"Do you think we could ask Professor Ursula to stop by later? Like at night?" Akko asked.
"I suppose we could. Any particular reason?" Diana questioned.
"I was thinking…"
"That can't be good." Sucy interrupted from across the two. Akko pouted at her friend before turning her attention back to Diana.
"Anyway, I was thinking about me showing Professor I can fly, but then I realize just showing her isn't exciting enough!" Akko continued.
"I see. And what do you propose we do?" Diana inquired.
"Well, I kinda want to put on a kind of show!" Akko happily said as she grabbed a notebook scribbled and decorated with doodles of stars. "We can write ideas in this! …Also, why are you so far away?" Akko asked.
Akko had asked Diana to meet with her in her room at lunch to discuss something. Sucy was on her bed while Lotte took the seat next to it. Akko had sat on one side of her bed, and Diana chose to sit on the opposite end of Akko's bed.
"No particular reason." Diana responded.
"Well, come over here then! You're too far away." Akko said before grabbing Diana's arm and trying to pull towards her side of the bed. Diana smiled and let herself be moved. "So I was thinking we could do something like this…"
Akko quickly began shooting out any ideas that flew through her mind. Ideas about having Lotte call upon faeries to help them. Sucy using any manner of potions or mushrooms to help set the stage. Diana lighting up the place with all sorts of streams and sparkles of light.
"Akko?" Diana interrupted.
"What? I was on a roll."
"Is such a show really necessary?"
"Diana! Of course it is! You said it yourself, we should surprise Professor Ursula. And surprises should be thrilling! Full of excitement! Plus… it could be my way of showing her that all the time she put into helping me grow was worth something… that all the time we spent together was worth something."
Akko stared determinately into Diana's eyes. Diana was having difficulty finding a way to respond, especially after how honest that last sentence sounded.
"Then you might want to include something in that list about yourself." Sucy, thankfully, responded for her.
"Eh?"
"Also what you're asking for us to do is a little much…" Lotte laughed nervously.
"Ehhh? You're not going to help!?" Akko cried out.
"I didn't say that." Lotte reassured.
"We wouldn't be able to not help anyway. You'd keep on bothering us about it until we said yes." Sucy said with a smile on her face.
"It's just… there isn't a lot of time for something quite so grand. It is today after all." Lotte commented.
"They do have a point." Diana said, finally finding words. "There is precious little time left after classes today before Professor Ursula would stop by, even if we pushed it back a couple of hours."
"Eh? Not you too Diana!"
"Do not worry, I am not saying we should not do something. I just believe your original plan might be a tad too ambitious for the time we have left." Akko began to deflate a little. "Ah, not to worry. I believe all four of us should be able to come up with something."
"That's right Akko. Let's do this together." Lotte said. "Sucy and I can figure out what we can have prepared on such short notice."
"And I can work with you to plan out what you will be doing." Diana said to Akko. Akko looked at Diana with surprise. "After all, it is still my duty to teach you how to fly, is it not?" Diana finished, a smile on her face.
Akko returned the smile. "Alright! Let's do this!"
"Okay class! Next week, we will be having the annual obstacle run for the class! There will be a notice on each one of your dorms detailing what sort of obstacles are to be expected. Professor Nelson announced. "That is all!"
Akko gripped her broom tightly as she listened to the announcement.
"Ahhh, Akko."
Akko heard a slightly condescending voice from behind her. She inwardly winced as she recognized the voice.
"It seems the obstacle run is coming up." Hannah said.
"It seems that way yes." Barbara concurred. "I wonder if Akko will be okay, since everyone knows she can't fly. I'm sure no one'll be surprised if she got another F. If you want, we could give you training wheels again." She continued, before bursting into laughter.
Akko pouted at the two of them, before beginning to straddle her broom.
She was going to make those two eat their words.
"That's enough you two."
Akko's concentration broke when she heard a voice from behind Hannah and Barbara. Akko looked up to see Diana behind them.
"You two have more important things to do. It would be wise to spend less effort teasing Akko and spend more energy on your other priorities." Diana scolded.
Hannah and Barbara relented and started flying back to the school building. Before Diana left, she caught Akko's eyes with her own and moved her eyes to the direction of the field. Akko smiled and nodded before heading there.
Diana caught up with her roommates before excusing herself, saying she had a responsibility placed upon her by one of the professors that she must attend to. She told them she would meet them for supper before flying off.
Diana arrived to see Akko already planning out something with Lotte and Sucy.
"Oh Diana!" Akko smiled brightly as she saw Diana return.
"I have told Professor Ursula to come here in about four hours."
"Alright!' Akko got up and ran towards Diana. She grabbed Diana's arm and pulled her to where Lotte and Sucy were. "Let's get started!"
"Sucy! What is this?" Akko cried out.
"A mushroom hat."
"You were supposed to make a stage! Turn it back to normal right now!"
"Okay Akko, place your hand on my broom." Diana instructed.
"Like this?"
"Okay now, whatever you do, don't let go."
"Eh?"
"Tia Freyre!"
"EHhhh!?"
Akko let go, leaving Diana to chase after her.
"Okay Akko, you're going to let go right… now" Diana said. At the count, Akko let go of Diana's broom and grabbed her own.
"Tia Freyre!" Akko began to float in the air. However, she found herself dizzy, and began to slip off her broom.
"Ak-Akko!" Diana yelled before swiftly descending to break Akko's fall.
"Lotte, do you think you can fix a broom quickly?" Akko asked nervously.
"That shouldn't be a problem. Did you break your broom?"
"… It.. uh… wasn't my broom per se…"
"Akko. What did you do to my broom?" Diana asked, almost menacingly behind her.
"Lotte help. Please. HELP!" Akko pleaded before running away, leaving a broken broom in Lotte's hands.
"Akko."
"Yeah Diana?"
"I understand you asked me to take care of the lights for this but…"
"But?"
"I have an idea you might be interested in trying."
"Oh?"
"Good evening Professor."
"Good evening Diana" Ursula greeted in return. "…Are you okay?" She asked when she noticed how Diana looked.
Without fail, Diana's appearance was always flawless. Never a hair out of place, uniform always perfectly pressed, not a wrinkle in sight. She also always had a calm look on her face.
The Diana Ursula met up with was none of that. There were strands of hair sticking out from her blonde hair. Her uniform looked slightly disheveled. Her face had traces of dirt.
Despite all that, though, Diana had a smile on her face as she responded.
"Everything is just fine. Today's tutoring session was just a little more… hectic than usual." Diana reassured. "Shall we go?"
Ursula nodded and the two began to walk slowly through the bushes.
"Diana?"
"Yes professor?"
"I've been wondering, but was there a need to wait for four hours?"
"Akko requested to see if she could have more time."
"More time for what?"
"You will see." Diana smiled.
The two continued to walk silently.
"Professor, what are your thoughts about Akko's abilities with magic?" Diana broke the silence with an out of the blue question.
"Eh?" Ursula replied with confusion.
"As one who, as far as I am aware, volunteered to be Akko's mentor, I am sure you had a reason for doing so?" Diana asked.
"Ah yes. Part of the reason is because I felt she needed more guidance, given her background. But... I'm sure you've noticed it too, after those weeks of tutoring Akko. She struggles, and it takes her much longer to learns things than other witches. But when she finally masters it… she shines brighter than any other witch."
Diana just smiled and nodded.
"It's such a shame that she still can't fly yet." Ursula continued somberly.
"Professor. Is everything alright?"
"Huh? Oh. Yes, yes everything is just fine."
Diana wanted to ask about it more, but decided not to press the matter any further.
"I do see what you mean though." Diana decided to return to the original topic. "There's something about Akko that just draws you in. Something… special about her." She smiled as she thought of her friend. "Something that goes beyond just her passion and determination. Wouldn't you agree?"
Ursula looked back at Diana with a smile on her face, signaling agreement.
"And on that note, who would ever say anything about Akko being unable to fly." Diana said, a playful tone in her voice.
"What do you me-"
"Professor!?" Ursula heard Akko's voice call out, surprised. "Mouu Diana! You were supposed to send a warning when you were getting close." Ursula looked around and was shocked at what she had found.
Akko was flying in the air.
Diana smiled at Akko's complaint. "My apologies. I must have forgotten."
Akko landed in front of Diana, a pout on her face.
"Liar! You're Diana, you never forget." Diana chuckled upon hearing Akko's statement.
"A-Akko. You…" Ursula stared wide-eyes at Akko.
"Professor Ursula! I uh- didn't mean to have you find out this way. It was supposed to be a huge spectacle" Akko glared at Diana. "…Professor Ursula, are you okay?"
Diana turned to Professor Ursula and saw that she started to tear up. However, Diana could tell right away it wasn't of sadness.
If anything, it seemed of relief.
"A-Ah, no. I mean yes, yes I'm okay." Ursula stammered out.
"Are you sure?" Akko asked, concern in her eyes.
"Yes, yes. Now please continue with what you wanted to show me. I would love to see what you have prepared." Ursula said, a genuine smile on her face.
"Eh. Okay." Akko cleared her throat. "Diana! Show her to her seat."
"Understood." Diana answered back, amusement on her face. Diana guided Ursula to a large orange mushroom. "Here's your seat."
"Lights!" Akko announced as she raised her wand up in the air.
On cue, Diana cast a spell. Streams of light flowed from both hers and Akko's wands, meeting in the middle. This stream of light began to mix together, creating a large ball of light that burst into glimmers of pink and blue light that filled the field.
"Alright! Stage!" Akko announced. Sucy flew in above Akko, sprinkling a greenish powder in a circle around Akko. Immediately a large mushroom grew from under Akko, creating a stage.
"Aaaand decorations!" Just as Sucy did, Lotte flew in from above Akko. With her wand, she called upon a fire faerie to light different colors of flames around mushroom pillars scattered across the stage.
"Aaaaand are you ready?! Professor Ursula's welcome back show… start!" Akko raised her wand. Immediately, the glimmers of light followed the direction of her wand. She twirled her wand around, and the glimmers starting dancing around the entire field.
It was like a vast sea of stars.
Diana smiled as she watched Akko gleefully laugh. It was a simple combination spell. Diana connected both of their wands so that the light spell she cast could be controlled by Akko.
It also enabled Diana to channel some of Akko's emotion into the spell, strengthening it and making it shine more completely than it had ever done before.
Diana wished she could keep watching Akko in the moment. Spinning, laughing, and thoroughly enjoying the magic she was, at least in part, responsible for.
But she could not. After all, there was more to this performance. She grabbed the two brooms that were off to the side. Hers and Akko's. She looked into Akko's eyes and nodded.
At the signal, Akko began spinning her wand as fast as she could, creating a whirlpool of stars in the middle of the stage. A whirlpool that Diana flew right into through the middle, and, in the moment she landed on stage, the lights exploded revealing her entrance on stage. She turned to Akko, extending both of her hands, each holding a broom. Akko smiled as she walked up to Diana. Akko extended one hand onto Diana's broom.
"Tia Freyre!" Diana yelled. Immediately, the bristles on her broom shook, and the two of them slowly rose above the stage. Diana looked into Akko's eyes. "Are you ready?"
Akko smiled and nodded.
"Keep your balance, understood?"
Akko laughed before nodding.
"Impress me once again. Is that clear?"
Akko's eyes shined with determination as she stared right into Diana's blue eyes. Not a single sign of hesitation in sight.
After all, this was as much a show for Ursula as it was for Diana.
Diana began to rotate, causing the two of them to spin around. The glimmers of light followed suit, making it appear as if the two of them were spinning above the same whirlpool of stars. Eyes never leaving one another's.
"Akko!" Diana yelled aloud. Diana let go of Akko's broom, as Akko let go of Diana's broom, causing her to fall down into the whirlpool of stars.
"TIA FREYRE!"
Ursula watched in a mix of pride, surprise, and awe. She watched as the whirlpool of stars exploded to reveal Akko flying on her broom. She watched as Akko flew across the sky, the lights following her every move. She watched as Akko's friends threw up all manner of objects, which Akko cast transformation magic to create all sorts of flying animals to follow her.
It was astounding. Breathtaking. And it filled her with such relief and happiness that she couldn't help more tears from falling down her face.
After all, it was clear. She hadn't destroyed Akko's dream.
And as Akko landed, and the stars and glimmers exploded and faded away, Ursula found herself unable to stop herself from giving the quartet a standing ovation.
As soon as the show was finished, Akko insisted on forcing everyone into one big group hug. Once the hug broke apart, Diana, Lotte, and Sucy decided to give Akko and their professor some space.
"So professor! What'd you think?" Akko asked excitedly.
"It was absolutely wonderful Akko. Thank you very much." Ursula said softly, a smile on her face.
Akko grinned. "If anything, I should be the one thanking you." Akko said.
"Eh?"
"After all, it's thanks to you I was even able to get a hang of magic. You helped me out early in the mornings and late at night just so I could have a chance. You even made sure that, when you left, I could have the best tutor any student could ask for." Akko said, looking at Diana. "You've gone far beyond anything any other teacher's done here, and I wanted to show you that none of it went to waste. So thank you."
Professor Ursula felt herself overcome with joy and relief. She pulled Akko into a tight hug.
"Akko, I have something I need to ask you."
"Yeah Diana?" Akko asked, as she and Professor Ursula snacked on some sandwiches that were prepared.
"I just wanted to make sure that… now that Professor Ursula has returned, you would still wish to continue having me tutor you?" Diana asked nervously, refusing to look back at Akko. Ursula found herself stifling back laughter.
"Eh? Are you kidding? Of course!" Akko yelled aloud, before walking up to Diana and crushing her into a hug. "I mean, Professor Nelson just announced the obstacle run! I'm going to need as much help as I can get to prepare for that. Not to mention you said you'd show me how to use that light magic after that!"
Diana found herself relaxing into Akko's hug. It'd been just a few days since the last one, but Diana had not realized how much she had missed this feeling.
"I suppose we could work out a schedule then." Ursula said as she watched the two. "After all, I can't expect Diana to tutor you in everything, Akko."
As soon as Ursula gave the final okay, Diana found herself buckle in relief, bringing both her and Akko down to the ground.
The finale was so beautiful. I just, need a moment.