The sun was setting over Luna Nova when Akko managed to land back on school grounds. Every muscle of her body ached from the exertion she had spent flying to the magic marketplace, thanks to the mishaps she encountered along the way. The flight back when the rain cleared had been little better, with the only improvement being the lack of witches mocking her for the reduced flight speed she was using. Two tumbles from her broom due to lapses in concentration by focusing on her woes only added to her distraught, sour mood.

And what did she have to show for all of her endeavors? Three packages of premade pork buns to reheat, the jar of pickled eggs from Bobby, and a pounding head to add to the myriad of scratches, bruises, and sprained ankle.

The stairs were far from pleasant to navigate with pain shooting both down her foot and up her leg simultaneously thanks to the ankle. Akko leaned heavily on her broom as she dragged herself up the final steps and stumbled back to her room. She kicked the door in and made it another two steps before collapsing heavily on the floor.

"Akko? Where have– Oh my god! What happened to you!?" Diana was first to reach her,

Sucy turned from where she worked on her latest brew. "Damn, you look awful."

"Thanks," Akko said sarcastically, rubbing her ankle and scowling irritably from her place on the rug. "I was trying to surprise you both. Only surprise I managed is to show how bruised and injured I can get from trying to fly."

Diana and Sucy exchanged glances. "You flew somewhere, to get a surprise for us?" Diana asked slowly as she crouched beside Akko to assess the damage.

"I tried!" Akko wailed. "But it was a total failure!"

Sucy turned to her cabinet and grabbed a couple of potions. "Diana, I'm going to get the bandages and wraps from the bathroom. We can bind her ankle and I can undo a lot of the damage with these."

"Right. She's got a nasty gash on her knee. Might even need stitches."

"Stitches?!" Akko gasped and scrambled towards the bed. She made it halfway before falling on her side, clutching her ankle in pain. The wound was weeping blood that trailed down her leg, towards her crusty, stained sock. And her bag had fallen open thanks to the mad dash, spilling its contents onto the rug.

"Akko! Where are you going? Sit still! We've gotta see how bad the injuries are if we are going to help!" Diana sighed in exasperation as she wrapped an arm around Akko's shoulders. "I can't tell if it will or won't need stitches until we look at it. Sucy, hand me my wand, will you? It's on the table."

Sucy came back from the bathroom, grabbed the wand and turned, pausing as she caught sight of a jar on the middle of the floor. "What… is that?"

Akko followed her gaze, and ducked her head. "A gift for you. I went to the magic market so I could get things to make for dinner, as a surprise. But I had trouble getting there, and this guy at the first booth took pity on me. Offered to give me something, and the only thing he had that I knew you'd like was the pickled eggs."

"You thought of me?"

"Of course I did. I love you." Akko flashed a weak smile and rested her head on Diana's chest. "Enough to earn all of… this." She gestured to the wounds on her body and her swollen ankle.

"We'll see if it was worth it… you damn idiot," Sucy shook her head and handed her one of the potions.

"Promise it's not going to transfigure me again?" Akko uncorked it and suspiciously sniffed at the brew.

Diana chuckled and squeezed her girlfriend's shoulder. "Have a little faith. Sucy, can I have a warm washcloth, a dry towel, the bandages, and the wrap, please?"

Sucy bent to collect Akko's things back into her bag, with the exception of the jar of eggs which she set on the table. "Potion won't do any good if you don't drink it, Akko."

Akko made a face but obediently downed the brew. She coughed and sputtered, but the cooling sensation around her ankle was immediate and much appreciated.

"See? That wasn't so bad."

"Speak for yourself," Akko grumbled, shooting a scowl at Sucy. "You could put a little more thought into adding some flavor to it, you know."

"Why? It's for medicinal purposes. There's no reason for it to taste appealing." Sucy brought over the items that Diana requested and knelt in front of her girlfriends. She raised an eyebrow in vague curiosity at the injuries. "How did you manage to both sprain an ankle and get all scratched up like that?"

"The scratches and my knee started with the hedge on the border of school grounds," Akko said wryly. She hissed when Diana shifted and pressed the warm cloth onto her knee to clean the wound. "Let's just say my flying skills still need practice."

"We all knew that." Sucy unrolled the bandage and started to wrap it around Akko's puffy, bruised foot.

"Whoa, one moment, Sucy. I was going to cast a minor healing spell. If I'm able to do that, she should only need the wrap a day or two at most," Diana protested. She dropped the cloth and grabbed her wand instead.

Sucy's hand brushed Diana's in her haste to get out of the way. "Will that heal the scratches?"

"No, a normal bandage is adequate. They'll be gone in a couple days too."

Akko closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "All this, and I didn't even get to surprise you girls in a fun way," she pouted. "Sucy, there's two packages of dumplings to be heated in my bag as well, in case you missed it."

"You did surprise us, Akko," Diana chided. "You brought back pickled eggs and dumplings. What more could we want?"

Akko ignored the pain and hugged her knees to her chest. "I was going to cook too… make a hotpot, and have it be a full surprise meal."

"I appreciate it, but didn't you think about how challenging it might be for someone who's just learning how to properly fly?" Diana gently pointed out.

She had to think about that for a moment before shaking her head. "Not really. I knew I could fly, so I would be able to get there all by myself. Then my focus was just on what I wanted, and making my list so I didn't forget anything. But I lost the list somewhere between here and the market."

There was a momentary pause, a brief period of silence before Diana murmured the spell under her breath. The tip of her wand glowed white, and immediately the pain in Akko's ankle eased to a dull ache.

"Best intentions," Sucy shrugged. "Thanks for trying, anyway. Pickled eggs will be good. And I can use them in one of the potions I wanted to test out."

Akko wrinkled her nose. "So the potion will taste like vinegar? Yuck!"

Sucy flashed the vaguely disconcerting grin she had whenever there was talk of new potions and experiments. "We'll just have to see, won't we?" Her attention turned back to wrapping her girlfriend's ankle.

Diana picked back up the washcloth and lightly washed the remaining scratches on Akko's legs and arms. "Sucy, can I get a second opinion on her knee? Think it'll need stitches?"

Sucy peeked at the cut and cocked her head. "No, it's not that deep. A disinfectant to clean it out, then bandage it for a day or so."

"I'll get it." Diana rolled smoothly to her feet and stepped around her girlfriends.

Sucy finished wrapping the ankle and lightly patted it before grabbing the smaller bandaids. "I have to hand it to you. It's an impressive amount of scratches."

"At least I have that going for me." Akko scowled and sighed heavily.

Her girlfriend surprised her by giving her a gentle hug. "You have us too."

Akko leaned into the embrace and sniffled, trying not to cry as the emotions of the afternoon caught up to her. "Thank you, Sucy."

"I'm missing out on cuddles? I'm hurt," Diana murmured as she came back to the girls hugging on the floor in front of the bed. "I wanted to join in too."

"After we patch her up."

Akko rubbed the back of her hand across her face while her girlfriends worked on finishing patching her up. Thanks to the potion in her system, she felt the burn of the disinfectant but almost none of the pain. She really didn't deserve the two girls who loved her, and proved it time and again. Even when her attempts at making them smile ended in Diana and Sucy taking care of her. The knowledge was enough to make her eyes well up with tears that she fought to blink back.

Diana was the first to notice as she sat back on her heels. "Akko? Are you okay?"

She shook her head and hugged her knees tighter. The tears spilled down her cheeks and she began to openly sob. "I tried so hard to do something special for you both! Instead, I wind up falling way short, and… and you end up taking care of me."

A moment later, she found herself sandwiched between her two girlfriends. She couldn't free her arms to return the hug, crying and sniffling against their chests.

"Shhhh. You don't have to cry. I'm touched you went to all that trouble for us." Diana smoothed her hair. "It was really sweet."

"A little overconfident that you could accomplish all that without mishap. But cute regardless." Sucy shook her head fondly. "C'mon. Up on the bed where we can comfortably cuddle. I'll heat the dumplings too."

Diana hummed softly in agreement and rolled gracefully to her feet before offering Akko a hand. "C'mon. We'll show you that we appreciate the effort that you put into the afternoon." Her hands supported Akko on the arm and hip while the girl slid backwards onto the bed until her back was against the wall.

When Diana settled in beside her, Akko immediately dropped her head against the blonde's chest where she could hear . "I'm sorry that it came to this."

"What did I say? You were going for a sweet gesture, and you succeeded in bringing back dumplings and pickled eggs."

"Stop apologizing. Or I'll add pickled egg juice to the next potion that I make." Sucy walked past with the containers of dumplings. "I'll heat these downstairs."

"Don't take too long. You might lose your chance at the cuddle pile," Akko waved at her.

"Oh, horrors." Sucy deadpanned before heading out the door.

Akko giggled and sighed, wrapping her arm around Diana's waist. "If I didn't know better, I'd think she didn't want to cuddle."

"You know Sucy. Can't admit that she enjoys any kind of affection like that." Diana lightly ran her fingers through Akko's hair again. "There's a reason she won't show any kind of attention to us in public. 'Keep it casual' as she says."

"Casual doesn't mean that she can't at least smile at us," Akko pouted. "I don't mind keeping hugs and kisses in our room or private moments… but I like seeing her smile. Even that creepy sadistic one."

"I'll tell her you said that," Diana smiled softly. "Might even earn you one of those smiles."

"Ughhhh, Diana! Why are you like this?"

"Because it brings delight to both of my girlfriends in different ways, and thus it makes me happy too." The blonde rested her head against Akko's. "I can't believe you took on such a venture without telling us. Promise me you won't do it again."

"I can't promise that," Akko protested. "Then I can't surprise you!"

"You can surprise us by telling us where you want to go on the way, and why you're doing it."

Both Diana and Akko lifted their heads when Sucy entered the room. Akko's face lit up. "You made it back! Now you can join us on the bed."

"But you wanted the dumplings." Sucy raised an eyebrow at the girls. "Now you don't want them?"

"I want you cuddling with us more than food."

Sucy looked from Akko to Diana who gave a slight nod, then back to Akko. She sighed and set the plate of dumplings on the table before crawling up on the bed and sitting awkwardly beside the two girls.

Diana looked past Akko and shook her head at Sucy. "Join us, Sucy."

"What will you do if I don't?" Sucy crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at her.

Diana and Akko exchanged glances before Akko let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Well, I guess we'll have to tickle you." Akko rolled over and attacked Sucy's ribs.

"Ahhh! Akko!" Sucy flailed, frantically trying to get away from the flying fingers tracing over her torso. "Help me, Di!"

"You didn't say 'please,'" she teased. Diana chuckled and crawled around Akko to pin their girlfriend against the wall and continue the tickle assault on Sucy.

"Knock it off or I'll douse you both in magic glue and stick you to the wall for the night!" Sucy threatened between giggles.

"You knew what we would do if you didn't join us." Akko paused and took a deep breath between her own chuckles. "We'll call a truce if you'll stop trying to pull away when all we want is some snuggle time."

"... Fine." Sucy huffed and stopped struggling. Her shoulders slumped and she leaned her head back against the wall.

Akko curled up with her head in Sucy's lap, leaving Diana to crawl back over Sucy's legs and wrap her arms around the two girls. Akko sighed in contentment and peeked up at the girls. "Was that really so bad?"

"Guess not." Sucy flashed a small smile. "Thanks for the pickled eggs. I'll enjoy them."

"I know you will."

Diana's nose wrinkled. "Please eat them when I'm not present. The scent alone makes me sick."

"So, what you're saying is that you want a kiss while the scent lingers on my breath." Sucy's smile widened into a full grin. "Very well. I will oblige you."

"Sucy!"

Akko giggled at the banter between her girlfriends. The sound drew their attention back to her. She peeked back up at them before rolling fully onto her back so she could see both at once. "Thanks for taking care of me. I'm the luckiest girl at Luna Nova!"

Diana leaned down first for a gentle kiss. "No, it's you that we have to thank. You keep things lively and give us reasons to smile."

"And someone to test potions on," Sucy added, earning a light swat on the shoulder from Diana while Akko giggled. "What?"

"Here we are, trying to be all sweet and romantic, and you're just…"

"Being you," Akko supplied. "Thanks, Sucy. We love you too."

"I know. And… I love you too," she murmured with a faint blush. The redness only brightened when Diana brushed her cheek with a light kiss as well.

Akko sat up and hugged them both tightly. "I meant it. I love you both, and I'm the luckiest girl in Luna Nova because I have both of you!"

Her stomach then growled and ruined the mood, earning another round of giggles from the trio. Maybe it wasn't perfect. And the day certainly hadn't turned out in the way she had expected it to go. But she was safely back in the arms and company of her girlfriends at Luna Nova, and there was nowhere else she would rather be.