Chapter 12

To Infinity

"Just tell me what to say when you push me away. If there's nothing left for us, don't tell me stay." Akko belted out the lyrics into her microphone, her fingers moving effortlessly across the neck of her electric guitar. The brunette's reunited band playing perfectly behind her as if they'd never broken up in the first place. She turned her head and smiled joyfully at the scene of Amanda banging her head as Akko sang the next line.

"I love you, I hate you, nothing left for me to say." The brunette took a deep breath and looked to her other side, her eyebrows rising in surprise when even Sucy was moving to the music as well, their pale friend usually the most stationary of the group as she plucked away at her bass.

"You wanted me to be everything that you need. Finally I get in now, we just weren't meant to be." Akko looked again out into the large empty bar in front of them, imagining a crowd there dancing or banging their heads along to the music like she'd seen so many times before and finished out the fast paced song in dramatic fashion like she always had.

"I'm broken, It's true. But I'll rise up and get over you. We're through."

With one last riff from Amanda's guitar and a short drum solo from Jasminka, the bar finally went silent. Akko breathed heavily, forgetting just how exhausting it was to perform their fast paced songs. She should really work out more.

"Damn that felt good!" Amanda exclaimed as she walked over and fist bumped Jasminka before turning to Akko and chuckled at the sight of the out of breath band leader. "Good to see you haven't lost your touch. For the most part." The redhead said playfully as she took off her guitar and placed it on a stand, Akko following suit before throwing her arms around Amanda, almost knocking the taller girl off her feet. The redhead chuckled and reciprocated the unexpected hug.

"Akko?" Amanda furrowed her brows after a moment as she felt wetness soaking through her shirt during the embrace. "Hey, what's going on?" She questioned in concern, letting go of the brunette and stepped back to look in Akko's eyes.

"I just…" The Japanese girl trailed off and looked around the girls who had now huddled around them. "I don't deserve you guys." She whispered with a sad smile before wiping her tears with the back of her hand and trained her eyes on the floor. "Not after what I did. I'm so sorry."

The band member's eyes darted between each other, not used to the usually overly confident girl breaking right in front of them. Lotte was the first to step forward and place her hand softly on Akko's quivering shoulder.

"Akko, we've all forgiven you for that."

"Yeah dummy, we wouldn't be here if we hadn't." Sucy chimed in, not able to quite hide her concern with her usual sarcastic nature.

"You've changed, Akko." Amanda said softly, bending over slightly in order to see Akko's face. "For the better. We've all seen it. What you're doing for Diana…" the redhead trailed off as moisture began to build in the corners of her own eyes, the emotion of seeing her friends like this finally overflowing, "it's amazing Akko. You deserve the world and I swear I'll slap you if I ever hear to talk about yourself like this again, okay?"

Akko sniffled before giggling and looking up at her friend with a grateful smile.

"Okay." She said horsley, nodding and wiping her eyes one last time. "Thank you, all of you. Your support really means the world to me." Akko again looked around the group, this time in much better spirits. The girls simply smiled back, knowing no more words were needed. They were together again and none of them could think of anywhere else they'd rather be.

"Hey, don't you have a session with Diana to get to?" Amanda asked with furrowed brows as she looked down at her watch.

"Oh shit." Akko gasped as she grabbed Amanda's arm, looking at the time for herself. "Shit shit shit." She chanted as she ran around gathering her things before running toward the exit. "Talk to you later I love you guuuuuys!" The brunette shouted before slamming into the large unmoving wooden door. She nearly fell over backward but was able to miraculously keep herself upright.

"Pull." Amanda shouted in amusement from across the bar, the others snickering around her.

"Right." Akko giggled nervously before pulling the door open quickly and exiting the establishment.

"You guys ever wonder how that idiot is our band leader?"

"Sucy!"

Knock knock

"Come in." Diana said absentmindedly as she stared at her computer screen which showed a blank document titled 'Song'. She had been doing this day after day for about a week now, trying and failing to come up with any lyrics for her duet with Akko. What could she possibly say? How could she possibly convey all of her feelings in a few sentences? If Akko had asked her to write a novel she could do that easily. A score for the song? No problem. But ask Diana Cavendish to come up with three of four sentences of lyrics and this is the result.

Nothing.

"You got a minute, Diana?"

Diana tore her eyes away from the computer and looked to the door to see Croix peeking her head in with her usual cool expression on her face. The blonde had noticed how that cool expression had changed since Diana had received her bad news. She could see the way people tried to cover up their concern and sadness when she was around. It was maddening.

"Of course, have a seat." Diana replied as she turned her chair away from her screen to face Croix, who had seated herself in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk.

"I just have some paperwork for you to sign." the older woman said, getting straight to business as always as she passed the papers across the desk.

Diana reached out and took the papers before quickly glancing over them before her eyes traveled up to Croix again, the woman looking back at her curiously. After she stayed silent for a long moment, the blonde put the stack of papers down in front of her and leaned back in her chair, furrowing her brows as she entered a staring contest with the woman across from her.

"Was there anything else?"

"How are you feeling, Diana?" Croix asked after a moment of hesitation.

"I'm-"

"Don't say you're fine." The older woman interjected. Croix had known and worked with Diana for a very long time, and she had heard that phrase too many times to count.

Diana didn't look surprised at all to hear that from the woman. She knew she had a tendency to sweep her problems under the rug and refuse to show any sort of vulnerability. She figured most people didn't believe her when she said she was fine, but most weren't brave enough to question it. Croix, however, was her mentor, her friend, a lot like an older sister if Diana was being honest. She was cold and informal to everyone else, but she had always been warm and supportive toward the blonde, and she always knew when there was a problem.

"I'm...tired." Diana finally said quietly. "There's just a lot going on and I feel like I can't quite keep up anymore." She winced at that admission, looking down at her hands fiddling in her lap.

"Maybe you need to take a break for a while." Croix replied carefully, watching Diana carefully.

"And do what?" The blonde laughed bitterly.

"Live." The older woman said simply. "Look, Diana, I know how important this place is to you. We all understand that, but don't think I haven't seen how tired you've been, how weak you look walking down the hallway when you think no one is watching. You can't keep pretending to be fine, Diana." Croix's voice held a twinge of desperation now as she leaned forward in her chair. "Let us help you."

Diana refused to look up, her eyes still trained on her lap as she took in the older woman's words. People noticed all of those things? She thought she had played off the growing sickness pretty well, but it seemed that she had overestimated her acting skills. Had Akko noticed? If she had she never made it known out loud. Maybe Diana was in denial, thinking she could be the girl she was a year ago but she had to accept the fact that she would never be that girl again. It hurt, thinking about that fact.

"What do you suggest I do?" The blonde asked quietly, finally looking up into the older woman's concerned eyes. "This is all I know. What do I do?"

"Well," Croix sighed and sat back in her chair, "do whatever you want to do. Focus on your friends, on Akko. I know she's been doing a lot for you lately, why don't you do something for her."

Diana's eyes widened slightly at the comment, a sudden feeling of guilt filling her heart. Akko had done so much for her but what had Diana done for Akko? How could she have let herself become so selfish? She sat here at this desk every day doing work that no longer mattered to her, wasting the precious time she had left. And for what? Maybe it's about time she got her priorities straight, before it was too late to do so.

"You're right." Diana mumbled, almost as if she was speaking more to herself than to the other woman in the room.

"What?" Croix furrowed her brows and leaned a little closer.

"You're right." The blonde spoke again, louder this time. "This company, this studio is my mother's legacy. I just...I wanted to hold on as long as I could. I wanted to leave something behind that she'd be proud of." Diana's voice cracked slightly before she turned away and willed herself not to tear up.

"Diana, your mother would have been so proud of everything you've done here, and the woman you've become. I hope you never think differently," Croix said with confidence before continuing, "and I am so proud of you, too, Diana."

"Croix Merides," The blonde turned back to the older woman after gaining her composure, "you're not going soft on me now, are you?" she asked with an amused smile, her mood lightening a bit.

Croix rolled her eyes but let a small smile show through as she stood up and picked up the newly signed papers off of Diana's desk.

"Let's keep that between us hm. I have a reputation to protect after all." The older woman said playfully before turning and walking to the door before disappearing into the hallway.

Diana laughed silently to herself before relaxing in her chair, her eyes glancing toward the ornate clock hanging on the wall above her desk which showed that she had about thirty minutes before Akko would arrive to work on their song. The blonde let out a drawn out sigh before she pulled out the notebook she'd designated for brainstorming and ideas for lyrics, unfortunately the notebook was still completely empty. Although she was always excited to see Akko, these sessions caused her some stress at the thought of telling the bruette that she yet again hadn't thought of anything. Diana placed the notebook down in front of her and just stared at the cover for a very long moment before letting out another sigh and closing her eyes, leaning her head back tiredly on the back of her chair.

"Alright Diana," she began to whisper to herself, "lyrics for Akko."

For Akko, a girl who was once one of the biggest musical names in the world now fallen from grace, a girl who doesn't seem to believe anymore she's the star that everyone else sees, the star that Diana sees every time she looks at the brunette. The girl she loved with all her heart. The beautiful, funny, fit, sexy, heavily tattooed, HOT gi…

Diana opened her eyes immediately and shook her head.

"Well my mind is officially not on the song anymore." She spoke to herself with a bewildered chuckle, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"Oh? If I may ask, just where is your mind Miss Cavendish?"
Diana jumped at the unexpected voice coming from the doorway before glancing up to find Akko smiling adoringly back at her with her arms folded and leaning against the doorframe.

"Akko," Diana said breathlessly as she held her hand over her heart. "You frightened me." The blonde began to chuckle before going silent and looking at the brunette suspiciously. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Oh, not for long," Akko shrugged and walked fully into the blonde's office, sitting down in the chair across from Diana before a mischievous smile appeared. "But long enough to see you biting your lip like you do when you're turned o-"

"Akko!" Diana gasped as her eyes flitted to her wide open office door.

"What? They all know we're dating." Akko furrowed her brows and cocked her head, completely oblivious as to why the blonde was reacting that way.

"It's hardly appropriate to talk like that here, Akko."

The brunette pursed her lips, a contemplative look crossing her face for a moment before she nodded slowly and smiled a little too sweetly.

"You're absolutely right Diana."

Diana stared suspiciously back at her silent smiling girlfriend for what seemed like a long time before speaking hesitantly.

"Why do I get the feeling you're just saying that to placate me? You never give up that easily. What's your angle?"

"My dear Diana, I wholeheartedly agree that this is no place for that kind of talk." Akko stated exaggeratedly as she stood up and walked to the door, glancing over her shoulder to see the blonde watching her every move very closely. The brunette shut the door and locked it before turning around and sauntering back to the desk slowly with her hands clasped behind her back. She walked around Diana's desk and leaned over until her lips ghosted the blonde's ear, smiling at the noticeable shiver run down Diana's body before whispering, "So let's forget about talking hm?" Without waiting for a reply, Akko took the blonde's earlobe between her teeth and gently tugged, causing a low breathy moan to escape Diana's lips. Taking that as permission to move forward, the brunette smirked and began to kiss down the blonde's neck to her shoulder, pulling her shirt aside to reveal more incredibly soft skin.

Diana closed her eyes and tilted her head before reaching up and tangling her hair in silky brunette locks, lost in a haze of want and need. She felt Akko's hand running up her thigh, intaking a deep breath as the brunette's fingers grazed up her stomach en route to her chest. Before Akko could make it there, however, Diana's eyes shot open, finally remembering exactly where they were.

"Akko, wait." She practically gasped, clasping the brunette's wrist before it could move any further.

"Yeah?" Akko responded breathily, stopping her ministrations immediately.

"I...I don't know if I can do this here." Diana said hesitantly as she attempted to get her heart rate under control, worried that she'd just disappointed her girlfriend.

"Oh." The brunette responded simply as she pulled her hand away from under the blonde's chest.

"Akko I'm sor-" Diana began to say in a panic.

"No no! Nothing to apologize for, Diana." Akko stated quickly as she rounded the chair until she was directly in front of the blonde and smiled adoringly as she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Diana's lips before whispering, "Sometimes I just can't keep my hands off of you when I see you, when I know that the most beautiful girl in the world chose me, for reasons God only knows."

Diana's face was overcome with a deep blush before rolling her eyes and clearing her throat. Suddenly she pulled Akko into her lap, eliciting a surprised squeak from the brunette. The blonde put her arms around the girl sitting in her lap and sighed contentedly as she stared deeply into Akko's beautiful crimson eyes. Slowly she leaned forward and took Akko's lips in a deep kiss, her hands roaming up the length of the brunette's toned abs. Akko reciprocated, deepening the kiss as she wrapped her arms around Diana's neck and let out a throaty moan when the blonde's hands found their destination on her chest. The brunette arched into Diana's touch on instinct as her fingernail grazed up Diana's neck and into her hair when suddenly there came a knock at the office door. The two girls froze immediately at the noise, staring at each other with wide eyes, an unspoken agreement to stay silent and hope the person outside the door just goes away. Unfortunately for them the person knocked again, causing the girls to silently sigh together in frustration. After another long moment of silence, Diana and Akko thought they were now in the clear, the brunette leaning in to continue where they left off when they heard a key begin to turn the lock on the door and the doorknob turning. In a panic, Diana pulled away immediately and stood up, flinging her girlfriend off her lap to hit the floor in a painful heap.

"Gah!" Akko gasped as she hit the hard ground.

"Oh my God Akko I-""Oh, I'm sorry Diana I thought you were…." Hannah began to apologize until she saw a very odd scene unfolding, "...gone." She tilted her head as she took in the sight of Akko kneeling on the ground before her boss, both girl's hair in a mess as they both stared back at her with wide eyes. "Were you...um.."

"Did you need something, Hannah?" Diana said in a hurry, not letting Hannah finish that question and giving her a look that screamed 'do not ask'.

"Yes," the auburn haired girl answered slowly before tearing her eyes away from the odd scene and glancing down at the chair in front of Diana's desk that she'd occupied earlier that morning, seeing the tall water bottle she was looking for. "I just...left my water." Hannah said quickly as she crossed the small space, picking up the bottle and turning to leave immediately. "Studio A is free for your session." She called out over her shoulder as she exited the room, closing the door rather loudly as she went.

Diana let out an audible sigh as she stared at the door for a moment before looking down at the girl kneeling in front of her. She narrowed her eyes at Akko's expression, the brunette very clearly holding back her laughter with an amused twinkle in her eye.

"Don't say a word." The blonde warned, her tone as dangerous as she could make it whilst holding back her own amusement.

Akko held her hands up in surrender as she stood slowly, her smile growing the whole way up before reaching out and taking Diana's hand, bringing it up to her lips and kissing it softly.

"Shall we go make some sweet music together my love?" The brunette asked cheekily with a smirk on her lips, eliciting an amused eye roll and a soft chuckle from the blonde for she started toward the door, leading Akko out of the office.

"Grr why isn't this working?" Akko groaned after an hour of attempting to come up with a tune for the lyrics she'd come up with, gently setting her guitar on the stand next to her and rubbed her tired eyes.

"Akko, I think it sounds lovely." Diana replied with an adoring smile, "I think you're being much too hard on yourself."

"I just...I just want it to be perfect. For you." The brunette let out a defeated sigh, picking up her notebook to look over the lyrics again.

Diana sat in silence for a moment, her heart breaking a bit looking at the defeated girl in front of her. Suddenly words began to flow through her mind as if some sort of switch had finally been turned on. The blonde grabbed her own notebook and began to write discreetly, her eyes flitting up every few seconds to make sure Akko was still occupied. When she was done she held the notebook out and re-read the lyrics she'd written, smiling proudly before remembering Akko sitting across from her in distress. She set her notebook down before she stood up and walked across the space between them. Reaching out, she took Akko's chin with her fingers and lifted it up gently until she could see those beautiful crimson eyes.

"The song will always be perfect to me regardless of what it sounds like. Because we're creating it together." Diana said softly, leaning down a bit more before she continued. "You are absolutely beautiful Akko. Inside and out. I know for a fact this song will mirror that. So please don't doubt yourself."

Akko looked deeply into the blonde's cerulean eyes, knowing every word coming out Diana's mouth was genuine, she truly believed it even if Akko herself didn't. The truth was, that Diana was the truly beautiful one. In every way. And she was right. Like always.

Akko took Diana's hand in her own and stood up, a loving smile on her face as she leaned in and planted the softest kiss on the blonde's lips.

"How are you so amazing? It should be illegal to be so damn perfect ya know." Akko whispered as she pressed her forehead against Diana's. The blonde only chuckled softly and closed her eyes, breathing a deep breath to take in this moment with her girlfriend. Small moments like these she treasured the most, she couldn't get enough.

"Hey, I have an idea." DIana murmured after a long moment of comfortable silence between them."

"Yeah? What's that?" Akko replied with a curious tilt of her head.

"Well, something on my list we haven't quite gotten around to…" She trailed off as she watched the brunette dig into her pocket for her wallet, pulling out a worn piece of paper. "What are you doing?"
"Tattoo!" Akko shouted excitedly, causing Diana to jump slightly.

"Is that….you keep my list in your wallet?" The blonde asked in surprise.

"Heh. Yeah. So I can remember." Akko replied bashfully as she stuffed the paper back into her wallet.

"But...the list wasn't very long." Diana's eyebrows bunched up in confusion as she watched Akko's expression change from bashful to sly instantly.

"I added a few things." The brunette winked before she turned and started packing up her guitar.

"You...added things to my bucket list?" Diana put her hand to her chest and gasped exaggeratedly.

Akko giggled at the blatant playful response as she picked up her guitar case and stood up. "Okay, I know a great tattoo parlor not too far from here. It'll take us about twenty minutes."

"Wait. Right now? You want to go right now?" Diana's eyes widened as Akko took her hand and began to lead her out of the room.

"Is that a problem? Since you brought it up I thought…" The brunette slowed to a stop, raising her eyebrows at the suddenly nervous looking blonde.

"D-don't you need an appointment or something?" Diana said as her palm was growing increasingly sweaty in Akko's hand.

"They accept walk-ins if it's not too busy."
"Oh. Right." The blonde bit her lip and looked toward the door, her nervousness changing to determination after a battle within herself. "Okay. I'm ready."

"I'm not ready. I'm not." Diana paced outside the door of the tattoo parlor, Akko leaning against the glass watching her with an amused grin. "Who in their right mind would have a needle constantly stuck into them?! Why would anyone want to do this? Why would I want to do this?!" The blonde placed her hand on the glass and leaned over as if she might just pass out, breathing heavily and trying to calm herself.
"I promise it's not as bad as you're making it out to be." Akko giggled as she walked over and began rubbing Diana's back comfortingly. She looked into the tattoo shop and waved happily at the familiar tattoo artist watching the spectacle in amusement, the woman waving back before going back to some paperwork at the front counter. Akko dropped her eyes back to her distressed girlfriend and patted her on the back light. "Hey, we don't have to do this if you don't want to. Just know that I'll be holding your hand the whole way through. I know you can do it. You're the strongest person I've ever met."

After hearing those words from Akko, Diana took one last deep breath before standing up straight. With a new found confidence, she nodded resolutely and began marching toward the door. The brunette shoulders shook in silent laughter as she followed behind, almost running into Diana as she hesitated in the doorway.

"You can do this." Akko whispered again, taking the blonde's hand and taking the lead as she gently pulled her girlfriend into the shop.

The woman at the counter looked up when the bell above the door rang, a warm smile appeared on her face as she stopped whatever she was doing and leaned her elbows on the counter.
"Well if it isn't my favorite customer. Visiting me for once no less. I didn't know you were in town." The woman spoke with a smirk, her voice as smooth as velvet.

"Hey Woody. How's it hangin'?" Akko mirrored the smirk and winked at the woman, who in turn rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Still not tired of that joke?"

"Never." The brunette giggled and nudged Diana, who seemed to be frozen in place. "This is my girlfriend Diana. And she's very excited to get her first tattoo."

"I can see that." The woman said with her eyebrows raised and a twinge of a smile on her lips. "Diana Cavendish. In my tattoo shop. What would your mother think?"

"What?!" Diana was finally shook out of her trance at the mention of her mother.

The woman laughed at the reaction before her smile turned warm once more.

"I knew your mother long ago. We were good friends at the academy. In fact, she was my very first customer when I opened this shop."

"My...my mother had a tattoo?" Diana asked in shock, not believing her mother would have done something like get a tattoo.

"Yes. One...or three." The woman tapped her chin for a moment.

"Three?!" Diana shrieked.
"Anyway, you can call me Woodward." Woodward held out her hand for Diana to shake.

"Woody." Akko whispered loudly into the blonde's ear.
"Woodward." The woman said again, through her teeth this time, with a playful glare in Akko's direction.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Diana replied, finally shaking off her nerves and relaxing a bit.

"The pleasure is all mine Diana." Woodwood replied before glancing over to Akko. "You that Akko? That's called manners."

"Cool story Woodward." The brunette said cheekily, making the woman chuckle and sigh.

"Follow me ladies." The woman moved around the counter and headed toward a small hallway leading toward the back of the shop.

Diana was finally able to get a good look at Woodward, just now noticing the tattoos covering the woman's arms. Elaborate vines and trees running up her forearms and underneath the t-shirt she was wearing. Diana thought it was a strange choice for tattoos but she could definitely appreciate the beautiful artwork. The woman herself was gorgeous, her teal hair flowing of its own volition behind her as she walked. Her pale skin was impeccable, causing the various shades of green ink on her arms to pop even more, almost as if it was glowing.

"We'll be right in here." Woodward slowed to a stop and gestured toward a room with a table and a few chairs.

Diana took another deep breath and walked past the woman into the room, taking one of the spare chairs, Akko sitting beside her still clasping the blonde's hand.

"Alright Diana, what kind of tattoo are you thinking of getting? Do you have an idea? And where do you want it?" Woodward inquired as she pulled out a notebook and sharpened pencil.

Both Woodward and Akko looked at Diana expectantly, the latter looking a little concerned. They hadn't talked about what the blonde would get. The brunette hoped she hadn't rushed Diana too much, bringing her here without an idea of what she wanted.

"Yes. I have an idea." Diana replied more confidently than the other two women in the room expected. "I want an infinity symbol, with music notes embedded in it. Also the word love...if that's possible. And I want it...on the inside of my forearm, so I can look at it whenever I want."

Woodward tapped her chin and nodded as she listened before immediately beginning to sketch, the pencil lead moving elegantly across the white surface of the drawing pad.

"You doin' okay?" Akko whispered to her girlfriend so seemed mesmerized by watching the woman bring her idea to life.

"Yes, thank you, Akko." Diana replied, turning her head with a smile and a squeeze of her hand.

The room was silent for a few minutes other than the soft music filling the space from the speaker in the corner, neither Akko or Diana wanting to distract Woodward from her art. Finally the woman held up the notebook, showing Diana her vision of what she's described. It was more beautiful than the blonde could have imagined. It was as if Woodward had pulled a bar of music right off the page of one of her music books and twisted it up into an infinity sign, and the word love in elegant cursive embedded in the bottom.

"Wow." Akko was the first to speak, just as surprised at the outcome as her girlfriend.

"It's perfect." Diana exclaimed with a bright smile, causing the tattoo artist to smile just as bright back at her.

"Alright! Bring your chair over and set your arm on the table! Only black ink I assume?" The woman asked as she rolled her chair back to the tray that was set up toward the top of the table."

"Yes. Just black." Diana replied nervously as she did what she was told, Akko moving her own chair to sit next to Diana at the top of the table.

Woodward cleaned the blonde's skin before pulling out a marker and drawing a rough sketch onto the skin of Diana's forearm. She then picked up the tattoo gun and installed the new needle.

"You ready?" The woman asked with an excited smile as she dipped the needle into the ink.

"Yes. I'm ready." The blonde answered shakily, but there was a hint of excitement in her words. Diana squeezed Akko's hand a little tighter as the needle drew closer to her skin, tightening even more when the gun began to push the ink into her arm. Akko's eyes grew wide at the amount of pressure on her hand, not knowing just how strong Diana was until now. She clenched her jaw and tried to remain as calm as she could for her girlfriend's sake, though she hoped she'd be able to play her guitar after this with a non broken hand.

"So Diana, does this tattoo have any meaning?" Woodward asked absentmindedly as she worked, skillfully drawing perfect lines and swoops as she talked.

"Yes." The blonde answered through gritted teeth. "It...signifies the three loves of my life, and that they'll be with me forever. My mother, my music, and Akko." As she said Akko's name she looked over to gauge the brunette's reaction, elated to see her girlfriend look back at her with so much love and adoration. Honestly the look Akko was giving her made her heart flutter.

"How are you even real?" The brunette asked with a laugh, forgetting about the pain in her hand. "You're amazing Diana Cavendish." She whispered before leaning in to kiss her girlfriend.

"No kissing while I'm tattooing please." Woodward asked, her voice almost a growl, causing Akko to back away immediately.

"Heh. Sorry." The brunette rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand bashfully.

Woodward let a slight smile show through as she continued, working surprisingly quickly.

The girls were quiet for the rest of the session, watching and admiring the work the artist was doing before she finally set her gun down and inspected it one last time.

"Alright! You're done!" Woodward said proudly, wiping off the excess ink from Diana's arm.

"Really?" The blonde asked with an excited smile. " That wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."

"Diana?" Akko whispered.

"Yes?"

"You can let go of my hand now."

"Oh. Oh I'm sorry, Akko." Diana let go of the brunette's hand with an apologetic smile.

"No no, it's fine." Akko laughed nervously as she shook out her sore hand discreetly.

Diana held up her arm to finally inspect her first tattoo, absolutely blown away with how beautiful it was. Music, love, infinity. It pretty much summed up her life as of late. Her love for Akko, for her mother, and for her music would stay with her beyond her death. To infinity. She could only hope Akko felt the same way. That she'd always have a place in the brunette's heart after Diana was gone. Until they meet again in the afterlife.

"Woody, you got time for another?"

Diana snapped out of her trance and turned toward Akko in surprise.

"Yeah." Woodward replied after a long sigh and a chuckle. "What do you want?"

"Same as Diana."

Diana beamed the brunette, who smiled lovingly back at her.

"To infinity." Akko whispered as she nudged the blonde.

"To infinity."