Work Text:
Amanda enjoyed Valentine’s day.
It was the best opportunity in the year to mess around with other girls with a proper excuse, and maybe even snag one for keeps if she was good. It was a day where people were encouraged to pursue their romantic interests - not that Amanda needed to be invited of course, but sometimes it helped push other people into being more open.
Naturally, Amanda got a lot of attention on Valentine’s day. Her killer looks, complete with piercing green eyes and a lean, muscular body combined with her devilishly charming personality and her generally masculine demeanour got her more attention than anyone else in Luna Nova, even Diana.
She didn’t consider herself a debaucher but it was undeniably a bit of fun to, for one day per year, be able to pick anyone from a sea of pretty young faces and work her top-notch flirting magic.
But this was actually ridiculous.
On her day off, Amanda had had a pleasant late morning start and ate breakfast with Constance and Jasminka before wandering the corridor looking for some fun for about 4 minutes, and she had been approached and asked out by 12 different girls.
Usually, Amanda was the one doing the flirting, so she was oddly unaccustomed to politely declining people.
Feeling a tired sigh escaping her lips, Amanda shook her head and donned her characteristic smirk, deciding that she would own the day. She would choose her target - she just had to be sneaky. Moving as quietly as possible, Amanda deftly peaked around the corners for potential trouble, making quick dashes from room to room and even doing a cool roll. A ninja was only seen if she wanted to be seen.
Yeah, Amanda was sneaky as hell.
“O’Neill, what in Jennifer’s name are you doing?”
“H-huh? What do you mean? Who’s O’Neill-oh, it’s you,” Amanda mumbled awkwardly upon seeing the blonde Cavendish staring daggers into her, dusting herself off and grinning. “How did you see me?”
“I assure you, it was more difficult to not see you than it normally is,” Diana shook her head. “Now, what is the meaning of this ridiculous conduct?”
“I’m just trying to, ya know… Avoid… Awkward encounters…” Amanda murmured.
“That’s strange, I don’t recall you being particularly sensitive last Valentine’s day,” Diana huffed, turning to leave.
“Yikes, who stuck the stick up your ass…” Amanda chuckled, stretching her arms above her head. “What’s got you so pissed?”
Diana turned and glared at Amanda for a moment, as if deciding whether to reprimand her language before she sighed slowly, lowering her gaze.
“I’m looking for Akko,” she began. “She forgot our date today.”
Amanda stared. She had never imagined something like that would affect Diana like this - or at least the British witch wouldn’t let it show. She briefly filtered through a variety of snarky responses in her head before deciding not to screw with Diana.
“Hey, you know she’s totally head over heels for you, right? Y’know, she’d never try to hurt you like that.”
“Are you trying to counsel me?” Diana frowned.
“Uh…” Amanda paused under Diana’s scowl. “Yeah, it would appear so.” Amanda was relieved to see Diana gently smile.
“How long have you been nice for?” The blonde quipped.
“Excuse me, why do you think everyone wants a piece of this for Valentine’s?” Amanda shot back.
“Well, It’s certainly not for your personality,” Diana chuckled. “And God knows I fell for Akko for her personality and not her memory skills.”
“Do you know how many girls’ hearts you broke when you two started dating?” Amanda accused her.
“What, you’re not one of them are you?” Diana raised an eyebrow.
“Nah, you’re not my type. Too aristocratic,” she responded without a second of hesitation, grinning at Diana’s offended stare. “And you’re way too uptight and kinda boring.”
“Boring?!”
“And you’re not very clever. And kinda ugly too,” Amanda joked, finally losing her composure and bursting out laughing.
“Hmph, I didn’t come here to deal with you, O’Neill,” Diana scoffed, turning on her heels.
“Y-you just can’t face the facts!” Amanda shouted between laughs.
“If you haven’t noticed, you’re the one in this room without a girlfriend,” Diana gave her uncharacteristically petty remark with a sly smile. “And honestly, there are people in this school who have a crush on you who you’d never expect. Just hurry up and ask her out,” Diana mumbled as she left the room, leaving Amanda staring.
“What the heck?” Amanda whispered. Was she referring to someone specific? Why was she being told to make a move by Diana of all people?
Amanda shook her head.
“Here’s hoping it’s not Finnelan.”
I can’t believe she forgot
Diana thought this as she continued down the corridor at a hurried pace. The run in she had with Amanda had set her back a little bit, but not by too much.
I’ve checked everywhere except that part of the building.
The portion of the building she was referring to is occupied by a specific professor that she hoped Akko wasn’t hanging out with while they were supposed to be on their date.While she climbed upwards, she slowly started to panic.
What if I do find her in the room? How should I react? Should I get upset? Sad? A mixture of Both? I believe Akko called that smad once. It’s such a childish thing to say and just so… so Akko. Beautiful, amazing, creative Ak- NO. You’re supposed to be angry at her, not fall in love with her all over again. Although, we've been dating for months now and I haven't even been able to tell her that I love her...
As she was lost in thought, she arrived at her destination. After a few moments of collecting her thoughts, she knocked on the door lightly. After a few moments, and some shuffling within the room, the door opened to reveal the professor. “Oh hello Diana. How can I help you today?”
“Hello Professor Ursula, I was wondering if you could help me find Akko. It seems she forgot about our date.” Diana says with large amounts of contempt in her voice. Ursula gulped in anxiousness, she knew what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that anger. How its calm but passionate nature only becomes more terrifying when it has something to do with the girl she cherished so much.
Akko, I wish you luck.
That was the thought that went through Ursula’s mind as she said, ”She was just here a little bit ago asking me a question about good flying spots. I pointed her to the broom takeoff room a little ways above mine. She’s probably still there now.” Diana seemed to relax at those words, but not by much.
At least she didn’t forget about me because of Professor Ursula.
Diana thanked the professor for her time and headed up the stairs to where she was told her girlfriend was. As she approached the door she heard Akko muttering to herself and shuffling around. She opened the door, looked directly at Akko, who had her back turned to her, and angrily said one word.
“Akko.”
Croix did not enjoy Valentine’s day.
To her, it was a senseless holiday. One that was entirely devoted to tasteless displays of infatuation and lust, a celebration of buying overpriced chocolates and gifts for someone who caused a feeling that would fade over time, until the purpose of buying those gifts was made void. In some ways, it sickened her how people seemed to treat it as if it were the most serious, most important, and most life-threatening day out of the whole year.
Yet here she was, holding an overpriced bouquet of flowers in one arm, her broom in the other.
It was a miracle she’d been allowed to return, to be honest.
Luna Nova loomed in front of her. It was daunting, coming back to a place where she’d done so much damage, hurt so many people, and done so many reprehensible things. The thought that any of that could be forgotten, let alone forgiven, was out of the question. Yet, she had a job, of sorts, to do.
Walking away from the Leyline, she saw students milling about the school’s grounds. Some were walking with friends, others were flying by themselves or in groups, and others were passing notes and red heart boxes of chocolate between themselves.
Holbrooke must’ve given them the day off for the ‘holiday’. Sounds about right.
This was typical behaviour from the Headmistress. Every year she had some eccentric holiday or festival whereupon normal activities were cancelled and students were given the day off. “To be children and young adults” as she normally said. Valentine’s Day just happened to be one of the more common days where classes were cancelled.
However, Croix just couldn’t stroll through the crowds of students. Jennifer knows that she’d be looked at like some super villain coming to wreak havoc as revenge against those that foiled her plans previously. That, or they’d all start screaming and running to the staff, causing a massive - and unnecessary - scene.
Truth is, the staff of Luna Nova already knew she was coming, and they were welcoming her with open arms.
She was going to continue her research of the Wagandea Pollen, as well as alternative forms of magic storage, at Luna Nova. She wasn’t going to be teaching anything, and she certainly wasn’t going to be doing any of her work unsupervised.
Instead of walking through the groups of students, she began making her way around the outer edges of the school’s grounds, not wanting to attract too much attention to her arrival and continued presence at Luna Nova. While this news would almost inevitably reach the ears of the students, now was not the time for this.
She passed by a few students, who either ignored her or somehow didn’t see her, including a girl sitting underneath a tree, quietly reading a book as the minutes ticked by.
This girl didn’t seem to be particularly interested in the Valentine’s festivities going on elsewhere. Croix didn’t blame her, the ‘magic’ of it wore off rather quickly when you had no one to feasibly share it with. And using it as an excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate just wasn’t the same.
Croix was content to pass the girl by, until she heard her speak up.
“Professor Croix?”
She cringed at that title, before slowly turning around to face the girl. The first thing she noticed was her auburn hair, and the yellow bow that tied it back into a ponytail. The second thing she noticed was the look of disdain on the girl’s face as she stared Croix down.
“I’m not a professor here anymore, so you don’t need to call me that.” She answered simply, returning the look, hoping to scare the girl off.
She wasn’t even phased. “I understand that. But why are you here?” She said, staring daggers into Croix. “Aren’t you supposed to be in prison?”
Croix winced, before relenting with a sigh. “I’m here because Holbrooke offered me a chance to continue my research. I intend to take her up on that offer, and to stay out of everyone else’s way.”
Before I screw anything else up. Croix thought cynically.
The girl seemed content with that answer, and turned back to her book, saying nothing else. Croix was slightly incensed by this. Not only had someone dug into her verbally, she wasn't even giving her the common courtesy of telling her the conversation is done!
“So, why aren’t you out there?” Croix asked quizzically. The girl seemed to perk up, glancing up at Croix with slightly reddened cheeks.
“Wh-What do you mean?” She asked, earning an eye roll from Croix. Why was nothing straightforward when it came to the students at this school?
“Why are you all by yourself? I thought every student here would be canoodling with each other when Holbrooke gives them Valentine’s Day off.”
The girl looked to the side, avoiding meeting Croix’s eyes as she tried to make herself appear prim and proper. “I am above such petty things like a Valentine.” She said, tone attempting to seem refined in some way.
Croix chuckled to herself as she walked over and leaned against the tree, thinking of how she thought (and even said) the same thing when she was this girl’s age. She thought that she was above petty emotions like infatuation and love, and tried to act cold and calculating.
That train of thought didn’t hold up particularly well against a certain redhead.
The girl looked up at her incredulously. “What’s so funny?” She asked in an almost accusatory manner.
“Oh, nothing. Just reminiscing on some memories, is all.” Croix responded, smirking to herself as the girl squirmed a little under her stare.
Croix continued. “You know, I used to think the same thing.” She began, “I thought that I was somehow above all those boxes of chocolates and sweethearts and Valentine’s. I thought that I’d be able to pretend that I was a completely logical robot who didn’t need affection at all in their life.”
She was taking some modicum of joy in how uncomfortable the girl was getting. Feeling that she was hitting the nail on the head, she pressed on.
“One of these days, maybe even today, you might just run into someone you actually enjoy being near. I mean, enjoy spending time around them more than you normally would, even with your friends. Then you’ll know that you’re in love, and-”
Croix was cut off by the girl, who retorted sharply. “And just what makes you think I’ll be in love? As I’ve said before, such things are asinine from my point of view!” She crossed her arms and faced away. Croix simply smiled.
“You say that, though who knows? I might be wrong.” Croix pushed herself off of the tree and began walking away. “Oh, and girl? A little piece of advice,”
The girl turned to face her, staring daggers into her back. “I have a name you know!”
She ignored this, turning around to face the girl. Croix had a smile on her face.
“When you fall for someone, drop that whole ‘I don’t want love’ act, okay?” She said empathetically. “It’s not worth the time and energy, denying yourself love, Miss England.” Croix’s smile gained an increasingly smug quality to it.
And with that, Croix turned around, walking towards the tower. “Oh, and give Miss Parker my regards!” She said with a wave, making her way to the tower once more.
Amanda had spent some time wandering the corridors, finding herself ultimately disappointed in their relative emptiness - After Diana had disappeared in a huff, she and Akko were nowhere to be found. Barbara and Lotte, predictably, had decided to spend Valentine’s exactly how they spent every other free day, which was reading Nightfall books together and Amanda wasn’t going near that. Likewise, Sucy was holed up in her room, perfectly happy to be alone, brewing up something that Amanda didn’t want to be involved with.
She had returned to her dorm briefly to find Constanze tiredly fiddling her thumbs, clearly disenchanted to the romantic holiday, and Jasminka merrily reading a magazine on her bed. The two had seemed thoroughly unimpressed with her, letting her know about the numerous students that had knocked on their door, asking if Amanda was there.
With an uncharacteristic build up of stress in her nerves, Amanda felt as though something was missing from the day. Sure, she had got the chance to screw around with people, but after spending so much time with Akko and the others, she had felt a change of heart and couldn’t stand the thought of toying with people’s emotions. Honestly, she’d even take Hannah’s company.
That thought process had resulted in her dashing through the air, replacing the stress in her nerves with adrenaline, the comforting solidness of her broom between her hands.
She could spot students milling around on the ground far below her, from the main school courtyard over to the outskirts of the field. The air was fresh and cool and, reliably as ever, brought her back to reality.
As the complexity and difficulty of Amanda’s movements increased, her speed rising until the wind was rushing past her ears, her focus on the ground decreased. In all of her impressive flipping and spinning, she failed to notice the crowd she was drawing to herself.
After she landed the broom with a risky and daring spin she tossed it back into the practice broom pile. Panting and glistening with sweat, her lean muscles were clear under the bright sunlight as she stretched her arms above her head, breathing out slowly.
Only then did she turn and see the rows of wide eyes and gawking mouths.
In the past, Amanda had counted how many people had approached her on Valentine’s as some kind of bragging right, though now she wondered if it was just to big herself up in her own eyes. Things had changed, and while now she had no such needs and wasn’t so desperate to show off, she still did it out of habit.
However, it is not easy to count the number of heads when you are being rushed by a mob.
Amanda tried to rush back to her broom, but the crowd was now between her and her escape. She paused awkwardly, facing the crowd.
She smiled and waved, before suddenly turning around and sprinting full force for the nearest door into the building.
Croix rested at the top of the spiral staircase leading to her once-lab. She was breathing heavily, leaning against the door.
I’d say I’ve fallen out of shape...but to fall out of something you have to be in it first.
After taking another minute or so to catch her breath, and lament her lack of physical prowess, she opened the door, stepping inside and closing it behind her.
One of the lights flickered on over her head. Croix was relieved to hear that the motion sensors were still active. A few more steps forward activated more lighting. The lab wasn’t designed to be particularly well lit, but just enough to make it comfortable for long periods of time.
The first thing that stuck out to Croix was the state of the room. There was a light coat of dust on almost every surface, and there were even cobwebs in the corners too, signalling the lack of use this room had seen as of late.
The second thing that stuck out was the equipment itself. It was all here. None of it, or at the very least only a little of it, had been moved in some way, or confiscated for its illegal or dangerous properties.
The devices everyone kept calling ‘Roombas’ - Croix was still trying to figure out why everyone kept calling them that - were stacked in the corner. Most were in need of repair, as well as removal of their more...dangerous hardware.
Her notes on the Noir and Dream Fuel Spirits were left as they were, stacked neatly within one of the filing cabinets. Most of her notes were stored digitally anyways, but it was good to keep backups just in case. Croix made a mental note to figure out what to do with those later. Maybe she should talk with Chariot, see if it would be any use with her teaching of Akko.
Chariot.
When they were both students, Chariot had been so excited about Valentine’s Day. It was almost annoying at times how excited she was. Chariot was so invested in the ideas of sharing and expressing one’s love with another person, of making genuine gestures not to assure them of love, but rather to show them just how much you meant to them.
A dry laugh escaped Croix’s lips. It sounded like a cheesy rom-com when she put it like that.
Every year Chariot dragged her along to go buy chocolate and look at flowers. Her reasoning being that even if they had no one to spend the holiday with, they could still enjoy themselves.
And Croix did enjoy herself. It beat sitting in her room studying Magic Linguistics for the thirtieth time that morning, and spending time with Chariot was...intriguing, to say the least. Something grew within her each time they talked, each time Croix had to fix another one of Chariot’s spells gone wrong, each time Chariot hugged her as thanks for her tutoring.
Before she knew it, Croix was in love with her. She never said it out loud, but she knew what it was. It only took two weeks of sleepless nights and introspection to figure out why she felt the way she did, but she had her answer in the end.
It was obvious that they were growing closer, all those years ago. All those trips to cafes and restaurants when they had the money, the late nights filled with conversation instead of study. Discussions of what they wanted to do, and admissions of how they would support each other through thick and thin.
And then the Claimoh Solais came crashing into their lives.
Croix tried to be supportive of her friend after she was chosen. She really did. But as their progress with finding the words slowed, their frustration grew. So did Croix’s jealousy and anger, which grew like a cancer within her, swallowing all in its path. Even the love for Chariot she had was consumed, converted into fuel for the hatred her ego and pride demanded she take out on the world. On Chariot.
And she’d been like that for ten years.
For ten years, she’d plotted on how to get revenge on Chariot. How to break her. How to drag her down to her level, and show her what losing one’s dream was like.
For ten years, she’d made leaps and bounds in the field of magitronics, creating machines that worked with magic, seeing it as the future of magic. A new, bright path forward. One that would cement her as the saviour of magic.
All for nothing.
Slumping against what she thought was a wall, Croix slid down it until her head met her knees. She sat there, quietly, amongst the graveyard of her creations.
The ‘wall’ behind her hummed with electricity, a faint glow of light emanating from it. Standing and turning around, Croix noticed cubes...floating, within the glass containment. The cubes themselves were a black color, and floated in no particular pattern or arrangement.
These were the cubes Croix had used to gather people’s anger for the Noir Fuel Spirit.
In reality, they could do more than collect anger. They could collect a wide range of human emotions, and use those emotions to display anything from inanimate objects, to creatures, to even complex pieces of machinery. The emotion displayed was color coded, so it was easy to tell how the creation would act if let loose. There was yellow for happiness, red for anger, black for despair.
Croix pressed her hand against the glass.
The cubes turned blue.
Blue.
For sadness.
There was so much she wanted to tell Chariot. She wanted to tell her the things that she had bottled up for so long, the feelings towards her that she had denied herself even in their schooling years, the apologies that she wanted to genuinely give.
It was ironic really. She’d told Hannah earlier to stop with the whole ‘larger than love’ act. Yet here she was, still having not fully dropped that act even after nearly a decade of knowing how much it was holding her back.
The cubes slowly began to shift color.
Croix pushed off of the wall, gathering the flowers and her broom in her hands once more.
The cubes finally settled on a color.
Orange.
Determination.
Croix began to walk away from the lab once more, thankful that going down was easier than going up.
It was time to give these flowers to the person she loved. It was time to talk to them, to apologize and try to start over with them. To admit her feelings and finally get over herself, her pride, and finally love someone who - hopefully - loved her back.
Croix didn’t want absolution for what she’d done. She just wanted forgiveness.
She wanted to see Chariot.
Amanda was very confident in her physical abilities, including her running. She could say with some confidence that she was the best runner in the school. And yet, by some god forsaken manner of power, she just couldn’t shake the ever amassing crowd. Without the recovery time between her full-on broom practice time and her running, she was beginning to ache, cramps developing in her abdomen.
This was just ridiculous.
She had tried to loop around the school building, gladly ignoring Professor Badcock’s complaints about her running as she was swept away in the oncoming horde, and arrive back at the broom cupboard. Yet, by some power of hell, there was a crowd waiting for her there. Her mob only continued to grow, full of adoring fans waving love letters and chocolates and squealing her name, spurred on by the nature of the day.
Amanda huffed in frustration before allowing herself a chuckle at the absurdity of her situation.
But enough was enough.
Amanda knew all the best hiding spots in the school, and one was coming up just up ahead. Jogging her way around the edge of the school camps round the back of the main building, Amanda knew that around a corner was a little grove between the old stone walls, the hedges and the trees. She could easily duck behind one of the hedges and be completely undetectable.
With her plan made up in her head, Amanda suddenly broke into a final sprint around the corner of the building, running for her spot like it was a lifeline and not daring to look behind her. Ignoring the disgruntled squeaks from the crowd behind her, Amanda darted over the wall and dove behind one of the bushes just the mass of students appeared around the side of the building.
Sprawling her arms out at her sides against the walls behind her, Amanda sank down onto one knee and leaned back, breathing deeply and silently praying as she heard footsteps storm past her.
Then she noticed Hannah England sat against the tree opposite her, clutching a book to her chest, flustered and staring at her with wide eyes.
Amanda stared back, painfully aware of her clothes sticking to her skin as her chest heaved up and down.
“E-excuse me, Miss England?” A student nervously asked, approaching from the nearby pathway as Hannah turned to face her. “Have… Have you seen Amanda here?”
Amanda shook her head slowly, briefly meeting Hannah’s eyes.
“N...No, I’m afraid not. You should try looking over the broom track or one of the academy stores,” Hannah lied.
“Thanks,” the girl mumbled, lowering her gaze and disappearing down the pathway, dejected.
Hannah and Amanda met eyes again in an awkward silence, the New Moon tower looming high above them just opposite the pathway.
“O’Neill, what on Earth is going on?” The auburn-haired girl hissed.
“Geez, why does everyone keep calling me that today,” Amanda groaned, relaxing against the wall behind her as her aching slowly faded. As she brought one knee up to her chest, the hedges tickled her thigh past her shorts but she barely noticed as she closed her eyes and yawned.
“Amanda,” Hannah said sharply. Amanda was snapped into reality, the word sinking straight through her skin. “What’s happening?” She asked again with a hint of urgency and concern.
“What do you think?” Amanda grinned. “It’s Valentine’s day. Everyone wants some of this,” she chuckled, pointing a thumb at herself. Hannah scoffed, turning back to her book.
“Of course, or everyone has brain damage today.”
Amanda waited and slowly relaxed as the footsteps searching the surrounding area finally disappeared, absent-mindedly watching Hannah read, the quietness of nature pierced only by the subtle sound of the occasional turning of a page. Hannah didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would fall in love with someone and obsessively follow them to a childlike degree, so Amanda didn’t feel the need to keep her guard up any longer.
Hannah, however, was growing increasingly tense with a pink dusting on her cheeks.
“Why are you staring at me?” She finally asked, turning to face Amanda. “I-is there something on me? It’s very disruptive.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Amanda rolled her shoulder backwards, Hannah’s eyes following her arm’s movement. “Just calming down. It’s been insane.. Y’know, some attention on Valentine’s day is fun and all but this…” She trailed off.
“It’s quite silly,” Hannah finished for her, closing her book in her lap and turning her body to face Amanda. “I can imagine.”
“So have you been out here reading all day?” Amanda asked, sitting up a little bit and leaning her head back against her hands. Hannah hesitated for a moment.
“Y-yes, I have been. I’m personally not one for frolicking around with young Romantics like yourself.”
“Damn, England, why so cold? I didn’t come here to annoy ya- I mean, if you want, I can lea-”
“H-hey, I wasn’t being cold, I was just… saying…” Hannah mumbled, suddenly flushed. Amanda paused. She didn’t expect Hannah to say that. The two of them never hung out, and previously Amanda thought she couldn’t stand the other girl. It appeared she was completely wrong.
“Aww, c’mon England, it’s Valentine’s, just relax a bit!” Hannah pouted, appearing as though she meant to say something before she shut her mouth.
“Okay, fine, I will!” Hannah resolved at some effort. “But I’m calling you Amanda, not O’neill, so you...you’ve got to call me Hannah, okay!?”
“Huh?” Amanda asked, confused at the change of demeanour. “Y-yeah, alright. Hannah.”
“B-but I’m not messing around with any of your lovey-dovey Valentine’s stuff, okay? Hannah stuttered. “I’m just… relaxing a bit.”
“Yeah, sure thing,” Amanda laughed, shuffling over to lean against the tree next to Hannah. There was a short silence as Hannah tried to turn back to her book but was clearly distracted by their proximity, though Amanda barely noticed as she watched the sky, feeling more comfortable to sit and do nothing than she had in the entire day.
“Whatcha readin’?” The American asked casually.
“A little wider research into numerology. Hourdmann’s Theorem-”
“You’re really studying?” Amanda groaned sleepily. “Come on Hannah,” she said sweetly. “Just relax. It’s Va~len~tine~s day,” she repeated cheerfully, hitting the other girl gently on the shoulder.
“Alright, I heard you,” Hannah huffed, putting her book down again and smacking Amanda’s arm in return. “Geez.”
“Hey, I have feelings, and so does my shoulder!” Amanda complained, pouting at Hannah but the sentiment didn’t get across through her massive grin.
“What, do you want me to kiss it better?” Hannah asked, rolling her eyes.
They met eyes. Amanda raised an eyebrow.
“N-no, I’m not kissing your shoulder! It was a joke!”
“But Hannah, it’s Valen-”
“I know what bloody day it is,” Hannah laughed, moving to hit Amanda again. This time Amanda was ready, and caught her hand.
There was an extremely awkward pause as they met eyes.
“Wow Hannah, how terribly audacious of you~” Amanda smirked. “Hand holdi-”
“Oh my God, shut up!” Hannah complained, quickly retracting her arm. “I was just sitting here minding my own business then you rock up and start... Start…” She stammered.
“Alright, I’m sorry,” Amanda chuckled. “To be honest it wasn’t that audacious. I mean, it’s Valentine’s day, after all, hand holding is pretty normal,” she continued, laughing brightly.
“I just… Really don’t get Valentine’s day,” Hannah mumbled, thinking back to what Croix had said. “It seems like a waste of effort… I mean, if you have feelings for someone, can’t you just tell them on a normal day?”
“Huh? Yeah, of course you can, but Valentine’s day is like an invitation, y’know? Just to relax and be more open. Hand holding and stuff is no big deal.”
“I can tell, you were more than happy to hold onto my hand earlier,” Hannah mumbled, bringing her knees to her chest.
“Heh, you wanna do it again?” Amanda teased, trying to annoy the other girl. She didn't expect Hannah to turn away and reluctantly hold out her hand in Amanda’s direction.
Amanda stared at the invitation with wide eyes. The next few seconds seemed like years. She couldn’t just leave Hannah hanging after her weird change of heart.
Amanda awkwardly cleared her throat, gently taking Hannah’s small hand in her own. The other girl had turned bright red, drilling her eyes into the ground opposite Amanda, but she slowly relaxed her hand in Amanda’s. Her skin was pale compared to Amanda’s, and very soft.
This was not a development Amanda had expected. Amanda had never expected Hannah to be the hand-holding type, let alone with someone she didn’t even like, like Amanda.
At some point, Hannah went back to reading her book and they entered a surprisingly comfortable silence. As Amanda’s arm started to ache from its awkward position, she shifted her body sideways until her shoulder was against Hannah’s. Unaware of the other girl freezing in place, Amanda rested her eyes and ended up dozing off.
Okay, the route is all set. I hope Diana likes it!
Akko was pacing around in circles looking at a map of the school grounds, taped to the map were a few other maps that expanded to the surrounding area of the school that the grounds map did not display. The map was filled with erased pencil markings and a long path drawn out with markings and notes along it.
Should I go there? I heard that it’s beautiful this time of year when everything is blooming, but I also read that it’s windy and when I checked it out Wednesday it hadn’t started blooming yet. However, if they were blooming now then it would be a perfect way to end. Maybe I should land there...
She put the maps down onto the table and started to put her thoughts on the map. Each point was carefully considered, researched, and visited. All to make sure that everything is perfect for her first Valentine’s Day with Diana. Akko went over to check her broom to make sure that it wasn’t damaged in any way. She had had a few mishaps while practising on this broom for today, but it just made her grow more attached to it. Even naming it.
“You’re looking as good as ever, きれいな,” Akko said while warmly while gazing at her broom.
Akko was so absorbed in checking her broom, she failed to notice the door open behind her as well as Diana e. After a sharp inhale, Diana spoke,”Akko.”
“Oh! Diana! You’re here!” Akko swiftly turned around, somewhat startled by the girl she loved. Yet the feelings of shock swiftly changed to confusion as she realized the anger in both her eyes, and in the way she said her name.”Is everything okay?”
“Do you know what day it is today?” Diana asked, her words dripping with a coldness that Akko hadn’t felt ever before, even when she first arrived at Luna Nova.
“Uh, it’s Valentine's Day. I told you ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ and that ‘I love you’ this morning,” Akko questioned. Diana blushed from Akko’s openness about her feelings.
“Yeah it is, we were supposed to meet in the forest for our date!”
Oh crap, I forgot in the excitement.
Akko thought as Diana continued,”I was out there waiting for you for half an hour and spent the rest looking for you!”
“Diana wai-” but Akko was cut off.
“We planned this weeks ago and then you stand me up!” Diana said furiously while pacing around the room.
“Please lis-” she was cut off again.
“Should I just expect this from now on in our relationship? You constantly forgetting things? Am I going to be left at the altar because you saw a butterfly that morning!” Diana rambled angrily as she walked around more, getting closer to the broom landing entrance opening in the room.
Akko, tired of being interrupted and ignored, shouted,”Diana! Will you just listen to me!” The sudden outburst startled Diana, causing her to trip. The world turned to slow motion for Akko as she watched the woman she loved fall out of the opening. Akko, broom in hand, jumped after her.
It was sometime in the afternoon when Croix arrived at Chariot’s tower, the sun having long since begun its downward descent towards the horizon. Granted, this didn’t seem to have any effects on the students, who were still out and about playing and relaxing in the sun.
On her way here, a few students had stopped and stared at Croix, whispering amongst themselves about who she was, what she did, and speculating about why she was back. Croix ignored these, remaining silent and letting the students talk amongst themselves. She’d done it when she was a student too, ignoring the rumor mills that naturally sprung up in a school housing adolescents.
A few students had approached her however, asking why she was here, and threatening to call the staff. When she told them Holbrooke not only knew she was here, but was okay with it, they scurried off, their attempts at seeming tough dashed as quickly as they appeared.
Another group had approached her before she’d entered the tower Chariot’s room was at, asking if she’d seen Amanda O’Neill anywhere.
A memory of knight armor and a duel on a bridge of some kind sprung to mind. Another test of the Noir Fuel Spirit. Another mark on the record of misdeeds she’d done to those around her.
She told them that she hadn’t seen her, and continued on her way.
Before she knew it, she was standing at the door to Chariot’s room, the bouquet of flowers in her hands. She reached forward and knocked on the door.
A call of “Coming!” could be heard from the other side, muffled by the door. Croix took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come. Footsteps approached, growing more clear as they neared the door. Croix’s anxiety also grew, unsure of what to say or what to do.
Maybe this was a bad idea? I should just leave the flowers and go to my room. She probably doesn’t want to be bothered right-
The door opened. Chariot stood on the other side, staring right at her.
“Croix?”
The two of them just stood there, staring at each other, neither wanting to make the first move out of embarrassment. The air had an awkward silence to it because of this, making the situation just that much worse.
Finally, Chariot spoke up, smiling at Croix genuinely. “Holbrooke told me you were returning, though she didn’t say when.” She then stood to the side of the doorway, allowing Croix to come in.
The inside of the room was cluttered with textbooks, astronomy equipment, posters and other tools used for witchcraft. There was a desk, with a lamp, more textbooks, stacks of papers for grading, and a framed photo. The photo was of Chariot and Croix, back when they were students. Croix couldn’t remember when the photo was taken, only that they were celebrating...something. Maybe it was when they won their first broom race? Graduation?
“Croix? Are you okay?” Chariot asked, breaking her concentration.
“Oh, yeah. Here.” She offered the flowers to Chariot. “These are for you.” Chariot moved closer to accept them.
“Just so you know, I still think this kind of thing is silly, but I happened to find these in a store on-” Croix was cut off when Chariot spoke up over her, already lightly grasping the bouquet.
“Oh, these are beautiful Croix!” Chariot beamed. “I’m surprised that you remembered that it’s Valentine’s day!” She added, with Croix tensing up.
“...It’s what now?” She asked, frozen out of shock. Chariot leaned in, practically hugging Croix at this point.
“It’s Valentine’s day.” She repeated herself.
Oh. Oh right.
Here Croix was, walking around with a bouquet of flowers, on Valentine’s Day no less! Croix chuckled as she fully handed over the flowers to Chariot, letting her look at them to her heart's desire.
“Chariot, there is something that I wanted to tell you…” Croix said, awkwardly looking away, trying to find the words to articulate what she wanted to say. Chariot looked up from the flowers to her expectantly, listening fully.
“I...like you. I mean really like you. I...I think I’ve had these feelings since we were students, but I was too busy...denying those feelings to really accept them. That’s why...I’m asking…” Croix sighed, the cheesiness of what she was about to say was enough to make her face turn slightly red.
“Would you like to be my Valentine?” She finally got it out, looking away from Chariot, face beet red out of embarrassment. Chariot set down the flowers on her desk, and rushed forward to envelop Croix in another hug.
“Of course!” Chariot responded, with Croix eventually returning the hug. “You know...I always knew you had those feelings…”
Croix paused. “Wait, you did? Why didn’t you say something?” She asked, exasperated.
“Well, I was waiting for you to figure it out on your own terms.” Chariot explained. “If I rushed it, I only would have made it worse for you, or even scared you off.”
Croix brought a hand up to brush a strand of stray hair out of Chariot’s face. “Chariot...you’d never be able to scare me off.” Chariot simply laughed at that.
“Geez, for as much as you hate rom-coms, you love sounding like them!” They both laughed as they continued to hug each other.
“How about a date? Maybe go into town tomorrow, just the two of us, have some fun?” Croix suggested. “Go see a movie, get something to eat. Just...be a couple, or whatever couples do.” She said, with Chariot placing her head on Croix’s shoulder.
“That sounds nice. And Croix?”
“Hm?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They stood like that for several minutes, simply hugging and relaxing in each others arms, finally glad to be together. Croix was happy to have finally admitted her feelings towards Chariot, who was herself happy to be with Croix, and that Croix was working her way towards being a better person, one step at a time.
The silence of the room was broken when loud screaming could be heard.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
Two figures hurtled past Chariot’s window, one reaching for the other as they fell.
“Was that...Akko?” Chariot said in disbelief, she and Croix rushing to the window to see what was going on. Chariot then turned pale, realizing who the voice belonged to.
“That was Akko!” She rushed to the door and began bolting down the stairs, Croix in hot pursuit, but not before she rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.
How do you keep getting yourself into these situations, Akko?
There are many things that could have been going through Diana’s mind. How she could grab her wand and save herself. How she should have had a broom on her. How she should have responded to Akko’s daily “I love you’s” that have been happening for weeks instead of getting embarrassed by them. However, what was going through Diana’s mind at the moment was the same thing that was coming out of her mouth.
“AAAAAAHHHHH,” Diana screamed at the top of her lungs while tears started streaming down her face. Her emotions from earlier as well as the current panic causing her basic thought processes to shut down. Akko chased after her as fast as her broom could take her. While she had practised non-stop for her plan, she was still not anywhere as skilled as Amanda or Diana on a broom.
Please let me catch her. I can’t lose her.
Akko stressed, rushing towards Diana. “Diana!” she shouted as she closed in on her.
Diana heard her and reached out her hand towards Akko. She had never truly trusted someone else with her life completely. This feeling was new to her, but she felt like she could trust Akko with the world.
So close!
They both thought. Akko reached as far as she could and grasped Diana’s hand and hoisted her up onto the broom. They both felt a hug relief that they were safe. However, due to Akko’s inexperience, she was unable to stop completely and crashed into a tree, but they were safe, despite some scratches. They both took a second to process what just happened. Diana broke down crying while Akko held her in her arms, the event making her realize something.
“Akko, I love you.” Diana said, tears streaming down her face.
Akko responded calmly,“I know, Diana I know.”
“I love you, I love you, I love you so much!” Diana wept.
“I know, I love you too.” Akko said while burying herself into Diana’s shoulder. Tears starting to develop in her eyes. Both held onto each other as tight as possible. Feeling as if they’d die if they let go.
“Okay, what the hell!?” Came an irritated voice from beneath them.
Leaning against the trunk of the tree they had landed in, Hannah with Amanda of all people were looking up at them - Hannah’s eyes terrified and Amanda’s glaring.
“D-Diana? Are you okay?” Hannah stammered, darting up and not so subtly taking a few steps away from the American.
“I…” The blonde opened her mouth to speak but hesitated, still collecting her thoughts.
“Do you two mind?” Amanda suddenly cut in, standing up and stretching. “Can I not have a moment to myself without you gross lovebirds making out everywhere I go?”
Even Akko appeared to hold her snarky remark on the edge of her tongue and swallow it after her experience.
Before any of them could say anything else, the door to the New Moon tower slammed open, two familiar figures running towards them.
“Akko! Diana!” Ursula shouted, arriving in front of the tree, panting from running down the stairs. “Are you okay?” She continued, ignoring the two girls on the ground as she and Croix stood either side of the tree.
“I… I’m actually fine…” Diana spoke. “I’m just a little shaken, but Akko managed to catch me… Mostly...”
“What happened?” Ursula spoke with slightly more volume, a hint of sternness working its way into her voice.
“I-”
“It was my fault!” Akko shouted over Diana as if taking the blame. “We were having an argument and I shouted at her, and she… She-”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Diana gently reminded Akko.
“What were you two doing at the edge on top of the tower?” Croix asked.
“I was…” Akko froze, her face turning red. It was an answer Diana wanted more than anyone else there. “I was preparing a broom ride…” She said quietly, her eyes cast down to the ground as she slowly climbed out of the tree. “I was gonna try to show Diana how much I’d improved with my broom,” she said sadly.
As Ursula moved to help Akko down, Croix did the same for Diana.
“You were planning to spend your time with Diana on Valentine’s day?” Croix asked Akko with a raised eyebrow.
“Uh, yeah, duh?” Akko shot back as if it was obvious. “We’ve been dating for like, four months.”
“Five,” Diana corrected with a slight smile.
“Huh,” Croix monotoned, not betraying a hint of emotion in response.
“Okay, fine, but can someone explain why you two had to choose this tree in particular?” Amanda complained.
“Amanda!” Ursula scolded. “They just fell from the top of the tower and-”
“No, no, it’s okay professor,” Diana began with a grin. “She has a fine point, we should have landed in another tree so to not have disturbed… Now just what did we disturb, Hannah?”
“H-huh?” The auburn haired girl recoiled, raising her hands defensively in front of her. “I-I was just sat at this tree trying to study, and… and-”
“I used this spot to hide from my mob of fans trying to ask me to be their Valentine,” Amanda sighed. “Hannah happened to be in my spot.”
“Y’know, that explains a lot,” Croix chuckled. “But now that this is dealt with, we were also trying to have a conversation before someone fell off the roof and disturbed us.”
“R-right,” Ursula cleared her throat. “You need to be more careful around the roofs, okay?”
“Yes professor,” Diana bowed, noticing Akko still holding tightly onto her hand.
“Hold on a second!” Amanda voiced. “Croix randomly appears at school on Valentine’s day and goes straight to Ursula’s room? You can’t expect us not to be suspicious!”
Croix faced Amanda, her face completely blank yet somehow smug at the same time.
“Miss England,” she suddenly said. “Remember our conversation earlier? Looks like you’ve made some progress,” she said with a grin, knowing fully well that no one apart from her and Hannah understood, and enjoying how embarrassed she was getting. “Now would be a real good time to drop the act,” she said with a chuckle.
Everyone stared in bewilderment as Croix and Ursula turned to make their way back to the tower and Hannah sank back into the tree, her face bright red.
“So…” Akko tentatively broke the silence. “Wanna be less careful around the roofs and come on a broom ride with me?”
“Absolutely.”