spent most of the week burying herself in her work, trying to keep her nerves at spending extended time with Leona at bay. The night prior to Saturday, Diana hadn't slept at all. She spent most of the night lying in bed with her own anxiety until she forced herself out of bed and got herself ready for the day. Diana tried her best to prevent herself from lingering on the way she looked, trying to convince herself that it didn't matter as Leona didn't care how she looked, that she needed to put her jealousy of Leona's beauty aside for one moment and just go with what was happening.
Diana met with Leona outside the Solari temple as they had agreed and Diana found it hard to separate her eyes from the woman in front of her, seeing her outside of her ceremonial armour and in casual clothing for the first time. It was a rare sight that she decided to commit to memory. Leona took the opportunity while they were walking to the festival to ask Diana some probing questions about her research. Diana tried to remain as vague as possible while speaking to Leona about the subject, not wanting to expose her research into things other than Solari tradition, not wanting to admit to Leona that she may not believe in the same things as the Chosen and all the others who lived on Mt Targon who celebrated and worshipped the sun.
When Leona figured out that that line of questioning wasn't going to earn anything more than vague answers from Diana she began to ask other questions, wanting to know Diana's birthday and favourite colours. Diana complied with this more basic line of questioning, still curious as to why Leona wanted to know so much about her. Leona's curiosity continued throughout the next few hours as they wandered around the festival, she only stopped asking Diana questions to explain a few things about the festival and some of the traditions and games involved, even getting Diana to play some game involving the tossing of rings.
When Diana found a stall selling books she began to lose herself in flipping through the pages until Leona grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the stall and from the festival, bringing her into a secluded alleyway, a move that only added to Diana's confusion. She stared at the Chosen, puzzled, while she waited for Leona to explain why she had dragged Diana far away from the festival. Diana examined Leona's face as she looked away from Diana, gnawing on her own lip before eventually looking at Diana again.
Diana watched Leona silently as she reached out, her hand cupping Diana's cheek, causing the blonde to turn a light shade of pink at the contact. Only a few moments later did Leona close the gap between them, pressing her lips against Diana's. Initially Diana stiffed at the contact, not having expected that from the Chosen at all, it wasn't until Leona's mouth began to move against hers and caused something to stir within Diana that she could finally put her finger on what she had been feeling for Leona for all these weeks. She hadn't been jealous of Leona at all, she had been attracted to her. Once Diana made this realization she relaxed into Leona, letting the woman lead them through an awkward, stiff first kiss.