Chapter 20

Blood was everywhere. It was on her skin, it was in her hair, it stung the roof of her mouth—

Akko shot up, her chest lurching for air as her hands flew out and grabbed the nearest anchor, which happened to be Diana.

Diana grunted, eyes blinking open as she glanced up to find Akko wheezing for air beside her. The other girl was sweating, a pained grimace spread across her face.

She hadn't been asleep long. It had only been an hour since she'd gotten back from her Saturday evening patrol, and Akko had already been passed out for who knew how long by the time she returned to her room. The girl had been spread-eagle across her bed, and she'd had a difficult time maneuvering limbs without waking the other girl just to get into her own bed.

Akko had only had one nightmare recently, and it hadn't been difficult to bring her back down into calmness. The other girl had disclosed the method that she'd been using when it was just her, and so Diana had tried it out with good results. Though Diana still regretted the outcome of her actions entirely, she had to admit that the one good thing that came out of the incident was Akko learning how to tame her own demons.

"It's alright, love," Diana murmured, sitting up and immediately closing her arms around the other girl's torso to pull her into a tight hug. She could feel the warm tears wet against her chest, the hot gasping breaths as Akko tried to calm her own heart rate. The other girl said nothing, but her fingers found the fabric of Diana's shirt and squeezed.

"Remember that time I crushed you in a snowball fight? You told me I was cheating because I used magic, which is absolutely absurd because I would never use something as primitive as my own hands when I have something better at my disposal." She took a deep breath, pressing her cheek against Akko's soft brunette hair and speaking into her ear. "And you spent the entire afternoon building that ridiculous igloo and insisted that I get inside. And I did, because I love you, but Nine knows that thing was completely barbaric." She ran her fingers down Akko's arm in a rhythmic stroke, listening to the desperate gasps for air slowing to a more manageable breathing pattern. The girl's muscles were slowly releasing their tension. "Your igloo collapsed on top of us—I told you it was going to—and you just laughed. I was so irritated with you." She chuckled, feeling the body starting to relax into her own. "Okay, I wasn't that irritated with you. Though under no circumstances would I have ever partaken in those activities with anyone but you."

"It was a work of art," Akko gasped back.

Diana was tired. She just wanted to go back to sleep—she'd woken up early that morning to get a little extra studying done before they'd gone to Blytonbury together—but Akko needed her, and that was okay. "I'm not sure I would coin it as a work of art," she replied. "In that case, the standards within the art community would have to drastically be lowered."

Akko's nostrils flared as she sucked in air. The tears were no longer falling now, and she wasn't having to work so hard to keep her quaking spine steady. "That's so rude," she mumbled.

Diana hummed, smiling into messy hair. "Well, that's the Cavendish motto. Rude."

"Shut up. Tell me more."

"Alright. Well, it was freezing outside and even colder in your igloo because you didn't bother to clear the snow off the ground—"

"That was for ambience."

"Right. Well, it was quite cold in there, and very small and uncomfortable, but it's one of my favorite memories. You were so cute and focused building that ridiculous thing. It made me feel a bit like a child again." Akko was settling into her. Her chest rose, slow and rhythmic, with each steadying breath. "I must admit, it was refreshing."

Akko nodded, squeezing her eyes shut. "I like that one, too," she said quietly, the grip of her fingers on Diana's t-shirt loosening. "It was nice. Even if you cheated with magic and insulted my igloo."

Diana grinned. She kissed the side of Akko's head and let out a long breath. "Do you need another? I can tell you about the time that Professor Ursula caught me staring at you through her entire class and asked me afterwards when I was just going to ask you out already."

"That did not happen," Akko grumbled, but a weak laugh slipped from the back of her throat anyway.

"It did," Diana asserted, straightening up a little bit as she pulled away to look at Akko's face. She wasn't so flushed anymore, and her eyes didn't have that cloudy haze that came with anxiety attacks. "I had always thought Professor Ursula was a bit daft, but she's more perceptive than I thought. The entire conversation was humiliating."

"When was this? I don't believe you."

Diana chuckled. "And when have I ever lied to you?" she replied. "It was at the beginning of the school year. And you can ask Professor Ursula if you don't believe me."

"Fine, I will." Akko pressed a kiss to Diana's lips and tugged her back down into the bed, a sleepy smile tilting the corner of her mouth. After a short pause, she added, "Thank you, Diana.'

"Of course." Diana brought a hand to the side of Akko's face, running the pad of her thumb along a dark eyebrow and down her temple. "Are you alright now?"

"Mhm." Akko's eyes were already drifting shut. Diana watched the steady breaths, the slackening of the other girl's jaw as she slipped effortlessly back into sleep. She hadn't even asked for her dream suppressant.

They were making progress, even if it took baby steps.

All they needed to do to scare the ghosts away was keep making memories together, and that was something that Diana knew she never wanted to stop doing.

"Nine, Akko," Diana panted, squeezing her eyes shut as she let her spent body sink back into the mess they'd made of her bed. Her skin still tingled from the intensity of her orgasm and she hitched her breath as Akko slid carefully out of her, her nostrils still flaring with the effort of catching her breath as she tilted her head back and groaned.

Akko grinned with pride as she swiped the back of her hand across her mouth and kissed her way back up Diana's body, pausing to nuzzle against her jaw before letting herself fall down half on top of the other girl with a heavy sigh of content. "Happy birthday!" she wheezed, planting a light kiss to Diana's cheek. "How was that?"

Diana chuckled, lifting one shaky arm to wrap around Akko's ribcage, pulling the other girl's sweaty body a little bit closer. They hadn't had any alone time quite like this since before the lantern incident, both so busy with rebuilding their own strength and catching up on their studies, and so a majority of the night Akko had planned for them had been spent catching up on their own desires. Her roommates had, very wisely, chosen to leave for the evening—Hannah was spending the night at Amanda's, and Barbara with Lotte and Sucy. She suspected Akko's charisma had a lot to do with talking them into that, but she had chosen not to ask and to simply enjoy.

"Need you ask?" she replied, smiling into Akko's flushed forehead. "And it's not my birthday yet."

"Yeah, yeah, but we're celebrating this weekend, so it's your birthday." Akko hummed, smirking as her fingers danced over Diana's skin, feeling the other girl squirm away from the touch as she trailed lower. "Again?" she asked.

"Absolutely not. I would prefer to be able to walk in the morning." Diana huffed, squeezing her legs shut and sitting up to find the corner of the sheets and pull them over their bodies before sinking back into Akko's arms and pressing a finger to the tip of the other girl's nose. "You are insatiable."

"I can't help you're so hot," Akko mumbled, cringing away from the nose boop.

Diana rolled her eyes and flipped onto her back, staring up at the ceiling as Akko's fingers tickled her sternum. "Are you sure you're taking your potions?" she asked after a moment, turning back to the Japanese witch to study her reaction. "I mean… twice, and I really didn't have to do much," she added.

"Yes, I am taking my potions, Okaasan." Akko laughed and lifted her hand, thumbing in the direction of Diana's desk and the handful of vials that she had thrown there. "I, uh." She felt a burn edging into her cheeks. "I had Madam Wong switch me up a little bit so I could… you know."

Bright blue eyes widened and Diana lurched up on an elbow. "You talked to the nurse about our sex life?" she asked, probably a little too loudly—it was a good thing she didn't have one of the regular rooms with the thin walls.

"Yeah, I told her I was having trouble coming and you needed your fingers to take notes in class," Akko said, narrowing her eyes. "What's wrong with that?"

"By the Nine, Akko!" Diana flushed and cringed hard, teeth gritting together as she tucked her chin. "I can't believe—"

A wide grin spread across Akko's face and she reached up, pushing a strand of sweaty blonde hair out of Diana's eyes. "That was a joke. You're so gullible. I just said the other one wasn't working out that well and I wanted to explore other options."

Diana groaned, giving the giggling girl's shoulder a shove and letting herself fall back against the pillow. She could feel the tips of her ears still flaming. "Whatever, Akko," she grumbled. She grew silent, letting Akko's fingers resume their unconscious stroking of her chest while she watched the moon slide from behind a cloud cover. "Thank you," she finally said, turning her attention back to the crimson eyes that were staring back at her and pressing a kiss to Akko's soft lips. "It was a wonderful pseudo-birthday."

"It's not over yet," Akko replied, grinning. "This was just your Friday night birthday sex. Tomorrow is your real birthday!"

"Still not my real birthday." Diana chuckled. "That's Monday."

"Oh, you know what I mean!" Akko snaked her arm around Diana's waist and pulled her in. "Weekday birthdays don't count, they default to the weekend before. Everyone knows that."

"Is that so?" Diana felt herself smiling. She nuzzled into Akko's cheek and closed her eyes. "I suppose I wasn't aware of that."

Akko hummed. "Yep. Today was your birthday, and so is tomorrow, and the next day. And Monday. After that, it's my birthday."

"Your birthday isn't for another few months."

"My birthday starts the day after yours. That's how that works. What rock have you been under?"

Diana could feel the smile tugging at Akko's lips. "Alright, then. So, if we're alternating, then by that logic my birthday will begin again the day after yours, which means that I get 10 months of birthday and you only get 2."

The smile faded.

"Nevermind," Akko said quickly. "Forget I said that. You know what, I think it's bedtime." She rose quickly, reaching across Diana to snag her nightly potion. Once she'd taken her dose and thrown the vial back with the others, she scanned the room for her clothes. "All the way over there?" she grumbled, squirming away from Diana to go fetch her t-shirt and shorts. "And you complain about me throwing your stuff."

A hand on her wrist stopped her, pulled her back down. Dark eyebrows stitched together as Akko looked at Diana, who was smirking up at her. Blonde hair draped across the pillow, across her pale chest, over the shadows of her collarbones. Akko had seen Diana in that way dozens of times before, but the girl's beauty never ceased to make her breath hitch.

"I think we can forget about that for tonight," Diana said. "After all, Hannah and Barbara aren't here."

Akko's red eyes widened, a broad grin spreading across her face. "Aw, yeah!" she said, throwing herself back down and snuggling into Diana's warm body. Remembering the light, she raised her hand and twitched her fingers—

"Damnit, Akko! Not again!"

The lamp crashed loudly against the bookshelf and fell in a heap of broken glass, a few books sliding from their rests to hit the floor along with it. Akko could feel Diana's blue eyes shooting daggers at her through the darkness.

"Uh, oops. Well, the light's out. Goodnight!"

Diana couldn't imagine when Akko had found the time to plan birthday festivities. What with studying, practicing her spells, working on her flying with Amanda, and spending time with her friends during the week, Akko had hardly even had time to see Diana outside of their tutoring sessions. And the girl had been with her during the weekends—so how did she even manage?

"Everyone helped out," Akko clarified as she pulled the blonde witch's hand into the botanical garden, which had been extravagantly decorated (that was a joke, it was incredibly tacky) for Diana's birthday. "I just talked Headmistress Holbrooke into letting me use the garden for the night. She seemed okay with it after I offered her one of Sucy's Special Smoothies."

"By the Nine." Diana lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to hear any more."

"Hey, birthday girl!"

Diana's body jolted roughly as Amanda smacked her hard on the back of her shoulder. She grunted, throwing a glare at the American witch. "Unnecessary," she snapped, though relaxed quickly at the squeeze of Akko's fingers.

All of their friends were there—Hannah, Barbara, Sucy, Lotte, Constanze, Jasminka, Amanda. Chariot was there, too, and Diana was surprised to see Croix on her arm. She would've thought the other woman would have headed back to the Ministry, but—

"I flew in for the weekend," Croix clarified, side-eyeing Chariot as she cleared her throat and stepped away. "I thought it would be nice to visit a friend."

One white-blonde eyebrow quirked up at the statement. "Uh-huh." Were they really still insisting they were only friends? She shot a glance at Akko, who only offered a shrug and mouthed a, "Don't know."

Colorful streamers had been draped against the walls, one massive banner that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAVENDISH (Amanda must have made it, Diana assumed) was pressed against the Jennifer memorial tree. Diana felt the urge to say something about the other witches defiling their ancestor with such tacky props, but held back. After all, they had put quite some effort into preparing everything for her. Jasminka had baked a colorful cake which was slightly lopsided but still very nice, and Constanze had installed electric torches that hovered overhead and burst with blue flames every few seconds. A fire hazard, to be sure, but she kept her mouth shut. There was a spread of food—no potatoes, thank the Nine—and a few different kinds of punch, even a tray of tarts that she was sure had been lifted from the cafeteria earlier in the night. There was laughter and music (though nothing Diana was familiar with), the easy chatter of excited friends, Akko's hand warm in her own.

"This is nice," Diana said at last, turning to grin at Akko. She was never one for parties, or really even acknowledging her own birthday, but she appreciated the time and effort that went into giving her a pleasant evening. "Thank you, Akko."

"Of course." Akko leaned forward, but, realizing what she was doing, tucked her head with a blush.

"Don't be silly."

Diana slid her finger beneath Akko's chin and pulled her forward into a kiss. She could feel the other girl's smile spreading against her lips before they backed away.

"Gross," Amanda muttered from beside them. She was pouring a healthy serving of punch into a bunch of cups. "Gather around, punks! It's time to wish this old woman a happy birthday, since she's finally decided to grace us with her presence. I wonder what took so long for you two to get down here?"

Diana felt a furious blush spark into her cheeks and looked away. At her side, Akko did the same.

They couldn't have been more obvious.

The Nine New Witches, along with Hannah and Barbara, flocked in to take the cups offered from the red-headed witch. Once they'd all received a drink, Amanda lifted her arm, a mischievous smirk spread across her lips.

"To Cavendish. Cheers."

Diana raised the drink to her lips—

She spiked the damn punch.

Diana coughed as the heavy taste of vodka impaled the back of her throat. Her eyes started watering as she shot a glare at the devious witch, who simply raised one haughty eyebrow and threw her own punch back.

"Problem, Cavendish?"

Diana frowned, glancing at Akko, who had hesitated with the cup to her lips after Diana's reaction.

With a heavy sigh, she tilted the cup back and emptied the rest of the contents into her mouth before grimacing and swiping her lips with the back of her hand. Akko followed suit. "No problem," she muttered, which earned a loud laugh from Amanda, who threw an arm around Hannah's shoulder and exclaimed, "See, babe? Told you she'd loosen up eventually."

"Whatever," Diana grumbled, holding her cup out. "Keep it full, then, would you?"

The evening turned out to be way more fun that Diana could have ever anticipated. Maybe it was the alcohol burning through her blood that lowered her inhibitions and made everything seem much more entertaining, or the ridiculous dancing of the whole group of friends (in particular Sucy's headbang and air guitar when she bewitched the music to play death metal), or the warmth of a laughing and cheerful Akko by her side. Either way, it was nice—very nice—and when Akko had grabbed her hand and started pulling her to the observatory, she couldn't help but wonder how she'd managed to land such a lovely family of friends.

"It's my turn," Akko said as they climbed the last few stairs of the observatory. The brilliant night sky greeted them, cloudless, a full moon glaring down in pale white light from above. The constellations above were loud and bright, twinkling pleasantly against a canvas of darkness. There was a chill to the air but it wasn't at all uncomfortable, certainly not with Akko's warm magic pulsing around her. The ground seemed to sway beneath their feet a little bit, but that was probably just the punch.

"I believe you've had many turns," Diana replied, chuckling. "Though, I won't argue."

Akko plopped down at the edge of the observatory, letting her legs kick over the side. Diana wasn't too keen on sitting so dangerous close without the security of a rail, especially after having a few cups of Amanda's punch, but she joined Akko after a moment's hesitation. She felt the other girl's arm close around her waist, pulling her in.

"Are you having fun?" Akko asked.

Diana nodded. "I am. Thank you."

"Good."

The silence spread between them, comfortable and easy, and Diana rested a hand on Akko's knee as she stared off at the dark wall of trees that was Arcturus.

"Hey, Diana?"

"Hm?"

Diana blinked to Akko, letting herself smile when she found sparkling ruby eyes gazing back at her. The moonlight hit Akko's face in all the right ways and she looked so desperately pretty that Diana couldn't help but reach up and run her hand through the other girl's hair, couldn't help but to pull her into a brief kiss.

Akko grinned as their lips fell away, warm breath still tickling her cheek as she gazed at the blonde witch. "How would you feel about joining me in Japan for a bit this summer?"

"In Japan?"

Diana had never been to Japan. Her eyebrows knit together as she studied Akko's face, thumb gently caressing her cheek.

"Yeah." Akko nodded. "I've told Okaasan and Otousan so much about you and I'd really like you to meet them. Besides, I've seen where you've grown up and I just thought—"

"Yes." Diana said quickly, tongue darting from her mouth to wet her lips. "I'd love to."

"Really?" A flame in Akko's irises flared as her lip quirked up in that signature half-smile. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Great! There's this festival that I really want to take you to—it's in Hokkaido and—"

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the mood, maybe it was the girl in front of her that she loved so dearly, but the warmth that spread through Diana's mind made her want to kiss Akko again. And again. So she did. She pressed their lips together, feeling the surprised exhale from Akko's nostrils as their mouths collided. Diana could feel the magic bursting from inside her, reaching for Akko's in that urgency that had become so wonderfully familiar.

If there had been any regret remaining from the choice she'd made, it was gone in that moment, nothing more than a fleeting memory left behind on the grand staircase in her mind. She had followed the tug on her heart and it hadn't led her astray and instead brought her straight to Akko, to the magic they shared, to the warmth of love.

And Diana couldn't imagine being anywhere other than this side of paradise.

Author's Notes

Hey! Thanks so much for reading. This brings this fic to a close, but I am planning a third installment to this series that I'll pursue eventually.

I hope you enjoyed!