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lilyofthesword-writes · 4 years

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Sorceress (Loki Oneshot)

Summary: Loki comes to stay at the Avengers Tower while you are away on a mission. He becomes quite interested in you when he learns you wield magic similar to him and Doctor Strange.

Pairing: Loki x F!Reader

Word Count: 5,260

Warnings/Disclaimers: Anxiety issues, brief mentions of blood loss and injury, Wanda being an awesome friend

Masterlist

You wound your way into the kitchen and flipped on the electric kettle. Gathering your mug, you pulled out your calming tea blend. Today was the first day of the semester, and it always made you anxious. You felt like you had not rested one bit over the summer break. It probably didn’t help that Fury had sent you on a mission for most of it and you just returned yesterday, but there wasn’t much you could do about it. Just keep moving. This was your life now.

You went over the mental checklist in your head. Syllabus, notes, handouts...

“And who might you be?”

The low, charming voice ripped you from your thoughts, causing you to jump and almost knock over your mug. Swinging around to face the intruder, you found Loki the God of Mischief hovering closely behind you. You had forgotten about Thor contacting you on your mission to tell you Loki would be kept at the Tower for his punishment. Tony made him call you, something he did when he was afraid of you being angry. You had heard Tony coaching Thor in the background of the call.

“Don’t do that!”

He chuckled, taking a step back. “My sincerest apologies.”

“Riiiight.”

You folded your arms and took in his appearance. He definitely did not look the same as he did on the news when he tried to take New York. From the images you had seen, his eyes were wild and sunken and his face gave off a sense of malnourishment. The god standing before you now looked healthy with bright not quite blue but not quite green eyes that held a sprinkle of boyish mischief. Maybe Thor had it right about the possible mind control.

“Shall we start anew?” He bowed lightly, delicately taking the fingers of your right hand in his, forcing you to uncross your arms. “I am Prince Loki of Asgard.”

Oh no... Boyo was laying it on thick.

Nervously clearing your throat, you introduced yourself.

“A lovely name, my lady. May I ask why I have not seen you here before?”

He was still holding your hand. You could feel his energy pushing against yours. Was he trying to test your abilities?

“I was on a mission overseas. Just got back last night.”

“That is a shame. I would have preferred your presence here when I first arrived.”

You heard the click of the kettle and pulled your hand away to pour the hot water in your mug. He seemed almost disappointed by the loss of contact.

“I heard from Wanda that it was pure chaos for a while. She practically begged me to abandon the mission and come home,” you chuckled. “Don’t know if that would have done any good though.”

Taking a sip of your still brewing tea, you realized Loki had retaken the step back from earlier and was nearly looming over you. You regained that space, heading for the door.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, but if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish preparing for class.”

You rocketed out the door before he had a chance to respond.

You flopped on your bed after taking a portal home. Your closest friend Wanda was there to greet you.

“So how are all the magic newbies you ditched me for?” she teased.

You huffed a laugh. “Same old, same old. College freshmen who think they already know everything. They’ll be in a world of hurt in the coming weeks.”

“At least being an adjunct professor has its perks, right?”

“Yeah. I have some semblance of a life.”

You both started giggling at that.

“Are you still going to eat with everyone for dinner tonight?”

“I don’t see why not. Today was only day one of classes. Nothing to grade yet.”

“Maybe Loki will chill out then.”

You casted Wanda a concerned look. “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes and sat up on the bed. “Ever since Thor mentioned you could wield magic, Loki kept asking when you would be back.”

“Huh,” you mulled. “Guess that would explain this morning.”

“This morning?”

You nodded and hummed. “Yeah. I was in the kitchen making tea when he showed up.”

“You talked to him before me?!” She shoved you playfully, feigning hurt feelings.

“Because I totally planned it,” you laughed.

“So what did you think?”

“You mean other than tall, dark and handsome?” You paused as she snickered. “He’s alright, I guess. He was being overly nice.”

Wanda scoffed. “That little... Okay. So, when he wasn’t holed up in his room or the library being all nice and quiet, he kept making all these snarky comments to everyone. Then, there was the pranking... He saved that mostly for Tony though.”

“So what you’re saying is to keep my guard up because he could go bipolar on me.”

“Yup.”

“Great... This is going to be fun... How long is he staying?”

“Indefinitely.”

All you could do was groan and hide your head in your pillow.

Dinner was suffocating to say the least. Loki joined the team in the dining area, apparently a rarity for him, and they were not happy about it. Well, it was mostly the original team members, the ones who fought against Loki in the Battle of New York. The newer members like you and Wanda, while not fond of him either, couldn’t care less. Thor seemed to be the only who was content, shoveling food down his throat, unable to read the room with a silence so palpable and deafening.

This is... awkward. Wanda spoke to you through her mind, something she usually did when she was uncomfortable but still needed to express herself.

No kidding. I’m thinking about ditching.

Aren’t you hungry though?

Starving! But I can’t eat like this. I’ll come back down in a couple of hours for something. Maybe I’ll watch a movie til then.

Room for one more?

Always!

With half your plate empty, you excused yourself and disposed of the scraps in the kitchen. Steve, who usually fussed at you about your not so great eating habits, did not say a word. Sneaking some snacks for the movie from the kitchen, you went back to your room to wait for Wanda who popped by about ten minutes later.

You woke with a start, stomach growling and gurgling. You blinked away the sleep from your eyes and looked around. Wanda was long gone. You guessed she went back to her room after you fell asleep at some point. She was at least nice enough to turn off the TV before disappearing.

Your belly rumbled, again. Reluctantly leaving behind the warmth of your blankets, you stumbled to your feet and hobbled to the kitchen. You reached for the light switch, the kitchen being too dim in the low lighting left on at night. The lights turned on before you could find it.

“I was wondering when you would arrive.” Your name slid off Loki’s tongue like silk.

Letting out a breath, you tempered your scowl. “What made you think I was coming down here?”

“Aside from the dinner you barely touched?” he chuckled as he traced a finger across the counter. “Well, it can be considered rude to hold a private conversation from such a small group of people.”

You shouldn’t have been surprised by a magic wielder being able to see what other magic wielders are doing.

You folded your arms. “It’s definitely considered rude to eavesdrop.”

“That is quite true.” His signature smirk graced his face. “Although, is it really eavesdropping when I did not listen to what was being said? I merely sensed the exchange of energies.”

“Sure...” You didn’t believe him, but you would let it go for now. It’s not like you two had said anything damning. You just needed to be a bit more careful moving forward. “Now would you be so kind as to stand aside? I would like something to eat, and you’re blocking the fridge.”

“My apologies, but perhaps I may be of better service to you with,” he snapped his fingers, “this.”

The leftovers from dinner instantly appeared piping hot on a plate.

“How did you-”

“Come now. I thought you were a sorceress,” he smirked teasingly.

There was the ego you were expecting.

“I can manage the same end result,” you pouted. “But... the steps leading to it would be different...”

“I could always show you how.”

That grin and those alluring aventurine eyes would be the death of you. You wanted so badly to say yes. While you had the schooling and moved on to helping others, there was still so much more to learn. To say you were eager would be an understatement. The problem was you just met this Trickster God. How could you trust him so soon?

“I... I appreciate the offer, but maybe another time.”

You tucked some of your hair behind your ear. Why did you feel guilty for turning him down?

“Of course. The offer remains standing. Enjoy your dinner, Sorceress,” he replied, his disappointed voice betraying his stoic demeanor.

With that, he swiftly left the room. Yeah. You felt bad. Maybe you would find a way to make it up to him.

Weeks later, and you were frustrated beyond belief. The last lesson you attempted to teach was going nowhere. You needed help, and you needed it now.

You sprung from your room with your notes and textbook and practically sprinted to the library where Loki could usually be found. You were right. There he was lounging with his back to you on one of the couches amongst the books, reading Dante’s Divine Comedy.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Sorceress?” He didn’t even look up from the text. Not a good sign.

Taking a breath, you answered, “I was hoping I could get your help with something.”

That got his attention. “Oh? Would you not rather ask that Strange fellow the others prefer to associate with.” he scowled.

Great. Of course, he had to be in one of those moods today. His mood swings were to be expected but the timing was difficult to predict.

“Pff. The last time I asked him for help, he was a total ass. Just because he trained with a master overseas for a short period of time and has a photographic memory does not mean he fully understands every magical concept.” You brought your rant to a halt. You could say so much more but doubted anyone wanted to listen.

“Well, someone who sees that charlatan for what he truly is,” he snorted, snapping his book shut. “Now, pray tell, why would I assist you when your magic is so similar to his?”

Adding fuel to the fire. The rant was back on. With a huff, you came around to the front of the sofa and dropped your supplies on the coffee table, taking a seat next to him.

“You really want to get me started, don’t you? Look, I have been practicing and studying magic since I was child before I even knew what I was even doing. Hell, I’m still learning. That will never stop. I have worked my ass off to get this far. That’s why I get frustrated with Strange. He never believed in magic until it could help him in some fashion, and then he’s deemed a ‘master’ so soon after starting. Admittedly, yes, I am a bit jealous. However, I would not change how I have learned because it has allowed me to dig deeper and understand more.”

You inhaled deeply, signaling the end of your monologue. You had not really meant to go that far with it, but it was too late now. Your words hung in the air as Loki studied you.

“What do you need assistance with?” He flashed you a grin.

You silently screamed with relief. “Okay, so there was a theory I was trying to teach yesterday.” Flipping open the textbook to the right page, you brought your notebook and pen to your lap. “The students just aren’t getting it.”

Loki leaned over the table to read the book. “Magical Exchange: The Equal Exchange Theory...” His eyebrows could have rocketed off his forehead with how surprised he was. “This is an elementary subject.”

“It is a 101 course,” you shrugged. “I just don’t know how to explain it better. I’ve not taught a class that had issues with this before. This particular group has proven... Difficult.”

“Have you attempted a more... Oh what do you mortals call it,” he hummed. “A more ‘hands on’ approach?”

You sighed and unconsciously tapped your pen on your notebook. “Yeah. I tried to improvise like that when the text did nothing. It just made things worse.”

“I see...” His lips drooped into a frown. “Perhaps a new perspective is required.”

“You read my mind,” you teased, winking at him. You still had not forgotten that first day. “So if you were teaching this, how would you go about it?”

Clearing his throat, he picked up the text book and lounged back on the couch. An anxious silence droned on before he finally spoke again.

“This text describes the various classifications of what is considered Equal Exchange, yet there is little on what does not qualify.”

Loki proceeded on his own mini-lecture about the experiments performed by both mortals and Asgardians, many of which ended in failure due to the lack of Equal Exchange. One ended up being about the Philosopher’s Stone, a topic you had already learned quite a bit about. You scribbled notes as fast as you could, filling up a good quarter of your notebook when he had finished.

You chewed on the end of your pen while looking over your notes. “This could work. Between these explanations and showing some examples, they might grasp what all it means.” Letting out a tired sigh, you looked up at him with full sincerity. “Thank you, Loki. I owe you one.”

He chuckled deeply, sending shivers down your spine. What was he up to?

“There is one favor I wish to ask of you in exchange.”

You blinked deftly. “And what might that be?”

Taking your free hand in his, he gently swiped his thumb across your knuckles. “I merely ask for a dance.”

“A. Dance?” That was not what you had expected.

“Yes. Stark is holding one of his... illustrious parties next Saturday.”

Oh crap. You had purposely forgotten about that. Parties were not normally your thing.

“R-right! I forgot...” you mumbled, swiping your hair behind your ear.

“All I ask is one dance. Would that be acceptable?”

You gazed into his eyes where a dabble of insecure hope hid. “I... Yes. That would be nice.”

Your face felt like it was on fire when he kissed your knuckles, whispering, “Excellent,” before he helped you to your feet and gathered your belongings.

Saturday seemed to arrive all too quickly. Anxiety pulsated through your veins most of the day. Why were you so nervous? It was just one dance.

You sucked in a breath as you took in your appearance in the mirror. The off-the-shoulder, malachite dress hugged your form just right until it flowed gracefully from your hips to your knees. A silver pendant and heels tied off the look. You looked... Good. Better than you had anticipated. Now if you could just calm yourself down.

All those people, people you did not know for the most part would be there, too. Tony always invited so many guests no one else knew. But you also wouldn’t be alone. The whole team was going to be there. You would not be alone. One party should be manageable.

A knock at your door tore you from your spiraling thoughts. With a half-hearted sigh, you meandered to the door and open it to find Wanda and Vision. Wanda must have sensed your distress. She took one look at you, told Vision she would meet him downstairs, gave him a chaste kiss and stepped into your room, closing the door behind her.

“I-I don’t know if I can do this, Wanda.” You sat on the edge of your bed, thoughts of nausea swimming in your head.

She said your name with such resolution, your gaze snapped up to hers. “You can do this.”

“I don’t-”

“Don’t start. One, you look gorgeous. Two, you’re a professor AND Avenger. You teach in auditoriums and fight bad guys for a living. This party should not be a problem.”

“Small auditoriums...” you mumbled, earning you a look.

“Three, Vision and I will stay nearby. If any weirdo tries anything with you again, we’ll be there.”

Because you needed to remember the one party where some drunk rando was getting too handsy, the one where you had trouble controlling your abilities because you did not and do not like crowds. Tony, Steve and Wanda had to extract you after kicking out the drunk moron. That was your last party.

“I don’t want to be the third whe-”

“Shush. I’m not done.” She waved you off. “And four, once you have your dance, you can get the hell out of there. Okay?” She smiled sympathetically.

You nodded and looked at the floor. Wanda took you by the shoulders and forced you to stand.

“Alright, now breathe with me. Ground and center. Breathe. Raise your shields. Breathe.”

Doing what you were told, you started to feel better, the deep breaths helping the most.

“Better?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Let’s get going. Remember, you can do this.” She guided you towards the door.

“Right... I can do this...”

I can’t do this...

You leaned on a wall out of the way, sipping on a light cocktail that you had hoped would keep you calm. It didn’t. Between the flashing lights, pounding music and the chaotic array of energies emanating off the guests just made you want to crawl in a hole and bury yourself.

Wanda and Vision were out of your sight but you could still sense them nearby. They’d be there in a blink of an eye if you needed them, but you didn’t want to ruin their fun. It also did not help that Loki was nowhere to be seen. At first, you thought he and Thor were getting ready, but that thought was thrown out when Thor arrived fashionably late alone. Maybe Loki decided the whole thing was a waste of time and backed out of coming. Yeah. That had to be it which meant you could bug out of here early.

“There you are, Sorceress.”

Never mind. Just as you had moved to the bar to set your glass down, Loki showed up behind you. You spun around, dress flowing out as you did. He looked taken aback with his cheeks slightly flushed. He muttered something under his breath but the music and chatter drowned him out.

“I’m sorry? I didn’t catch that.”

He just shook his head, smiling as he reached out a hand for you. “Would you care to join me on the balcony?”

Balcony?! Why didn’t you think about going out there? It would be so much quieter.

“I would like that very much.” You took his hand and let him lead you outside.

The balcony was so much better. The doors muffled the incessant beat of the club music along with the yelling guests. You took in a deep breath, taking the chance to glance at Loki and appreciate his look.

Yup. Still attractive in Midgardian clothing. His designer suit looked as though it was made only for him, the black color matching his curling hair that brushed past his shoulders. The green tie brought out his eyes and made them seem more saturated like an emerald. You definitely appreciated the new style.

“You’re staring, Darling,” he chuckled.

“Sorry. I’m so used to seeing you in your Asgardian garb,” you flushed. “T-the change is not unwelcome though. You look great!”

Great. Where were your words when you needed them most? And did he call you “Darling”?

“Thank you, my dear. Now, about that dance...”

That’s when you realized he was still holding your hand.

“What about the music?”

“I have something better planned than the noise Stark has chosen.”

He pulled you close, one hand encased yours while the other placed your free hand on his shoulder before snapping his fingers and keeping you close by the small of your back. A record player appeared playing Merry-Go-Round of Life.

“Shall we?”

You smiled and nodded, “Yes.”

Loki swayed with you along the length of the balcony, leading you into spins in time with the music. Neither of you had said a word since you started moving, but you did not need to. Everything was perfect. You felt like you were dancing on clouds amongst the stars. All of your anxiety had melted away. Needless to say, you were disappointed when the song ended.

“I do not suppose I would be able to convince you for another dance?”

Loki held your hands in his as he pulled back. He seemed just as disappointed as you.

“Well,” you mocked contemplation, “That wasn’t part of the original agreement.”

The soft grip on your hands loosened even more.

“But, I don’t see why I can’t make an exception, especially seeing how your explanations went over so well with the students. I haven’t thanked you for that part,” you smirked and with a golden flourish of your hand, changed the music on the record player.

Loki’s grin put the starlight to shame as he brought you back to him. As one song ended, one of you would switch it out to keep the music going.

Neither of you knew how long you were out there for. It had to have been more than a couple of hours since Tony was the one to break up your private party.

“Reindeer Games, Magic Hands! Pack it up! Party guests have already left!”

Both of you grimaced, hating your nicknames. Regardless, Loki led you back inside. Wanda and Vision had stayed throughout the party while you were on the balcony, and gave both of you these little knowing looks as you passed them. Ignoring them, Loki walked you to your room.

“Thank you, Loki. You made the night much more enjoyable,” you smiled brightly.

He smiled back, playing with the fingers of your hands. “I am happy to be of assistance, Sorceress.”

A moment of silence and you stepped forward, thinking of something a touch bold. “You know, if this were to become a regular occurrence, I might be persuaded to show up at Stark’s parties more often.”

A low chuckle reverberated in his chest. “That could be arranged.”

“I hope so.” You leaned on your toes, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, again.”

You slipped past your door so quickly you didn’t notice the lightly dusted blush on Loki’s face.

Today was not a good day. Scratch that. It was a terrible day. Some senior in Advanced Summoning got cocky and accidentally summoned a few large, irate creatures from the Fae Realm. With you being an Avenger and working for the school, it was no surprise you were chosen to handle the situation. Killing would have been easier, but you could not bring yourself to do it. It’s not their fault they were ripped from their home and dropped in an unfamiliar world. You were able to open a portal and send them back but not without sustaining a critical injury. You were barely able to close the portal before passing out from blood loss.

You woke up in the medical wing of the campus, a fog clouding your brain. You felt the dull pain in your side where one of the creatures had swiped its claws whenever you tried to move.

“Oh! Please lie still!” A healer came rushing over. “You don’t want to reopen the wound. We’ve done all we can to heal you without overloading your body.”

You just nodded and rested your head on the pillow. Looking at the window, you noticed how dark it was.

“What time is it?”

The healer looked at you nervously. “A little after 10PM.”

Groaning, you sank into the pillow more. “Do you know where my phone is? I need to make a call.”

The team knew your schedule, and they were going to flip, especially Loki. You two had grown attached to each other since the start of your balcony dances (there had been at least six so far). The status of your relationship was in limbo, somewhere between friends and romantic partners. Neither of you seemed to know which way to go.

The healer left the room momentarily before rushing back in. Handing you your phone, she warned, “Now, your phone started going off non-stop since about six this evening. We had to answer just to see if it was important and if they could wait until you called back. Th-the man on the other end. He was.. Not. Pleased. He started demanding to know where you were...”

“I understand,” you cut her off softly. “If I could get some privacy please, I will call him.”

She nodded and headed to the door.

“And whatever else he said, don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure he behaves.”

The healer pursed her lips and closed the door behind her. What the hell did he say to her?

You picked Loki’s contact in your phone. He answered in barely one ring, calling out your name. “Norns, are you alright?! Where are you? What happened?”

“Loki, I’m fine. I’m still on campus. There was a little mishap that I had to take care of. Got a little banged up in the process, but everything is okay.” You added that last part quickly.

“A little mishap? You should have returned hours ago. Please, allow me to bring you home.”

“Loki, the school only allows faculty members and students on campus. The wards make sure of that. And despite the constant demands, even Fury and Strange have not been granted access. They don’t even know where to look. Besides, you’re on lockdown. Remember?” You tried to reason with him, but knew he would not give up so easily.

He pleaded your name. Lately, he almost always stuck to pet names for you, only using your name when he was truly upset. “Please... I need to know that you are in good health.”

“I am, Loki. I will more than likely be back at the Tower in the morning.”

“Not tonight?” His pout was clear even over the phone.

“It’s late and I doubt the healers would let me check myself out at this hour.”

“I- Alright.” The defeated tone in his voice made your heart break.

“I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”

“Please...”

“Goodnight, Loki.”

“Goodnight.”

As you pulled the phone away to hang up, you heard him call your name.

“Yes?”

“I... I will see you tomorrow.”

You hummed with a smile. “See you tomorrow.”

It was early morning when you finally left the campus. Loki didn’t answer his phone, so you left him a voicemail instead, fairly sure he knew how to access it. Cell phones still were not his strong suit, but he was getting better.

Stepping through the Tower doors, you were greeted by Happy who gave you the world’s most gentle bear hug. He had Friday let the others know you were headed up.

“By the way,” he yelled to you as you stepped in the elevator. “Loki was up all night worrying about you. You should go talk to him.” He winked at you.

You just shook your head as the elevator doors. When they reopened at the common room floor, you were greeted with Wanda tackling you before she dragged you out.

“Loki told us something went down at the University. What happened?!”

She pulled you into the common room to one of the sofas.

“Some moron was trying to impress a girl in Advanced Summoning. Brought in some undocumented creatures from the Fae Realm.”

“Of course... Now you were hurt? Where?” She started looking you over.

You lifted your shirt just enough to show the heavy bruising on your side. “The healers did a decent patch up. Just have to deal with this for a couple days, and then I’m good.”

“I wish I could help, but healing is not my forte.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine,” you smiled reassuringly, letting your shirt fall.

“Fine is not how you would have been classified yesterday,” a low voice came from behind the couch, startling you.

“L-Loki! I thought I had told you not to do that!” You clutched your chest, taking a deep breath.

“Darling, may I speak with you? Alone.” Loki gestured for you to follow him.

You squeezed Wanda’s hand apologetically. “I’ll come find you later.”

Loki led you out, down the hall and into the library. He didn’t say a word until he sat you down on the couch next to him, gaze on his lap.

“Loki... I-”

“Dove, what were you thinking taking on those beasts on your own?” He clutched your hands tightly.

“I didn’t have much of a choice. I’m one of the few stateside who is trained in battle magic,” you pleaded.

He was upset. It was obvious. Your heart shattered with how he looked at you, fear and worry melded into one.

“You could have called for assistance.”

“Loki, we’ve been over this-”

“Would they not have made an exception with their students in danger.” It was a statement. He was right about that.

“If there were time, yes. They needed to be dealt with immediately.” You tore your hands from his grasp and cupped his face for him to really look you in the eyes. “Loki. Everything turned out alright. I’m still here, and I’m okay.”

“And yet you almost were not.” His voice was so quiet, you barely heard him. “I... I do not...”

You stroked his cheeks with your thumbs, encouraging him to go on. He pulled one hand away to hold while leaning into the other.

“Just be more careful from now on. Please.”

“Of course.”

“Promise me.” He squeezed your hand.

“I will. But first.” You took your hand from his face. “Finish what you were saying.”

He froze. “I am not sure what you mean.”

“You cut yourself off three times within twenty-four hours. You always finish your sentences. Now. What were you going to say?”

He still was not used to being caught, his initial confusion evident in his eyes which then darted about the room nervously. You sighed, and with a golden flourish of your hand, the library doors shut and locked.

“There. No one to walk in and disturb us or overhear.”

Loki was silent. He stared at your hand that was intertwined with his, then met your eyes.

“I do not know what I would do without you,” he whispered, bringing you into his arms in one fluid motion, your head tucked under his chin.

The scent of cedar and sage filled your senses as you returned the embrace and carded your fingers through his hair.

“Well, that’s not something you need to think about. I’m not going anywhere,” you responded softly. “Promise.”

He hugged you close, pulling you into his lap. His chest rose with a deep breath before he kissed the top of your head.

#loki x reader #loki marvel #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki x you #marvel #marvel avengers #the avengers #s.h.i.e.l.d.#loki imagine #fanfiction #fanfic #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki friggason #loki oneshot #wanda maximov #wanda #wanda marvel

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demon-slayage · 3 years

Text

The first time you and Cove Holden get into an argument is when you’re in college

-femme reader

-high affectionate Cove, long term dating

-post step 3

-some mild angst but mostly fluff

-hi I haven’t written anything in years and this just popped out at me. Sorry it can get a little specific I based the sorority stuff on some of my own experiences so it does come from a femme perspective as well as my own experiences in the game w a high affectionate sporty Cove.

-hope you enjoy!

————————-

You opted to go to a university on the opposite side of the state. You generally didn’t come home to visit all that often just because your schedules didn’t always line up that way but you and Cove made it work. He knew this would happen and you tried to make a point of visiting at least once a month. However, you had joined a sorority because you wanted to make more friends. You could tell your longtime boyfriend was a little wary since your high school and friend group was never into partying like Greek life was known for.

Once you made it into the sorority in late fall you were finally able to attend one of these said ragers that Cove was worried about. You partook in some underage drinking and sent your boyfriend a couple of Snapchats of you hanging out with some sisters who he’s seen before as well as some unknown frat brothers. He simply told you to be safe, have a good time, and call him if you needed him. Knowing full well he’d drop everything to come get you if needed. Even though your drive/flight was hours away. You told him you loved him and not to worry.

But knowing Cove thats all he did over the weekend. Then the week after you had to deal with midterms so you were even busier and had less time to chat with your boyfriend as you were busy studying in the library with your friends and sisters. But regardless of that fall break was coming up and you had planned your visit to see Cove after midterms.

You made sure to text Cove to tell him you weren’t going to be as available but you knew he’d be a little sad but understanding knowing how clingy he was. However being in this situation you didn’t have time to focus on that.

Friday rolled around and you’d opted to fly home instead of taking the 5 hour drive. You’d planned it to be a surprise getting there earlier instead of the usual time. You had your moms pick you up from the airport and they smothered you with hugs and kisses once they saw you walk out of the gate.

You told them about how the semester was going and told them about your organization and they were just happy you were home. They took you family condo and you immediately got dressed to surprise your-probably-worried-you-hadn’t texted-him-for-a-bit-boyfriend. You sent him a text you saying were leaving in the morning which was normal but you’d always sent a follow up once you took a stop in your usual road trip.

You made your way to the tropical place restaurant where he worked and had even stopped by a local candy shop to pick up some fudge for him.

You swung the door open with a jingle and you’d somehow caught Cove conveniently at the host podium but unfortunately the moment he saw you he started immediately choking on the water he was drinking. His boss rushed over to check on him and noticed you and started laughing.

They said “Oh Cove, ever the smooth one. Why don’t you go take a long lunch since your partner is back.” They patted him on the back as he was still hacking pretty hard but you could see tears forming his eyes. You were unsure whether they were from being excited to see you or because he was in pain from choking.

You quickly pulled your dying boyfriend outside and let him finish recovering. After clearing his throat a few times he brought you into a big hug. And kissed your face all over.

“I didn’t expect you back so early!”

“I know I flew instead of driving since I wanted to see you so bad since I have more time! Fall break doesn’t end til Wednesday so you’re stuck with me until then.”

He puts a hand to his heart and says “oh what shall I do with you for that long.” He says it with a sly look in his eyes. But you also notice a bit of sadness in his voice but choose not to comment on it. You will later but not when he has to eventually go to back to work.

“So, do you want to eat here or find somewhere else to go. I guess I have a longer lunch but I don’t want to push it.”

You both opt for eating at his workplace but sitting outside around back away from the customers. You quickly fall into your normal conversations and you tell him about the midterms and your initiation into your sorority, telling him for the first time you have a secret he can’t know. He tries to get you to spill jokingly but you won’t budge. You also sense his sadness rising but again you won’t push until you’re in private.

Eventually your hour comes to a close and you tell him you’ll see him at his apartment later. You wave the spare key he gave you when he moved in and start your 15 minute trek back to your home to grab your belongings which you had left with your moms before they dropped you off to see him.

You ran inside and gave them a quick hug, popped over to Mr. Holden’s house to let him know you were back, who was just as shocked and then made your trek to Cove’s one bedroom apartment.

His complex was actually rather close to your family homes, he now had his independence but was still close enough to pop in on both families. You’d appreciated it since you’d stay at both places when you were in town and if Elizabeth was in town you got to stay with Cove. Though there was still a room available it was mostly just a weak excuse but your families never minded.

You opened up the door and inhaled and felt at peace. The citrusy-ocean scent you were used to hit you and made you tear up slightly. You walked your bag to Coves bedroom and then grabbed your entertainment of choice and headed into the living room to wait for him to get back. Since he was working a morning shift you expected him home in about an hour.

While you waited you remembered the fudge bought for him and made sure to grab it and display it on his coffee table.

Like clockwork when the clock struck 3, your tired boyfriend walked inside. All of the exhaustion on his face completely melted away at the sight of you and in two steps, thankful to his long legs he was holding you in his arms. Very enthusiastic for someone who’d already greeted you.

“You just saw me though!”

“I know but I didn’t get to do this earlier” he brought his lips to yours and the world stood still and all felt at peace. After a few moments you broke apart and you motioned to the fudge on the table.

“I bought some of your favorite to surprise you!”

You saw tears start to form in his eyes and then tears started to form in yours and you both hugged each other again before settling in a tangled pile of limbs on the couch.

However you were still aware of the subtle sadness he was giving off and decided now was the best time to bring it up.

“Hey.”

You looked at him with worry and he immediately went wide eyed.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“No, you tell me? I could tell you weren’t all there today when I saw you at the restaurant.”

“Oh,” he sighed. “Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

You looked at him and he immediately broke.

“No you’re right, sorry I don’t know why I sometimes do that still, you can read me like an open book.” He pulled you closer.

“I guess I was just feeling a little insecure.”

You were surprised. The Cove Holden. Insecure? You both trusted each other with the utmost care and neither of you had ever done anything warranting an insecurity to rise but you let him continue speaking.

“You looked like you were having so much fun in those photos, but seeing you with all those guys i didn’t know kind of got to me. And then you were busy the whole week, which I know you couldn’t help. But we couldn’t even talk about it and it just weighed on me.”

Oh Cove. You put a hand up to your mouth and tears started to form in your eyes. You pushed your face into his chest then looked up at him. He looked back at you with a deep intense love.

“I’m sorry I didn’t even think about that! Those guys joined their organization around the same time as me so we’d been getting to know each other and since it was the first time we got to drink I wasn’t even really conscious of what was happening! They’re just some good friends.”

At that he seemed to stiffen.

“What do you mean not conscious? You didn’t drink that much you blacked out?”

You were not actually a drinker at all and felt a little stung by his assumption. You weren’t even allowed to drink your entire new member process until you got initiated into the organization either so that was a first and you knew you didn’t pass your limits either.

“No Cove. I didn’t. I was fine, i didn’t mean it that way. I meant that those guys had just become part of my routine. Not that I had blacked out.” Your tone came out a little more hostile than you meant.

He looked away and cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I know you’re responsible.”

He looked at you and picked up your hand and started massaging it.

“It’s just with alcohol, I worry about it since we never really drank in high school. You’re free to do that of course! You’re free to do whatever you want I just was worried since I’m not able to be there if anything bad did happen.”

Oh. He was right. It’s not like if you did get sick he’d be right there to be able to hold your hair back. Of course he was concerned. You were living different lives right now and it worried him that he couldn’t be a part of some of your firsts.

“Cove, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that. You’re always on my mind that it kind of felt like you’d be able to instantly come to my aid if I needed but you are actually 5 hours away and 3 if you fly.” You smiled sadly at him.

He pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“I trust you I really do, you know that but I’ve been realizing it’s hard for me at times watching you live this different life than me after we spent 10 years doing the same thing. I’ve never felt that insecurity before. In the back of my head I worry you’ll get bored of your boyfriend from your small hometown and want to move on to different things.”

You sighed at that, but not with any malice.

“Cove James Holden. You know you are the only one for me. Like you said, I’ve been with you for 10 years! You’re not getting rid of me that easily! And I’d never get bored of you!”

That elicited a chuckle and you pressed your lips to his cheek and then his lips.

Once you pulled apart he stayed looking at you with a soft gaze.

“I want you to have fun, have the whole college experience. I know you won’t always have time to talk to me. Thank you for sticking with me and riding out these insecurities I feel. You are my person and I know I’m yours.”

“Exactly! You are my absolute person.” You replied happily. Poking him in the chest.

“I love you,” he said as he pressed another kiss to your forehead.

“I love you two Cove Holden. Forever and always.”

——

Bonus:

You then spent the rest of the evening cooking dinner, catching up, and eventually having the nicest, deepest sleep you’re had in a while being back in the arms of your boyfriend. He had taken the weekend off so you didn’t even need to worry about waking up early in the morning.

When the sun peaked through the blinds you smiled up at the sleeping beauty who’d encased you protectively in his arms all night knowing someday you’d be doing this every day for the rest of your lives.

#our life #cove holden #femme reader #insecure Cove #Cove as your boyfriend #our life game #gb patch #cove james Holden #post step 3

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castudies · 3 years

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hello! I'm starting college in the fall as a person with adhd who got through high school by doing a lot of work the day before it was due, procrastinating, and not studying. somehow managed nearly a 4.0, and I'm an overachiever (somehow), which means that whatever school I end up at is going to be way more rigorous and I know I'm probably going to flop my first semester with the skills I currently have around studying/actually getting things done. any suggestions?

Hi! Well first off I VERY much relate to this. For a long time I was able to achieve high grades without having to put much effort or having to question my ability. While this made for an easy early academic career, it really left me unprepared for when I could no longer rely on my "natural" ability i.e. I had to actually work for good grades. So with that said:

You have say in what school you go to; you don't have to "end up" anywhere. If you do truly want a rigorous school, then it's good to expect a challenging transition but you should want to be challenged. Don't just go to a rigorous university bc you think you have to (as a self-identified over-achiever) or bc you think it'll make you look "good.” This is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation wherein the former can be great for getting stuff done, but will almost always lead to burnout. Intrinsic motivation is crucial when you face inevitable failures–it’s what makes you want to get back up when you fall down. It’s what re-conceptualizes the failures and shortcomings as both worth it and humbling.

To more directly answer your question: You need to start wholeheartedly evaluating yourself as a student and understanding what learning style fits you best. I talked about that a bit here, but everyone of course learns differently. Do flash cards work for you? If they don’t, why not? Don’t feel the need to stick with one method if it’s not working for you or if you find yourself hitting a wall; be flexible when it comes to what you need to do to do well in your coursework and remember that, in finding the study method for you, you are not wasting time. You are fine-tuning.

Ask yourself what would make studying interesting to you. Find a way to interact with the material because memorization is not enough. Yes you will need to endeavor in brute memorization periodically, but to excel in your coursework and see real growth you need to engage with the material more so than you had to in high school. Find the bigger picture of the course, look at the syllabus and look at what the learning goals are, find dots that you can connect within and between topics. Draw mind maps, rewrite your notes while listening to your favorite music, try explaining the subject matter to your friends or family and see if they can understand you. Be an active learner.

Also on the topic of syllabi, seriously evaluate that piece of paper and note every single deadline on there ASAP. That is a literal map for your course. A good way to ensure that you don’t take it for granted and wait til the last minute for each assignment is to pretend that each deadline is actually a week or so before the written date; if you can at least get what I call a “technically okay to turn in” version completed (i.e. it’s done but whatever you’ve written lw sucks) by that artificial deadline, you’ll be a-okay. Do NOT rely on your pre-college ability to get things done after starting at the very last minute–I promise you that is an eventual recipe for disaster. You’ll find yourself completing an assignment borderline late and then turning it in and then immediately being faced with another borderline late assignment and then another and another. It is truly a vicious cycle that can very much be avoided.

#apologies for the long answer #but these are all tips i sincerely wish i could've told my freshman-year self #you got this anon!!!#my inbox is always open if u ever have any other questions or want further pov/clarification #answered #studyblr #collegeblr #uniblr #study #study inspo #studyspo #productivity #advice #mental health #university #college

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shintorikhazumi · 4 years

Text

“CABBAGE”

A/N: First, I wanna apologize to the Diakko day mods that reviewed a completely different fic for me that was supposed to be my entry, but then... boom new diakko day entry. I’m sorry ;-;, I just couldn’t figure out a flow that would still have what I had in mind. Uwu, sorry for using up your precious time.

Soulmate, non-magic? AU. Cliche stuff, common trope. STILL. I’m using it. Fun fact, I slaved away for this for two/three days hoho~ peak procrastination, don’t encourage it. Also on ao3, but I have a habit of posting full chaps on tumblr. Teehee. This is... long... (could have been a crazy multi-chap, ey?) but I guess that’s what you get for trying to fit a full story with an AU setting that needs to be established. Sorry if it feels slow with regards to reaching DiAkko, but don’t worry, from when they come along til the end, you’ll have loads of them. Sorry for the pacing tho :((( I also apologize in advance if there are some OOC bits that y’all might not like. Not too confident in it, but hope you all like it. I DID NOT BETA READ THIS ANYMORE BECAUSE I’M TIRED OF THE LENGTH OF IT LMAO. Anywho...

Happy DiAkko day! Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

It was a normal thing, really. She had grown up with a thin chain slung around her neck, attached to another tiny metal thingy resting against the skin of her collarbone. On cold days, she would keep it in her pocket because god knows how weirdly tingly and-or painful that felt on bare skin. Sure she could have chosen to just wear it so that others could see it- actually, wasn’t she going against society’s rules when she hid it? She was, wasn’t she. Heck, it surprised her now that she’s realized it. Why hasn’t she been arrested yet? This is a crime isn’t it? Her mom, her dad, would they get to say their farewells once she got incarcerated-

“I can see it on your face, that you’re thinking about something totally stupid again.”

“Shut up, Sucy.”

“Just saying.” Sucy shrugs, going back to working on their chemistry lab activity. “I mean, I kinda just want you to focus on what we’re doing. Unless you want me to slip in some stuff in your project there.” She grinned in that evil little way the brunette had come to know her for.

“If I know you, which I do, you’ve probably already done that.”

“Akko! I can’t believe you’d accuse me of something like hurting my friends.” Sucy really couldn’t sell the ‘feigning shock’ act as her monotone words did little to convey emotion, and that forced gasp was probably just everyone else’s normal manner of breathing. Which was scary, now that she thought about it. Did that mean Sucy’s normal breathing was even less obvious? Oh god, now that Akko thinks about it, she would sometimes joke in her head about how she often wondered whether or not Sucy was actually dead during sleepovers.

‘I mean, come on! She sleeps like a corpse in a coffin! And she always looks so pale-’

“I knew you were thinking about something stupid again.” Once more, her thoughts were brought to a halt by that lazed, snarky voice that could only belong to her best friend who shared her mutual desire to strangle one another.

“I was just wondering if you were undead or something.”

“Screw you.”

“Wish I’d find someone to do that...” Akko muttered under her breath, to which Sucy sighed. She had heard it, and immediately knew what the Japanese was about to get hung up on. Again. Like she always did.

A hand reaching over to pat her back in consolation, but Akko felt a little worse, feeling that small, hard material lightly tapping the area along with the rest of Sucy’s hand. Sucy chuckled, sympathetically. “I know you’re constantly in a state of heat, Akko-” Or not.

“I am not, you bitch!”

Sucy could stand to ignore that. “-But really. Are you really that obsessed with finding your soulmate? We’re all young and all that jazz that those old hags keep yapping about. You have a lot of time, you know?” She smiled a sincere smile this time, trying her best to comfort her friend. “And besides, even though it’s something written on official print that most people find their soulmates at sixteen, most isn’t all.”

Akko felt a little better. Sucy could be an asshole, but as a best friend, she really knew what to say to Akko sometimes.

“-That’s basic English that even you can understand.”

She takes it back. She takes some of her heartfelt gratitude back. “I hate you.”

“Aww, I abhor you with all of my non-existent heart as well.” Sucy smirked, swatting Akko’s attacking hand away. “Muah~” She threw in a wink for good measure.

“Ughh, oh gosh... Professor Croix!” Akko bemoaned to their supervising teacher. “Can I please use the emergency shower? And eyewash. I think Miss Manbavaran got her unholy sappiness spilled all over me.”

Croix sighed, rubbing the spot between her eyes with her thumb and index finger. Not this again. “Can’t you two ever pipe down in my class?” She sighed. “PLEASE?!”

“Nope.” -Was the deadpanned response.

“I now see why you guys are friends.” Croix groaned, walking over to their table. “You little shits just won’t give me a break. And yet, you’re so behaved with Chariot.”

“Hey! Sensei, cursing your students is bad!” Akko scolded, before adding, “Besides, this and that are separate matters. Prof Chariot is just sweet and so nice, you can’t bear the weight of guilt of hurting her. Right?” Akko turned to Sucy who just nodded.

“Shut it, Kagari. That is not a valid rea- wait... maybe it is.”

“See?”

Her head was starting to hurt. Just why had she decided to be a teacher in place of any other job involving chemistry? Really, there were so many other things she could have done!

Just as she was about to return the verbal jabs, a gentler voice inserted itself into their conversation. “Umm... guys, professor, the other students are being distracted by your... um... exchange.”

Three pairs of eyes blinked, before two widened in apologetic shock, while the other seemed to gleam in pleasure. “Sorry, Lotte.”

“Sucy, please try to look even the slightest bit sorry.”

And disappointment replaced them right away.

“Tsk.”

“Sucy... we will be having a talk back in our room.” Akko heard that audible gulp, reaching for her friend’s hand under the table, squeezing support.

“Don’t die.” She whispered.

“You too, Akko.”

“Noooo! How? I don’t even live with you two!”

Lotte was about to respond that Akko always stayed over, anyway, but the frantic screams of their teacher took the words far away from her mind.

“Akko! Akko! Your solution is bubbling! Wait, that’s not supposed to do that-” Croix’s concern was justified as in a matter of a split second, everyone in their immediate circle was covered in some bright pink substance. “SHOWER, EMERGENCY SHOWER-”

“W-we won’t all fit, Professor!” Lotte had begun tearing up, wondering if she was about to die from whatever toxic chemical their beloved dunce must have mixed in. Maybe if she prayed to something somewhere out there, the spirits of nature would take hers and maybe she could live as some kind of forest sprite in some alternate magical world, and crap, she was becoming delusional.

“Hoho~ What a nice outcome~.”

“Manbavaran!”

“Relaaaax, I switched out all of Akko’s components for some of my stuff. It was a precaution.” She smiled, unbelievably innocent-looking. “...and maybe added a little surprise.”

“Su.CY!” Akko lunged forward before being stopped mid-air, caught by the collar.

“Akko. Sucy. I’ll see you in the office later.”

“...your office?” They seemed amazingly unfazed. They’d probably been so used to being there that they must see it as a lounge of sorts. But no, Croix wasn’t going to be defeated by teenage rascals that were the cause of her hair prematurely turning white. No.

“Nope.”

“Th-then, Finneran’s?” They weren’t completely scared of the aforementioned teacher. She just gave them such an earful, sometimes they’d joke to Lotte about needing hearing aids at some point.

“No.” Croix’s smile grew despicably wide and dark. “Holbrooke’s.”

Lotte sighed in sympathy. Well, she’d expected this development sooner or later. “I’ll wait for you by the usual bench.”

//-//-//-//-//

A week of suspension. One week off school, no school or class-related updates allowed from classmates, and only check-ins and work drops from teachers. That was... surprisingly light after all the trouble they’d accumulated over the past first month of the semester. Or maybe it was because it was just the start of the school year that the headmistress really wanted as little to go wrong as possible. Preferably nothing would go wrong. Or it could also be the fact that they were in their senior year, and the teachers really wanted all their students to graduate.

But you could never tell with a group as rowdy as the ‘witches’ of Luna Nova International Institute. They were rightly labeled as such with the cursed terrors they had inflicted, every incident they’ d caused all over the school premises and beyond.

If it wasn’t Akko and Sucy, it was Jasminka somehow being able to sneak in and out of the classroom and buy out the entire snack section of the cafeteria, and making it back to class without anyone noticing. With her size, it was some kind of scary magic trick. If it wasn’t that either, then it was Constanze constantly installing who-know’s-what in the schools’ computers. It it wasn’t her, then it was Amanda and Hannah pulling at hairs, or cutting at each other’s necks, then the next thing you know they’re either making out in public, or making out in public... with Barbara. There was also Lotte when she was in her wild states of fangirling after a new Night Fall release. People tended to keep a safe distance from her during those times. (She’d once shaken a girl unconscious out of her sheer excitement at the mention of, ‘Oh, I read the latest release too’.)

Never a dull day with them.

Scarily so.

Holbrooke had smiled at them kindly as always, but there was just a little something else behind it that felt like Akko and Sucy were about to die on the spot.

“Please. I beg of you. Your first two years, we tried to overlook all your mischief as it did not pose any threat to the masses, only towards you and your friend group... well... physical harm or threat, at least. I don’t know how many people are psychologically scarred because of you.” She had said that, but they didn’t know if it was a joke, a serious statement, or both.

After being given twenty blank pages to write their usual apologies on- they shared a laugh, thinking back on when Amanda got fifty-, the pair made their merry way to the bench just by the school gate where Lotte sat, chatting alongside and excited Barbara, a Hannah with a fond smile directed at her life-time partner, and Amanda who was carrying both their bags for them, waving goodbye to Constanze and Jasminka who looked like they were just leaving.

“Aww, didn’t get to catch my little friend.” Akko pouted, wanting to hug Conz as she always did. She was so cute. And soft. Like a plush. Always calming Akko down.

“She’s gonna shoot one of her tiny lazers at you again. Those actually burn.” Amanda reminded, laughing as she remembered what Lotte told her about why they were late. “And I heard you two got some quality time with the big woman upstairs?” Her grin widened. “How many?”

“Twenty.” They responded in synch, hands aching from the memory.

“Heh... not bad. Doesn’t beat my record though.” She cackled, slinging an arm over Hannah’s shoulder, Akko not missing the glint on her left ring finger. How nice.

“Don’t egg them on, idiot.” Hannah sighed, peeling the limb off her. “And you all got nothing on these two.” She pointed a thumb to the still excitedly conversing pair. “They wrote a fucking novel for their apology. Literally. But the teachers were so tired of reading that they weren’t made to write apology notes anymore.”

“Hey! Cleaning the bathrooms aren’t the best either!” Barbara, now done with her talk with Lotte, turned to pinch the ginger’s arm.

“I mean, we all have cleaned them at some point.”

“True, true.” The group nodded in consensus.

��...”

“This is not a very good fact.” Barbara pointed out, and they all laughed, the ones seated slowly getting up, everyone ready to go home.

As they exited the gate, they all waved their goodbyes, Akko and her two best friends heading one way, and Amanda and her girls the other. Just as the sun was setting at that hour in the afternoon, red eyes caught the reflected glimmer of light against the three bands on each girl’s ring finger. Those same eyes traveled to similar hoops donned by the pair walking quietly in front of her, hands brushing by one another.

Really. She was happy all her friends had found their destined ones. Some partners may look to be as mismatched as Sucy and Lotte, and some cases were as rare as the three-way between the snarky British girls and their American idiot, but... the system had worked some magic in perfectly matching people, it seemed. They all seemed happy with who they had.

Akko didn’t know if this was some kind of spiritual occurrence like fate or the likes, or if this was just one ginormous scientific experiment on billions of guinea pigs across the globe, but... Akko wanted in on it too.

Placing a hand over where her heart was, she felt for the metal against her chest, clutching it through her uniform blouse.

Just when would her “soulmate” come?

//-//-//-//-//

Their first stop, as per usual, was the small apartment complex that Lotte and Sucy lived in. When their parents had discovered that these children had found the one meant for them, they were more than willing to help the girls move in together, and get used to a life-long companionship. They trusted them as they were both capable and level-headed, and Akko was so happy that her friends were happy. She always was.

Lotte invited her in. As always. And Akko should’ve accepted like she always did as well, but somehow, today... she just didn’t feel like it. So she made a random excuse, something believable enough, like how her parents had asked her to make dinner because they’d be home late, and the Fin just had to let her go, even if she felt something was off, and that the brunette might just be lying.

There had been a time when Lotte and Sucy had just gotten together that Akko seemed to distance herself from her best friends. They soon found out it was out of her concern that she might be intruding on their relationship, or bothering them, taking away from the time the pair could spend alone together as a couple. Obviously, they had never seen Akko as a nuisance, and were saddened she would think of such things.

With a talk, reassurances, and clarifications in place, their bond as friends became ever stronger, and more trusting.

But Akko still wanted to be considerate. Out of love.

...and maybe a little envy that made her want to distance herself from the sight of people with fulfilled partnerships.

Maybe she was just a sore, lonely loser who couldn’t truly be happy for her friends.

Who knows.

After jogging the rest of the way home, a simple five-minute distance away from the apartments, she reached that familiar wooden gate, the name plate “Kagari” shiny and clean, like her mother liked it. Pushing the swinging portion open, she walked up the driveway, smiling at her share little garden with her Mama. Looks like the vegetables were growing up healthy. Maybe she could try some new dishes out and have her friends give her feedback. The usual agenda.

“I’m home!” She called out in the foyer, shoes slipping off and set neatly to the side. A habit strongly instilled in her since childhood. “Mama?” The scents of vegetables and meat, and was that... cookies! Her mom was baking cookies! “Mama!”

Padding down the hall and entering the open living room, she found her father splayed out, snoring on the couch with a newspaper covering his face. Giggling to herself, she continued her way into the kitchen, spotting the one she’d been looking for, ear buds in and swaying to some music only she could hear. Akko smiled. Her mom was so youthful, she was such a girl. With her bright pink apron and bunny slippers, and impeccable manners and home skills.

“Ma~ma!” She called, hugging her mother’s waist from behind.

The older woman yelped, spatula flying into the air, but with Akko smoothly catching it and licking off some of the sauce on it. She tried not to look into those disproving eyes, and simply released her mother and went to wash the utensil.

“Akko...”

“I said I was home! You didn’t hear me, mama. This is revenge.” She grinned cheekily, her mother sighing before a fond smile played on her lips.

“Fine, fine. But just this once, okay?”

“Hai~” Akko gave a mock salute, enjoying this moment with her mother as the her co-brunette rolled her eyes fondly. Akko walked up to her, kissed her cheek, and attempted to “appease” her mother by offering her exemplary culinary services- or so her dad had once claimed. “Let me help you out?”

Unable to keep up the annoyed act longer, her mother slipped into giggles, turning to gather her daughter into her arms and pepper kisses all over her hair. “Thank you, baby. Please chop me up some of the veggies in the bag by the sink.”

“Roger!”

And they shared another laugh at the voice coming from the other room, screaming a sleepy, “WHO’S ROGER?! ANOTHER BOY-”

The usual always felt so good.

//-//-//-//-//

Dinner had been fairly uneventful. Her cousin- the relation fairly distant- who currently lived with them wasn’t home still, just like always. She knew he was always busy at school, and with the little business her father had him manage, so that was a normal thing as well. She had ended up just confessing to her parents what she’d done in school this time, in hopes that her being honest instead of them finding out via a phone call from school first would ease the inevitable punishment awaiting her.

It... kind of helped. Kind of.

Her father had laughed so hard, clearly amused at her and Sucy’s antics. Her mother sighed deeply, not knowing if she should even still be disappointed anymore. Akko and school accidents and incidents weren’t uncommon at all, after all. It wasn’t a surprise. Really, the biggest school-related surprise they’d gotten was the fact that Akko wanted to take a science-related course instead of an arts one. They knew it had always been her dream to be a performer. So why was she taking that when Luna Nova offered the Arts as well. It was something they would forever wonder about.

Akko was usually so open and honest with them in just about everything, but this was one thing she would never clear up with them. And they could never understand why. There was definitely a deep reason behind it. But why did she have the need to keep it to herself? They worried, but they also believed in her, that she would tell them if she needed to. She was that kind of child.

They hoped.

Kissing her parents good night, She walked away from the kitchen banter of who should wash the dishes between the two adults, and trudged up the wooden stairs to her room. Akko had offered, but they said she should just rest up. She looked like she had a long day. Besides, she had a week to help out at home. Akko shivered at the thought of being worked like a mule. That was a joke of course, but her mama could be so Spartan sometimes.

Her door clicked close, and she immediately found herself face-first in the soft covers of the lower bunk of her bed, lights of the room still down. Originally, the Kagari’s had been expecting twins because of how large Akko’s mother’s stomach had been. Apparently, they were simply blessed with a very healthy baby. (She was a fair bit taller than her mother, and had a good height for a Japanese woman). As Akko grew up, however, she insisted to keep the bunk as it seemed like it could be useful to turn into her own little fort. Plus, sleepovers wouldn’t be much of a problem in terms of space.

Flipping onto her back, she stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars pasted onto the top of her ceiling. It was fairly high up, with this side of the house being designed a little differently, the roof of Akko’s room forming a dome. This was at her request as a child after attending one of Professor Chariot’s public lectures on stars as a child. Akko had since then been hooked to them, the fading glow of the stickers allowing her sights of the constellations she’d painstakingly formed, sticking each point one by one with the help of her dad and a ladder.

She had been saving up lately to buy one of those small, portable planetarium projectors. She didn’t want to outright ask her parents for one, and she had taken a few secret part-time jobs to make up for the amount she needed. Little by little, she was getting close to her goal. She’d have one someday. One day.

Her eyes felt heavy all of a sudden, an arm moving to rest over them as her breathing slowed, thoughts drifting to stars and constellations, and myths, and tales, and fate, and...

Her world shut down.

//-//-//-//-//

“Atsuko. Atsuko, get up. Akko. Wake up, bloody hell, you sleep like a log!”

“Mmrrnghmm... eh?” Blinking her eyes open, she spotted a young man, brown hair just like hers, dressed in a cardigan and slacks, looking ready to go out on some date, or the like, or maybe he had more business as usual. “Andrew.”

“Akko.” He responded dryly. “It’s eight in the morning. I know it’s the weekend, but really, sleeping in isn’t a good habit.”

Rolling over to shield her eyes from the intrusive sunlight and man, she waved him away sloppily, ready to get back to rest, body feeling heavy for some reason.

“Akko!”

“You really do take my mom’s place when she isn’t around, Andrew.” Akko complained, sitting up, if only to get Andrew to pipe down. “Alright, I get it.” She rubbed the sleep away from her eyes, stretching her body out and taking in a breath of fresh air. “But if you’re here, I’m figuring my parents are out?”

She received a nod, followed by an explanation. “They said they had a picnic date planned for the whole day.”

Akko pouted. “Aww, and they didn’t think to take me along? How mean~”

“They tried to wake you up, believe me.” Andrew scoffed. “You could sleep through world war two without problem, however.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Get out, please.”

“Later.”

“I’m asking nicely.” Akko whined, slipping out of her bed, realizing she hadn’t changed out of her uniform last night.

“After I tell you about our plans for today.”

A well-shaped brow raised in suspicion at the words. “Our plans?” Akko voiced. “What do you mean. ‘our plans’? I don’t have any plans of spending time with you today, as far as my knowledge tells me.”

“Not that you have mu-” Andrew was about to throw in the usual insulting jab, playful banter, but refrained. He did actually need Akko to go with him.

“Hmm?” The lack of a biting response didn’t sit quite well with Akko. Something was up with her cousin, and she was sure that she was about to find out just what.

There was an awkward pause in the air before the older boy cleared his throat; maybe he should begin with getting on her good side. “L-lovely weather we’re having today.”

“Just tell me what you want from me and leave.”

“We’re going to the mall, please help me.”

“Why?”

“...”

“Why?” Akko pressed. If Andrew wasn’t going to give her a good enough explanation, she wasn’t going to move a single inch.

“...It’s Denise’s birthday soon.” He confessed, and Akko actually backed off.

“Oh.” She immediately understood what Andrew wanted without him having to expound on his earlier statement. Really, he could be such an adorable dork sometimes, especially when it came to Denise.

Denise was Andrew’s set partner. She was a kind person, gentle, lady-like, intelligent, mild-mannered, but strong-willed. She was great. Too good for Andrew, Akko would tease at times. But really, they made such a good match. She liked Denise; she was sweet to Akko, exchanged treats with her, as well as tutored her from time to time, being in the same school and all. She also kept Andrew busy and out of Akko’s hair, so she was perfect! So if not for Andrew’s sake, Akko should at least do something nice for her friend.

“Give me half an hour. I’ll be ready by then.”

Andrew breathed a sigh of relief, offering Akko a grateful smile. “Thank you. I’ll see myself out then.”

“Finally!”

With a childish sticking of the tongue out at each other, a habitual thing they had formed, Andrew had closed the door to Akko’s bedroom, not forgetting to lock it behind him for privacy’s sake. Akko was thankful.

Instead of getting up, however, and preparing for the day with Andrew out of the room, Akko lay back down on the soft mattress, eyes trained to the top of the room again. As she saw her little clusters of stars and constellations, red ribbons connecting points one to the other, always to be linked even if they were far apart, never to be broken, her regular intrusive thoughts had begun making their way to the forefront of her mind again.

Fated people... soulmates, huh. Weren’t those terms just glorified ways of saying everyone was in some kind of arranged marriage they could never get out of? Wouldn’t there be at least one person averse to all this? Maybe? But why... did all the people she’s known, who’ve met their match-why did they all seem content?

Feeling for that familiar metal piece under her clothing, she pulled it out by the chain, observing it as it glinted against the morning light. Her finger traced over the engraving on the outside, admiring the workmanship, but frowning at the words.

She thought back on it all. How all this destined person stuff all started out, as the history books told them. Before the records of History ever existed, they said that the leaders of the ancient world had gathered together, seeing the ‘sorrow of the world’, and came to a decision of what to to do to make the world better in that regard. They decided that ‘LOVE’ was the answer, as cheesy as it sounded. And so a system was put into place that would overcome barriers and seas, both literal and figurative, of difference, and bring to mankind the meaning of true joy- Akko always found it incredibly sappy and cringey when it was laid out like that.

Like any system, there were the finer details that made it all work one way or the other. It is said that people are born issued with a ring to be worn on their person on all times. It was a mystery as well, how one could never seem to outgrow the ring. Like it was made to grow alongside you. It was made out of metal, however, and it made things all the more perplexing. Who knows what magic goes on behind all of this? No one knows who makes the rings, or who created this system; nor does anyone know who assigns partners to each other. All they’ve known are the facts that the rings were created, containing words that served to be a hint to who your soulmate is supposedly. When you meet that person, you’d just know. The words, they’d just make sense. It didn’t matter if it never did all your life. One day, everything would just click, apparently. That was how the words were chosen, they said. Then these rings would be distributed to countries and the government would be responsible in ensuring that they got to their rightful owners.

Honestly, this whole thing sounded like some deep cult-ish shit, and Akko was quite shocked that she- along with possibly millions, or billions- had never questioned it before. After all, it was the usual; as always, the norm. It could be something of a mysterious world movement that no one knew of, but with it simply claiming to have the goal of ‘bringing happiness to all citizens’, people hardly seemed to mind where it took them.

Akko remembered the first time she ever found it weird. She was in the fourth grade, and that day, they had learned the importance of the words on the rings. ‘Hints to finding your one, true love, their teacher had claimed, trying to rouse excitement from the students at the prospect of soulmates.

And while every other little girl squealed in joy and giddiness upon reading the words written on their rings, Akko had a look of distaste on her face at the sight of her words, immediately hiding the item from possibly prying eyes of her classmates who had already began to compare words with others.

She hated it. She had then ran home to tell her mother about it.

“Mooommm! Mom!”

“Akko? What’s wrong? You’re all sweaty and you still have your outdoor boots on-”

“Why does my word suck so much?”

“Huh?” The woman was lost for words, confounded by a simple question.

“Why does it suck so much? My word! I mean...” Holding her ring out for her Mama to see, Akko continued on her rant. “What the heck does cabbage even mean?! IS HE A FARMER?! DOES MY SOULMATE LIKE CABBAGE THAT MUCH?!”

“Ah... well...”

“Why couldn’t it be something cool like yours and dads. ‘Eyes like rubies’, and ‘Rider from the north’ just sounds so badass and romantic! And then there’s me with CABBAGE. Sure, the ring is pretty and all, but... WHAT IS CABBAGE?!”

“I... don’t know, sweetheart.”

Akko had felt so frustrated with her word, that she wanted to cry. “My soulmate sucks!”

Thinking back on those times, she sure was such a child. It wasn’t her soulmate’s fault that the government or whatever authority or higher power decided to describe him or her that way. If anything, her partner is a victim of slander. Even Sucy had it better with the description. Akko chuckled mirthlessly. What are those people thinking. Ah, her head was starting to hurt from overthinking all this.

“’Bring happiness to all citizens’, my ass. With a hint as weird and cryptic as this, how am I supposed to be ‘happy’ like everyone else?” Akko sighed once more, unclasping the chain from behind her neck, and taking her ring off, hanging it over her eyes, watching it dangle in the air, the elegant cursive of ‘cabbage’ pissing her off a little more than it should.

Along with the ring came a handbook of sorts. Akko’s sat atop her bedside drawer. In it were more rules, guidelines, and information to be taken note of, but they could only be read at certain ages, sections sealed off by some kind of technology that only unlocked come one’s birthday. An example of a rule was related to how to wear the ring. It didn’t seem to be a heavily imposed rule as Akko had done away with it all her life. It was that rings should be worn on your right ring finger so long as you hadn’t found your assigned partner, moving it to your left once you have. Akko had been ashamed of her word and had always carried it around her neck, hidden underneath her clothes. Her mother had scolded her for it in the past, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to get teased by the other children for having such a strange hint. She had believed that it would give her a hard time.

And it still did. With it being so vague and odd, there was no way this hint made much sense to her, at all. Would she ever find the person her whole being was linked to for a lifetime?

Besides the rules came soulmate-related explanation for the rings and words. An instance of this would be that the meaning behind the words would only be revealed to them once they entered fourth grade. She never understood the significance of that. Why couldn’t one just read through everything and understand it all at once? Well, not that it mattered. She would soon be turning eighteen, and opening a section that made her feel just the slightest bit bitter.

[What to do if you haven’t found your soulmate yet.]

Sucy may have told her that each person had their own time, and that she was still young, and had plenty of years to go searching. But when everyone else around you had already found theirs by the “normal” designated time, you’d start to feel quite isolated and lonely, right? She was already different from the rest with the weird-ass word she was stuck with, and now she wasn’t even close to being on the right track to finding the person it was pointing to.

It was frustrating.

Three knocks and a voice followed suit. “Akko? Are you ready? It’s been about twenty-five minutes, but I didn’t hear any noise coming from your room. Are you actually okay?”

Right. Andrew.

“I’m fine! Sorry, I got lost in thought. Be right out! Maybe in fifteen! My bad, really.”

“It’s fine, I’m the one requesting a favor, after all!” Andrew responded through the wood, and Akko felt his presence leave her immediate area.

Hopping off her bed and grabbing her towel, she made her way to the bathroom. Maybe a cold shower would help her stop thinking about all of this for a few. She really should stop questioning the whole system of practically the whole world. It wasn’t good for her sanity.

Turning on the shower and soaking herself, her assumption of her endangered mental health was confirmed.

“AH, I FORGOT TO STRIP!”

//-//-//-//-//

“You sure took your sweet time getting ready.” Andrew commented, locking the door behind them and tossing the keys into his pocket as they got to walking. Opening the gate for Akko with a bow, they shared a laugh, going on their merry way down the street.

As often as they got on one another’s nerves, they undeniably enjoyed each other’s company. It was nice. Akko liked it to an extent. The conversation was fun, the exchanges never dull, it was time spent well. What she didn’t like about hanging around with Andrew were all the stares and glares she got from people around. Much like now.

It would’ve been great if it ended with just observation, but there was always that one brave (or maybe stupid) soul who would come up to the pair to ask if they were an item. The brunette pair would then proceed to do their usual schtick of jumping a meter away from each other, and pretending to gag whilst glaring.

“NO WAY. WITH HER/HIM?!”

And despite the denial, instead of feeling joy at the availability of Andrew- Akko assumed it was him that people always wanted to confirm about anyway- there was no delight, only some form of fear. The creeped-out kind maybe?

Continuing their walk, Akko slapped Andrew’s shoulder, hard. The boy looked like he could bite her.

“Ugh... it’s already such a pain in school when we have joint functions and people mistake us for a couple. I was hoping it was obvious we were related.”

Andrew scoffed at the statement. “I’m sorry, but I’m actually quite pleased I don’t look to be related to your ugly face.”

He deserved the stronger smack, Akko would say.

“AKKO! That hurt!”

“You know what else hurts? The fact that people can’t seem to get it in their heads that not every guy and girl walking next to each other are partners. Damn, and I used to think it was a good thing that I could use you to get out of awkward confession situations.” Sometimes people did that, despite the entire ‘destined partner’ situation. “Weird times.”

“You actually get confessed to? Hahaha, why? Guys must need glasses.”

The tall lad flinched at the held up fist. “I’m kidding. You’re actually growing up to be quite pretty Akko.”

Eyes wide one second, then smiling sweetly the next, a chill ran up Andrew’s spine at Akko’s reaction... that suddenly morphed into disgust, a hand pinching his side. “Ew, I kinda liked you better when you weren’t so gross and cheesy.”

“Ah- h-hurts, that, Akko, that stings, ouch! Let go! I was trying to be nice!” Andrew retaliated with his own pinch to Akko’s slightly rounded cheeks. “Let go!”

“You lwet gfho!” They released their holds at the same time, rubbing the sore spots on their bodies. “Why were you suddenly being all weird?”

“...ate...etter...man...”

“What was that?” Akko couldn’t understand any of Andrew’s incoherent mumbling.

“...My soulmate told me I should really try to be a better gentleman... to you...”

“Haha, she’s right about that! You’re such a dick!”

“Oi!”

Before Andrew could physically get back at her, Akko made a dash to the mall entrance across the street right as the street light turned green for pedestrians. “Loser has to buy the other ice-cream!”

“That’s cheating!”

“Maybe!”

//-//-//-//-//

“See? You’re all out of energy now because of how rowdy you were earlier today.” Andrew scolded, hands on his hips, a paper bag with the chosen gift in it, slung around one wrist.

“Y’think so? This is usually... hah... nothing... to me.” Akko panted, plopping down on one metal chair by the ice-cream bar. “Weird.”

Andrew sighed, deciding to cater to Akko’s needs since she was nice enough to help him out today. “I’ll get you a water. What flavor of ice-cream would you like?”

“Matcha-Vanilla~” Akko drawled, now slumped against the table, liking the cool surface against her somehow, heated cheek. “Go forth, my peasant!”

“Noted, your eminence.”

“Mm, mm!” Akko nodded in approval, arms going under her head to cushion it. Her eyes were getting heavy. Did all that walking around really make her that tired? Her head was starting to hurt, and her body still felt heavy. Just what-

//-//-//-//-//

“Akko. Akko! Atsuko!”

‘...Andrew?’

“Tsk. Should I call an ambulance?”

‘Andrew...’

“Excuse me, are you in need of any assistance for your friend? My family owns a hospital nearby and we could take her there.”

Akko felt Andrew’s hand supporting her suddenly tense. “Geh- Cavendish...”

“My, Sir Hanbridge. Date?”

“Cousin.”

“Hmm...”

Oh? Someone... A lady? What a nice voice. Somehow it was comforting to Akko. It felt warm, it felt kind, it felt gentle. For a voice to feel something rather than sound like something, Akko must really be out of it.

Hands.

Careful, tender.

“A-An... wha-”

“Akko! Don’t talk. Just rest.”

“Akko, huh. Is that her name? Miss Akko?”

“mmrm?”

“You’ll be alright.”

That voice. Akko wanted to believe it. Who...

Soft. Soft. Akko was leaning against something soft.

“You’’ll be alright.” Was said again.

“Akko, you’ll be alright.” Ah, Andrew. But somehow, Akko would rather hear those words from the other person currently holding her in her arms. She felt bad. Not just in the sick kind of way. What was she supposed to do again? Oh right, she was helping Andrew. Where was she? Was she causing trouble? Ah, what if she was bothering this sweet-smelling, comfortable-feeling, gentle-sounding lady.

‘Hey... you...’ Hmm, her voice wasn’t quite working like it should. Maybe she should try to express herself again. Clearing her terribly scratchy and dry throat, she managed to croak out a single word.

“So...rry...”

“It’s alright.”

//-//-//-//-//

White ceiling, the absence of sticker-stars. Dim lighting, the low thrum of the air conditioner unit, and the occasional sound of something dripping. The scent of antiseptic.

Her right hand felt uncomfortable, like something was stuck in it. She lifted it up, seeing a slim tube running out of some secure, clear tape.

“You’re in the hospital, idiot.”

“Never a quiet moment with you, Andrew.”

A sigh. “I was worried.”

“...Mm. I’m sorry...”

“You didn’t tell me you were feeling unwell.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Couldn’t tell.”

“Akko!”

“Say, Andrew. Who was with you earlier?”

“Don’t change the subject, Akko- huh?” Reprimanding words died on the boy’s lips as the question sunk in. “Ahhh.” Recollections of earlier events came in. “The daughter of the owner of this place.” He threw in a few other details he thought Akko would want to know. “High-class lady. This place does too.” He decided to humor her queries, knowing she didn’t want to argue with Andrew anymore. He didn’t either, not when she was like this. A time and place for everything.

“Hmm...” Akko hummed, sitting upright and looking out the window. Andrew panicked, stepping forward, but Akko shooed her cousin away. “She sounded nice.” Akko commented. “Was she pretty?” Somehow her mind wanted to know. Her heart was clenching in some unknown need to know more about a voice she barely registered, a touch she fleetingly felt.

“You could say that. I guess to most, she’d be considered gorgeous?” Andrew mused. “Weird hair though.” Was added as an afterthought.

“Heh...”

“Curious?” He didn’t say it in a teasing town, only genuinely inquisitive at Akko’s not-so-subtle expression of interest in someone she barely even met.

“No? Not really.” She responded, everything becoming still. “Can I go home?”

“Once your tests come in.”

“How long have I been here?”

“Overnight.”

“Mama and dad?”

“Dropped by while you were asleep. Uncle was sobbing buckets, but Auntie dragged him out because they both had work. They paid off the bill and said they’ll see you when we all get home.”

Akko sighed, dropping back against her pillows. “I can’t believe I’ve caused so much trouble in a span of, what, three days?” Covering her face with one of the pillows, she screamed lightly into it, the muffled sound concerning Andrew. “I have to apologize a lot to them. Have to make it up to them... I even had them spend a lot of money on -ow! Andrew!”

Retracting the hand he used to chop her head, Andrew huffed. “Stop that. Your parents love you, you’re not a bother. Shut it. If you really want to make it up to them, get some rest right now as we wait, and get better soon. I suggest you make some dinner if you’re well enough.” He knew she often had insecurities, and tried her best not to bother people so much. He’d observed it from her relationship with her two best friends. She really was just a ball of energy that she couldn’t help but cause scenes, though. People hardly minded, anyway. If only she realized.

“Duly noted.”

Andrew nodded, walking over to the bed and sitting at the edge, whipping his head about to glare at the owner of the leg that had just attempted to kick him off.

“You’re making the foam awkwardly sink. It’s uncomfortable. You’re inconveniencing the patient’s recovery.” Akko grinned, trying to get rid of the stuffy atmosphere that had settled by stirring up another banter session.

“Could you settle down for once?”

“I mean, I could.”

“Unbelievable.” He chuckled. “Fine, fine, I’ll give you your space. I’m going to the store. Want anything?” He offered, since the ice-cream he initially was supposed to treat her to as thanks was long since forgone on some cemented floor, probably already cleaned up by the workers of the shop.

“Orange juice.”

“Coffee? Understood.”

“Ass.”

“The good ass genes run in our family.”

“Oh my gosh, you did not just say that.” Akko guffawed, waving her hands, eyes sparkling with pride at the crude joke of her prim and proper, perfect-gentleman cousin.

“I did not just say that.” Andrew smirked. “Now rest before your fever comes back from all that tension you release. Good thing you’re off school for a while.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“I’ll be back in fifteen.”

“Hai~”

“Don’t disappear.”

“...”

“AKKO!”

“I won’t, I won’t!” She giggled, dropping the tease. “Now scram!”

“I swear to god...”

And with that, she was alone again.

Great. More time alone with her thoughts. And what better way to occupy that blank space that was her mind then to fill it with all her doubts, insecurities, and questionings.

One particular question stood out at that moment.

“Who... was the owner of that voice...” Along with that single question came a wave of interconnected ones that Akko could not understand. Why was there this sudden desire to just... know.

What did she look like? How tall was she? Was she fair-skinned? Tanned? Long hair? Short hair? Curled or not? How old was she? Were they the same age? Was she an older lady? Was she maybe in the same grade? From the haze that was her memories, it seemed Andrew knew her? An acquaintance? Why couldn’t he give Akko more details besides insulting that woman’s hair? Where was she from? She had an accent. British? Scottish? Did she live around these parts? Why...

Why was Akko so curious?

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Andrew, you know you can just, like... come in, right? You know I can’t even get up to open the door for yoouuu...huuu...” With the door swinging open to reveal the person on the otherside, Akko could only hope that she did not appear to be the stupid-looking gay dance she most probably was. “-...huuu...who...?”

‘Beautiful.’

“I apologize for the intrusion, but I just wanted to check on you. Oh, you may not even know me, I’m sorry. I should probably introduce myself, isn’t that right? Oh blood hell, Andrew, telling me to check on someone I barely know because you want to go off somewhere...” Akko heard her mutter that last bit under her breath before watching this gorgeous lady seemingly recover her senses. “-Ah, apologies, um... sorry! Wow, I suppose I’m saying that too much, aren’t I? We didn’t exactly ‘meet’ earlier, but... I don’t know, I was probably meddling in issues not concerning me, but... I couldn’t help but want to help you out. It was an automatic reaction as someone who has wanted to be a healthcare professional all my life, and I was so used to it, and then it just so happened to be Andrew and... well, you and- and I-” Fair skin, lithe, fairly tall frame, a melodic voice, gorgeous blue eyes hidden by long lashes and ...strange hair, due to an immediate bow upon spotting the confused gaze of the patient; this person was...

“You’re rambling, miss.”

Said Miss bristled, expression flustered and eyes darting about in her embarrassment. “S-sorry.”

Akko panicked at the saddened apology. She just made a pretty girl sad! “N-no! I-” Their eyes met and then it was one of the most magical and equally painful moments of Akko’s life, she concluded. “Hi.”

“Hello.” The girl nodded back in acknowledgement.

“Akko.” She blurted out. Then just like that she witnessed a world wonder contained in such a small room, in just one girl. There was just something in the way her eyes lit up that pleased Akko very much. It was as though she was the catalyst for such a breath-taking phenomena. Blue stars, passionately burning, brightly so, like her favorite celestial bodies. “...Rigel...” She murmured.

“Huh?”

“Oh? Huh? Eh, um...” Arms flapping about, she tried to graps control of the conversation, not knowing where it was going anymore. “Uh, my... name! My name is Akko! Ahaha, sorry ‘bout that.” --She scratched the back of her head sheepishly with the hand not attached to the IV tube.

“Miss Akko... Rigel?” She tilted her head, and by gods that was the cutest thing Akko had ever seen in her life. But Wait-

“Oh! No, nono... no hahaha.” She laughed, waving her hands in front of her, realizing that what she said had been mistaken as her name.

“I... My name is Kagari Atsuko, but you can call me Akko.” She clumsily reintroduced herself.

“And Rigel...?”

‘Is a blue star that is put to shame when in comparison to your ethereal ocean eyes-’

“Oh, it’s just... just a star I like, hahaha...ha..ha.” She needed to save this dying interaction, fast. She didn’t want this goddess of a lady to walk away just yet. Who was she? Why was Akko panicking so badly? Why was her heart running miles per second? Where did these confusing feelings stirring from her chest come from? Could this just be... Was this girl... Was she... could she be who Akko thought she was? She didn’t even know her name yet, but the way she made her feel, it was like some universal, natural phenomena that could only make sense in the context of... that. Who was she? Who was she? Who-

“Diana.”

Diana, apparently.

“Diana.” She tested, the name unfamiliar, but incredibly welcome and sliding off her tongue so naturally, and with ease. Like she was meant to know such a name all her life. “Nice to meet you.”

She patted herself on the back for a good greeting, with good manners, even happier when she received a soft smile in return.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“No, no, the pleasure is mine, I mean... pleasure, I’m... feels good to meet you, I mean, because you saved me and all, from what I can understand, so pleasure, good feels- no- what am i saying?! I’m sorry, Diana, er miss? Diana? Miss Diana?”

“Diana is fine.”

Diana was indeed SO fine.

“Th-thank you for being so beautiful.”

“What?”

“Tha-thanks for saving me, I mean, helping Andrew out in saving me, but that means you saved me too, so I just thought I should properly thank you and all that and express gratitude because that’s the right thing to do, amiright? And of course I’m right so thank you, Diana, thanks for everything, and the hospital and the room and all, oh but you don’t own it, but your family does, so does that mean you own it-”

“Akko.”

“Yes?!”

“You’re rambling, Akko.”

Akko was a burning hot mess of foolishness, but if it prompted such heavenly giggles from such an angel- no a goddess, alongside her name that sounded divine coming from soft pink lips- that she was absolutely not staring at- then she hardly minded at all.

And then there was silence.

“So...”

Diana awkwardly shuffled on her spot, the tip of her shoe tapping against the floor impatiently, hand fiddling with a button on her shirt. It took so much willpower for Akko not to direct her eyes there.

“I guess I’ll get going.”

“A-already?”

“Eh?”

“Ah... I mean... if you have... stuff to do, I guess... I... shouldn’t be stopping you or anything of the sort, right?”

Akko didn’t like that frown, however miniscule it was, on Diana’s face.

“I... I’m a little busy, I apologize.” She spoke softly. Akko’s heart clenched, and she cursed her insensitive ways. “But... I can come back tomorrow? If you’d like?” -And it leaped up in joy just as quick. More time! More Diana! More getting to know her!

“Y-Yes! Of course! I’ll wait here for you! Pinky swear! I- woah...” The world was suddenly spinning, and Akko had to lean back for a moment, vision swimming in color.

“Akko!”

Said girl was beginning to get addicted to the feeling of Diana’s presence by her side. That was not necessarily a good or bad thing. She couldn’t get attached to her, not when she knew nothing about her. She couldn’t... be acknowledging these feelings blossoming out of nowhere without confirmation of whether or not this person was meant to be hers, and she was meant to be with as well. But she was addicting, Diana. A strong drug. Just one whiff and she was high on her existence.

“Geez, you should be resting. I’m sorry for bothering you, and keeping you up this long.”

Akko heard none of those words. Akko was curious. So Akko just had to check. Hands weakly grasping Diana’s cooler ones, fingers roamed, feeling around until they touched even colder metal... on Diana’s... left... hand.

“Akko?” The concern was palpable in her voice, Akko’s senses blurring the world out as her hands dropped to her side.

Frustrating.

She somehow hoped what she’d been experiencing these past few minutes were the signs of her finding her soulmate, but it seemed as though she may have been wrong. Maybe it was simply infatuation, or a shameless lust overtaking her in her weakened state.

It shouldn’t be this frustrating.

It shouldn’t be this painful.

She shouldn’t have been so impatient and jumped to subconscious conclusions.

Diana had already found her soulmate. Just like everyone else.

Everyone but Akko.

//-//-//-//-//

When she came to, it was dark. She felt much better than she had yesterday, and earlier on today. Turning to her right, she saw Andrew seated on a chair, back facing her as he was conversing with someone.

“I wonder what got into that girl? Her new friend seemed worried.” That voice...

‘Mama.’

“You mean Diana?”

Akko flinched at the name.

“Is that her name? My, she was so cute. If you weren’t already matched to someone, Andrew, I think you’d look good together.” Akko felt a twinge in her chest, only slightly soothed by the sound of Andrew choking on something, his drink maybe. Tea? Coffee?

“I’d rather not be involved with her like that.” Andrew responded after composing himself.

“Eehh-”

Akko couldn’t listen any longer. The pain of everything was just starting to come back. She just wanted to get away. Away from this place that kept reminding her of her chance encounter. She just wanted to go home. She just wanted to hug her mama.

“Ma...ma...” Her voice warbled. “Mama...” She tried, louder. Somehow her voice was so weak, the thought of it not being able to reach the person she trusted the most in the world, hurt. “Ma... ma... mama! Mamaaa...” Slowly, she regained her voice, cracked and unsteady. And finally she was heard. “Mama!”

“Akko!” Before Akko could even blink again, the woman was at her side, a hand brushing bangs away to clear her warm forehead, a refreshing kiss planted there. “Akko, my baby.”

“M-mama... Mamaaa...” She moaned out, engulfing the woman in her tight hold, sinking into a familiar scent. “Mama...”

“Yes, Yes. I’m here. I’m here, Akko.” She cooed, hands combing through chocoloate-colored tresses.

“Mama.”

“Yes?”

“I wanna go home.”

“Eh? But you aren’t okay yet-”

“Please. Let me go home...”

She felt her mother pull back. She couldn’t face the eyes seeking hers. “Akko? What’s wrong, sweetheart? You’re not feeling well, and yet you want to go home before you get better. Is something the matter?” Akko couldn’t lie to those.

But she could try.

“I just think I’ll be able to rest better at home. My... my fever isn’t that bad.”

“But you were just crying out for me...”

“I was just... feeling lonely. Please, Mama. Let’s go home.” She couldn’t say it was because she didn’t want to meet a certain lady, weird blonde hair and enchanting blue stars never leaving her memory. “Please...” Because more than the pain inflicted by her sickness, she couldn’t stand the squeezing of her heart, its labored pounding more burdensome than the throbbing in her head. “Please, mama.”

“Akko...”

“Don’t be such a selfish brat.”Andrew scolded, eyes burning into the Akko’s skin. “Didn’t you just say you didn’t want to cause anyone trouble?”

Akko deflated in her mother’s embrace, and the elder boy sighed. He really hated seriously hurting Akko, especially emotionally. “But... We can leave first thing in the morning tomorrow, if you prove to be alright.” He turned the other way, hiding his expression from the girl. “So just get better.”

“Andrew...”

“Get better soon.”

//-//-//-//-//

It was against institutional rules to be running about in the building at any given time. Crowded or cleared, the halls were not made for such dangerous sport. Workers constantly made their way through these corridors; some pushing wide carts carrying planned food and beverage for every patient in the hospital; some nurses walked along with important, and sometimes painstakingly prepared medicine and treatments for patients that Diana threatened to compromise should she bump into them. In other areas she could risk bumping into one of the sanitary maintenance people, infectious waste at the risk of being spilled all over.

And Diana grew aware of all these things, surrounded by them from a tender age. Yet at this moment, she was in complete disregard for them, her footsteps rushed and padding softly against a marbled floor. Her eyes scanned every plaque above each door she passed, counting off the numbers, and reading the letters, her trip on autopilot.

One more corner, just the end of that corner. If she rounded that, then walked past three more rooms- She was feeling a regretful that she couldn’t come by earlier, the colors of the afternoon sky telling her just how close she was cutting it to the end of visiting hours. Curse all the school-transfer procedures she had to sit through. They didn’t need to take that long, did they? But she had made a promise of sorts. She had promised her new... friend, Akko that she’d come by and see her. She must not keep her waiting. She didn’t quite understand what it was that made her so happy about the prospect that the other girl actually wanted to see her- Diana assumed as such with how she was acting yesterday. Really... it was amazing.

Diana herself couldn’t deny that she saw something different in Akko, a substance far beyond what others could offer her that suddenly shifted the usual motions of her world upon meeting this girl. All her life, so many people came along trying to woo her, claiming that she was the one defined by their flimsy phrases that never moved her heart. ‘Beautiful lass’, ‘doctor’s daughter’, titles among other things. She had even found out a few faked rings that had been promptly reported to authorities for the grave sin committed. Thus, Diana could trust no words written on silly little rings; only the one written on her own, worn about her left ring finger.

She hadn’t found her soulmate, no. And maybe this was against the universal rules of whatever matchmaking system had engulfed society, but Diana did not want to be caught in a trap of a forever she could not escape unless she was absolutely sure that this was it. Maybe it would be unfair to her soulmate; maybe it would throw them off; maybe they wouldn’t realize right away; but if there was one thing Diana believed in that was rooted in this entire system, it was that if you met the one meant for you, you would know.

Her mother told her so. And Diana trusted her mother’s words above all other words.

One more door, one more plaque. Diana readied a hand to knock against closed-...open? The door was... open. Did Akko have visiting doctors? They sometimes left doors open for quick checks to save time during rounds. But no, that did not seem to be the case. She was surprised to see one of the cleaning personnel of the hospital folding up the sheets of the bed, passing it to his companion before they changed the covers.

Approaching an elderly male of the pair currently clearing the room out of any trash possibly left behind, Diana respectfully inquired, “Um sir? Where is the occupant of this room?”.

“Hmm? Ah! Young Miss, what are you doing here? Oh, were you perhaps the friend of the little girl staying here recently?”

“You... could say that.” Diana muttered, unsure.

“Oh, then she must have just forgotten to tell, you ey? Already left, y’see. The little miss, along with her mother and some fine lookin’ gentleman. Do you think that could be ‘er soulmate? Ah~ young, concerned love.”

Diana tasted an inexplicable bitterness in her mouth, heart squeezing. “Y-young man?”

“Mm-mm! Handsome fella, looked kinda familiar, but maybe I’m just getting it on in years.”

That... couldn’t be, right? While Diana wasn’t one to be guided purely by feeling, priding in her rationality, she just knew that that couldn’t be. After all... Akko was the only one she’d ever felt this strongly for in the lifetime she’s lived so far. She’d swear on her family’s motto of ‘affection’ that she’d only offer her fullest romances to the one the universe had destined for her, corny as that may sound.

She just knew it. She just knew it was Akko.

So who-

Andrew.

She suddenly chuckled. Of course. Who else could that young chap accompanying Akko be? He was the one who came with Diana to the hospital, he was the one who had told her go take that first visit. So of course, logically, without a doubt, the man that Akko should have been with was Andrew. Of course.

And there was nothing to worry about, soulmate-wise. Diana knew Andrew already had someone. She’d met up with them constantly at banquets. There was no obstacle, no other person for Akko. Right?

Akko... Akko who wasn’t here. In this room. Gloom encompassed her heart as she stared at the room dimming bit-by-bit as the staff turned off the lights. They told her that they should get leaving, and Diana nodded, informing them she’d just do one last look over the room for any possible missed items, then she’d lock the room herself, to which the workers reluctantly agreed, unable to go against the owner’s daughter. Well, she was known to be a good kid, so nothing should be wrong with that.

Diana, now left alone, remained stood by the doorway that served as the only light source to the room for a few more seconds. It wasn’t like constantly looking into it would magically make the one she was seeking appear, huh? With a deep exhale, she closed the door behind her, frown tugging at the edges of her mouth.

“You said you’d wait for me.”

//-//-//-//-//

Scritch. Scratch. A line, then two. A squiggle, a letter. A bubble from brew-

...huh?

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping me with my homework?” Akko frowns at her companion currently mixing questionable substances on her floor-table in her room. “That is why you’re here, right?”

“Course not. What fun would that be?”

“Should’ve known better than to invite you over.” Akko muttered under her breath, getting back to the unending pile of chemistry homework she was sure Croix assigned to them out of spite. “And how did you finish this all, anyway?”

“I’m smart like that.”

“You’re mean like that. Why can’t you help me out at least?”

“I believe that learning for yourself is the best teacher.” Sucy replied, emotionless as always.

“No you don’t.”

“True.”

“Hah...” Akko gave up. Forget getting help from Sucy. That wasn’t a possible feat, now that she thought about it clearly. The girl was just bored out of her mind so she easily agreed to come over. Akko was sure of it. Without Lotte in the house, and on their fifth and final schoolday away, Sucy- who had slowly gotten used to the concept of companionship- must have just wanted someone around, regardless of whether there was flowing conversation or not.

“Akko?” Andrew’s voice came from behind the door. Finally! A distraction! Wait, wasn’t Akko avoiding Andrew lately? Why was she avoiding him lately? “Akko?”

“Come in!”

“...huh? You’re actually letting me in?” The muffled voice asked, door now ajar. “Hey Akko, so... about what I’ve been telling you all week...” He began, looking nervous, and Akko had to wonder why. “So my friend, Diana, she-”

Ah. Right.

That’s why.

Quick on her feet, Akko gunned for the door, pushing it forcefully, and locking Andrew out, the boy’s yells the only things making it through the barrier.

“Akko! Akko! OH, COME ON! We’ve been at this the whole week!”

“And I told you this whole week, I don’t wanna hear it!!!” Akko hollered back.

“But WHY?!” Andrew’s exasperation oozed out of his voice. “Just give me a reason! Give her a reason! From what I’ve heard, you seemed to have hit it off pretty well?”

“Says who?” Akko asked.

“Diana!” Andrew didn’t like yelling, but Akko was being so hard-headed after he mentioned his blonde acquaintance. “Just what happened between you two?”

“Nothing! Nothing happened!!!”

“Then why does she keep bugging me about you, and why are you avoiding her like the plague?!”

...Why was Akko avoiding Diana? Was there any reason to? They’d met just the other day, had the most awkward conversation in her life to date, and then Akko felt something. Something she shouldn’t have, and let her hopes up, only to drop them lower than where they already were; and none of that was Diana’s fault. If anything, Diana could have proven to be another great friend she’d make along the way in life, y’know?

Akko didn’t know. She didn’t know what was going on; within herself, within her mind and her heart, in that one moment frozen in time between her and Diana, in a silent hospital room.

“I don’t know, Andrew. I don’t.”

Sucy’s potion stopped brewing.

//-//-//-//-//

“MY MADLADS! I MISSED YOU UGLY FACES!”

“Ugh, Amanda.”

“Oi!”

Akko grinned, messing up Amanda’s fiery mane in comfort from being rejected by Sucy. “Missed you too, Amanda.” A high-five rang out through the school lobby, the two energetic troublemakers missing that burning feeling on their palms.

“But man, you guys sure missed a lot. Who knew a week without y’all could turn the school upside-down.” Amanda whistled, their small group of eight finally assembling complete as Jasminka and Constanze walked up.

The small girl gave Akko this look that she completely understood, giving the girl a big thumbs up, and receiving a smile and nod. Jasna held out a lollipop which Akko gratefully accepted, and they all made their way to the corridors.

Suddenly registering what Amanda said a few moments ago, Akko’s interest was piqued. “What did you mean by turning the school upside-down?” She wondered just how much a school could change for her who was out for a week.

“Oh, well, maybe I was exaggerating a tiny bit.” Amanda chuckled, scratching her cheek. “Just that, some new girl came along and now everyone is all head over heels for her somehow.” Amanda fake-cried, sniffling up some. “She even stole my babes! Along with all my popularity!!!”

That earned her two smacks to the head from two certain British girls. “We already told you, she was our childhood friend! Of course we’re inclined to keep her company and show her around!” They defended, scoffing. “Besides, you didn’t mind ogling her at all the other day, huh? You should feel grateful we let you in our dorm the other day.”

“B-babies...”

“Oof. You brought that on yourself, hot stuff.” Sucy grinned, wickedly. “But now I’m curious. If she could even catch Amanda’s eyes then...”

“Total hottie.” Jasminka commented through a mouthful of chips. “Everyone can vouch for that.”

“Woah, even Jas...” Akko laughed lightly. “Alrighty, let’s meet this new kid in town then! Where is she and what’s her name?” Just as they were about to pass the headmistress’ office and head for their homeroom, a hand tugged at the brunette’s collar, along with Sucy’s.

“Wait a second, you two. You’re supposed to report to Professor Holbrooke first, right?” Lotte, ever the dutiful friend, reminded.

“Ah dang, right.” Akko scratched her cheek, throwing Sucy a beckoning glance. “Guess it’s better to just get it over with.” She shrugged.

“Whatever.”

“See you all in class!” Akko waved goodbye, smiling as Lotte left a peck on her pale friend’s cheek, enjoying her rarely flustered state. Her heart warmed when Lotte gave her one two, patting the blonde’s hair fondly. “Thanks, Lotte.”

“Anytime.”

With their friends out of sight, they faced the suddenly intimidating doors.

“Now or never.”

//-//-//-//-//

“I’m glad we got excuse slips for being tardy to class. I do not want more yelling. Though I guess Prof Chariot wouldn’t do that, huh.”

“What did you say? I think I’ve gone deaf.” Sucy complained, rubbing her pained ears. “Finneran yaps like a bitch.”

“OI! Don’t let her hear you say that!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not up for more ‘counseling and healthy reminders’.” Sucy mockingly mimicked the strict teacher. “Christ, that woman must be senile.”

“Shhh, we’re almost at the classroom.” Akko hushed her bestfriend, door coming into view. She could hear a Professor Chariots distinct voice posing a question to the class, and there was a quiet that Akko knew was due to no one knowing the answer, not very uncommon.

But then there was one. A voice very uncommon, but somehow familiar, attracting, pulling her in. With her curiosity getting the better of her, Akko slid the door open, planning to softly sneak into class, forgetting that the room’s backdoor had a tendency to-

SCRREEEEECCHHHH

...that.

“H-hi? S-sorry we’re late?” Akko tried, dozens of eyes now resting on them, most surprised. But one pair stood out the most. ‘She looks good in our uniform.’ Akko’s jaw hung slack, a fight or flight response hesitantly building up within her. Her legs tensed, ready to bolt or stay rooted depending on the next move the one she was staring at made. “...Rigel...”

“...Akko.”

Then a hand reached out, and she was gone. Like the wind.

//-//-//-//-//

It had been a difficult week. Amanda was definitely right when she said things had been turned upside-down. Akko felt like she was too. So Hannah and Barbara’s childhood, hottie, transfer student, best friend just so happened to be Diana. Diana, Akko met her in the hospital and became enraptured with, Diana.

This posed a problem, along with unbearable tension within their group. Akko would always want to run away, and Diana would always seek after her. After awhile, the blonde grew weary, and just distanced herself, her childhood bestfriends obviously sticking by her side. Amanda had girlfriends to attend to. And Constanze and Jas usually followed Amanda. So now, it was just Sucy, Lotte, and little ol’ Akko. Like old times.

“Akko, just why are you avoiding Miss Cavendish? How do you know her?” Lotte asked on their way home. “Please? Tell us? I can’t stand to not spend time with the other girls anymore just because you two are at unknown odds. You’re a kind person, Akko. And Miss Cavendish is as well, from how I’ve gotten to know her lately.”

“Lotte, you... you wouldn’t get it.” Akko sighed. She was tired of entertaining Diana-related questions. All the ‘why don’t you two get along’ interrogations wearing her down thin: with Andrew at home, and Hannah and Barbara indirectly hounding her in school at every chance they’d get, trying to fish out for an answer that Diana couldn’t give to them herself, apparently. Not that Akko blamed her. She must just be as confused as everyone else with regards to Akko’s averse reactions.

“M-maybe I could try?” Akko missed the shift in the Fin’s tone, irritation over the week threatening to make her lose self-control and lash out. But no, she couldn’t do that. Not too sweet Lotte. She still had her senses intact.

“No, I’m sure you wouldn’t.” She firmly stated through gritted teeth, not looking at Lotte as she replied, so unlike her.

“I-I-”

“Akko, Lotte just wants to understand you.” Sucy stepped in, feeling that change in the air that she didn’t quite fancy. “Why can’t you just tell us? I know I may not act like it a lot, but aren’t we your best friends?” Akko held back a hiss behind pearly whites. She didn’t want to be a bad person. She had to be considerate of people’s feelings. Like always. Everyone was just curious. They were all just confused... but then Sucy had to just say, “Don’t you trust us?”

And Akko couldn’t hear that.

“I trust you! I do!” She whipped her head about, pointing a finger to them one-by one. “But you guys, you wouldn’t get it because you have your soulmate by your side constantly, okay?!”

“Akko...” Lotte’s eyes widened.

“I... I’ve been waiting a lot, and I know you said I’m being impatient. It doesn’t have to be now.” Akko huffed. “But do you know how it feels to look at all of you, all happy with someone who can love you completely? Understand you completely? I don’t have that! Not yet! And sure, somewhere down the future road, I might.... and it’s stupid of me, but I’m a lot more jealous and selfish than I look, okay? Everyone has nice words, and has met the person those words described perfectly, at the designated time, normally, as the book says.”

“Akko, the book doesn’t completely control everything-”

“And here I am, always subconsciously looking around, because maybe my person is out there too, y’know? But how the heck do I know?” A hand reached for the chain on her neck, ripping it out of her shirt so hard, it broke, the ring flying onto the ground. “Stupid! Stupid chain! Stupid Ring! Stupid words! Akko marched the few steps to the item, bending and snatching it off the ground, hand going in too hard, too fast that she scraped her knuckles badly in the process, the area quickly leaking red. “Sh- damn it, stupid- gaahhh!”

“A-Akko.”

Lotte stepped back, retracting the hand that had been reaching out for the heated Japanese girl, stomping at the ground. This... wasn’t an Akko she knew. How many years of pent up frustration was going into this session?

“You guys,” Her eyes were scary, sharp and menacing. Sucy jumped in front of Lotte at the sight of Akko’s bloodied knuckles coming their way at eye-level. But then it stopped. “You haven’t seen it, right? My words.”

They couldn’t even react.

“Cabbage.” Akko spat. “Goddamn cabbage. How am I supposed to know what that fucking means. How are you guys supposed to understand when... I can’t either... these words... myself... why I’m so impatient... what I’m feeling... Why... I thought it could’ve been Diana, but...”

“...but what, Akko?” Lotte hated how scared she sounded, seeing Akko flinch, knowing her friend noticed her fear. She knew how afraid of hurting her friends Akko was. This was all just a shock. That’s all. “What’s... what’s with Diana, Akko? Diana and you?” She posed the earlier question for the last time. Was Akko hinting at what she thought it was?

“She wears it on her left.”

//-//-//-//-//

Orange juice didn’t taste as good when you drank it alone on the stairwell leading to the roof. It would have been better had she been able to stand under the cloudy mid-day sun, the refreshing breeze taking her mind off things. But then it just had to rain, hard, and that ruined all her plans of clearing her mind via the healing powers of nature. Maybe she shouldn’t have told Sucy and Lotte to stay away and give her space. Having no one to talk to really sucked. More so than the strange word on her stupid government-issued ring.

“Ahhh, should I just go and apologize to everyone?” She muttered, squeezing the juicebox she thought she’d emptied, but did not know had bits of liquid left. The purely concentrated citrus then spilled onto her exposed, skinned knuckles, making her hiss in pain. “Tsk, stupid. Grrr!”

“Ah-!”

“Ah?” The yelp caught her attention. She was alone in this place, right? “Hello?”

No response.

“Anyone there?” The only ones replying to her were the winds that howled behind the metal door that led to open roof. Those sounds were starting to sound like how she’d imagined ghosts would in the dead of night. “Helloooo~”

Still nothing.

“Maybe it was just my imagination?”

“STAY AWAY!”

Okay, that was NOT her imagination. That was a girl. Looking around for some kind of weapon, Akko readied herself to beat up whatever girl-harassing creep she’d find once she rounded the bend in the stairwell. Holding up a sturdy wooden broom, she tiptoed down, steps making no sound.

On three, she’d jump and smack the living shit out of whoever was there. One... two...

“Akko, please save me!”

And she slipped and fell in her surprise; her back was going to hurt like hell over the next few days. Alas! She must stay vigil! Save whoever this damsel in distress was- Diana... It was Diana. Diana Cavendish, as she’d learned the girl’s name, and a few other trivial details about her, over the course of their time not together. (Akko also denies any and all claims that state that she spent a lofty amount of time observing the taller girl. She didn’t know things like how she was Scottish, or how she loved horses and anything that looked like a unicorn, and that she was intelligent, and smelled like vanilla and mint.)

“I’ll save you?” She managed in her ruffled state. Before she could process anything more, the girl had clung to her, both now laying on the floor; one in an utter state of bewilderment, and the other... dealing with whatever it was she got going on before Akko had found her. “Umm... Diana?” She tried, forgetting her phobia of the girl over the past few days, and rubbing her back gently to gain her attention. She was shaking like the leaves outside in the storm. Just what had happened. “Diana? What’s wrong? What am I saving you from?”

There were no signs of any bad guys, as far as Akko could see. She was grateful for that. She wasn’t sure she could defend them in this position.

“Miss Cavendish? Heir to a billion-dollar hospital? What’s up?” She was trying to be nonchalant in an attempt to possibly calm the girl, and it worked somewhat, allowing her to see that beautiful face, tear-stained and all. “H-Hi.” How lame.

“Akko... the... there... it...”

“Hmm?” She lent an open ear, looking around, still not seeing any signs of danger. Then a well-manicured finger came up and pointed to one of the panels of the hallway’s windows. Akko squinted, not seeing anything. Had Diana seen some kind of floating ghost outside? Or was she seeing it inside, and Akko didn’t have the sixth sense for it? Did Diana have some kind of sixth sense? “What exactly...”

“B...”

“Buh..?”

“Bee.” She squeaked.

Akko gawked.

“Bee.”

“B-bee.”

“Bee?”

“Bee!”

“B-”

“Akko, please just get it away! I’m scared!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” She scrambled to her feet, but not without gently seating Diana up, even if it was on the dirty corridor floor. Opening the window and grimacing as strong winds blew droplets of water into her face, Akko shooed the poor insect into nature’s claws of death. “Sorry, buddy. Princess doesn’t seem to like you.” Blowing it a kiss, she shut the window, wiping her face on the sleeve of her jacket.

Now... to face a larger problem... or not face it. Maybe Akko should get running again.

She should.

“Well, this was nice and all that, but I guess I should get- ouch!” Diana had caught her hand in alarm, accidentally pressing against her open, yet-to-heal wounds.

“M-my apologies!”

“It’s f-fine. It’s okay, please let... let go.” Akko didn’t like the way her heartrate spiked in Diana’s presence. It grew even more erratic, wildly jumping every which way in her chest as her hand was held more gently, blue eyes scrutinizing the reddened skin, the heiress didn’t seem to have any plans of releasing her. “Diana?”

“May I... May I treat you? That blue sparkle was redirected from her knuckles to her own dark reds. They were so hopeful and compelling that Akko, despite thinking that avoiding Diana would kill whatever held-back, buds of feelings she hoped to dash, just couldn’t help but consent, cursing the way her chest lightened, heart soaring.

She was absolutely doomed.

//-//-//-//-//

It was a quiet affair.

Torturous. No one said a word. To be fair, they’ve only had two somewhat proper conversations so far, so not knowing how to break the ice shouldn’t be that odd.

But it was, and Akko couldn’t take it. Diana had just finished cleaning Akko’s wounds under the sink in the infirmary, and was now dabbing them gently with antiseptic. She was so careful, touches feather-like soft. Akko barely felt anything, much less pain. So maybe she could start with talking about that. Maybe.

“You... You’re hands are real nice.”

“H-huh?”And down fell the cottonball she’d been holding.

“I-I mean... you’re really good at this. Tender and all that. You’d... make a good doctor.” Akko commented off the top of her head, running out of things to say, as she always did when faced with one Diana Cavendish. “A pretty doctor. Patients would... probably feel healed just from your... face. Or something.” Smooth, Akko. Smooth. Could Diana, like... at least help her out a little by responding? “Please say something.” Akko begged in a whisper.

“O-oh, I... thank you, Akko. Thank you for the compliment. I...” Momentarily lifting her eyes and meeting Akko’s gaze, the blonde averted hers, a thin touch of red spreading up to her ears, not unnoticed by the injured Japanese. “I appreciate your words.”

Akko hummed, not trusting her mouth to communicate properly anymore.

“I think you’re... face is a healing balm as well.”

Akko felt herself blush as well, head tilting up so she could face the ceiling. It was one of the most brainless compliments she’d ever heard in her life, and she knew she just said something along those lines as well. And yet it made her heart flutter like nothing else had before.

“Don’t mention it and... thanks.”

//-//-//-//-//

You never know when an event becomes a catalyst for reality to undergo great changes. Their little bandaging session had returned the next day. Akko was quite clumsy with these types of things. Each time she’d gotten hurt in an accident, she’d always ask Lotte to do it... but today... all their friends, and even the classmates they’d unintentionally dragged into their awkward little world, were staring in awe as Kagari Atsuko stood in front of Diana Cavendish’s desk, inviting her out to the infirmary.

“I-I’m just having her help me with my bandages! Don’t get the wrong idea!” Akko yelled as she guided Diana out, unknowingly holding her hand all the while. No one commented on it. Not even Barbara and Lotte who were exchanging curious little smiles. Something was changing. And it was a good change.

Reaching the infirmary, Akko headed straight for the sink, rinsing her knuckles under clean water while Diana gathered what she needed. Once done, they met by some chairs placed about the room and took a seat, the blonde girl looking over Akko’s hand.

“Come tomorrow, you might not need to bandage it anymore. Just apply some ointment. I think the nurse can recommend something.” Diana stated, looking up to smile at Akko who flushed at the attention.

“O-okay. I got it.”

“Great.” She then got to work, applying what needed to applied, and wrapping the clean white bandage after. Diana did this in her usual silence, focused. Sort of. There was one thing that had been nagging her for quite some time now, ever since she got to take a better look at Akko, now that they attended the same school. It was a unnerving, however. It hadn’t been long at all since they... ‘got along’, and Diana didn’t want to present something that might cause them to drift apart again. But it was eating at her, the need to know about it. It would determine how she’d interact with Akko from now on. It would show her what kind of relationship she was allowed to pursue. She needed a confirmation. She braced herself. Trying shouldn’t hurt. She could change the subject after testing the waters.

“Akko.”

“Hmm?” Was the casual-sounding hum.

‘She’s calm. Calmer around me.’ That little detail made Diana happy. So happy. This was progress. “May I ask a question?”

There was a pause, and Diana considered backing out. It appeared as though Akko was thinking about it deeply. Before Diana could take it back, Akko responded, “Sure. Ask away.”, and the heiress breathed a relieved sigh. “What did you wanna know?”

“Well, um... I just happened to notice that... you don’t...” Diana was really hoping this wasn’t a sensitive subject. She’d finally managed to close the gap between her and Akko. Sure it was by unconventional, and very strange means- unintentional, above all. She had just been worried about the girl upon seeing that her friend group was all gathered in the classroom except her. So Diana had gone searching, and was planning to offer to stay away from her friends for Akko’s sake. She was glad that things turned out the way it did, though.

“Diana?”

“Um... Akko.” She finished her job, smiling at the neat covering on her.. friend’s... hand. (They were friends now, right? At the very least...)

“Yes?” Akko seemed to notice the hesitation, and her instincts guided her to take hold of Diana’s trembling hands, encouraging her to continue.

Well this was new, Diana thought. Now or never, she supposes. A deep breath, and the floodgates opened.

“I just wondered... why... don’t you have a ring? Did you somehow lose it? Is that possible? But how? Wouldn’t you get in trouble with... everyone, I guess? Have you found your soulmate or not? If yes then I should probably just say goodbye here and, oh but not in the way you think, you might not get what I mean, but I still want to be friends-”

“Diana.”

“Yes?”

Akko’s cheeks puffed up, trying to hold it in, but ultimately failing as she burst into giggles, instinctively tucking a stray strand of hair behind Diana’s ear as she leaned forward to bump their foreheads together.

Ah, screw fate and it’s ways. Screw Diana’s soulmate that existed somewhere out there. In this one moment, she just felt so at peace, and in place, she’d deal with all the raging storms in her mind later. For now, it was just the two of them, hanging out in an infirmary, the smell of antiseptic on them, stupid words be damned.

“You’re rambling.”

//-//-//-//-//

It had been a few weeks- maybe just shy of two months- of friendship (?) with Diana, and Akko had never felt more alive in all her years. They had even spent her birthday together! Well, everyone else was there to, but... Anyway. The afternoon the question had been dropped, she had ended up explaining to the Scot her story with the ring, leaving out the detail of what it had written on it. That was a little too embarrassing for her to share yet. Baby steps.

She’d never dare ask about Diana’s ring, and she appreciated that the girl never brought up any soulmate talk that involved herself. Akko felt that it helped her cope with this one-sided love a little longer. She would no longer deny this attraction. She was so undeniably into Diana, it was crazy. She didn’t understand how teenage hormones and falling in love worked, but somehow she just knew. She felt a little apologetic to her soulmate, no longer feeling the need to search for him and her, the section of, [What to do if you haven’t found your soulmate yet.] remaining untouched. But well... things happen sometimes.

And sometimes, you become so much of a fool that you invite the girl you are in love with, who already has a soulmate, to your house, to your room, just so she can be the first to see that portable planetarium projector you were finally able to get your hands on for an affordable deal. You wouldn’t even cry at losing months worth of saved allowance and work wages. It was all worth it, to see her entire being practically glowing in awestruck wonder as you lay on your backs on the cushioned floor, having the chance to flaunt years of star study to your crush. The impressed gazed directed at you felt so good. You could get used to this. Especially when the visage of wonder glimmering in the dear girl’s eyes was outright precious.

A Diana in awe was cute.

So much so that Akko was in awe.

“Hey Diana...”

“Hmm?”

“Do you believe in magic?”

What a strange thing to ask in that moment. That’s what Diana thought. Akko thought the same. Just what had gotten over her. Yet she still wondered, thoughts flying far off into space, just as they always did when she gazed upon the stars in the night sky- or her ceiling’s artificial one.

‘What are you saying, Akko?” Diana chuckled, right hand reaching out to grasp Akko’s, fingers lacing together. She felt her heart flip as it was squeezed tight, unaware of the inner turmoil Akko was enduring at the lack of presence of a ring on that hand. Their eyes remained trained to the glowing heavenly bodies above, stories of the past, of fate, and the like, written all over.

“Do you believe in other worlds, Diana?”

“Well, many studies propose that they indeed exist.” Diana responded.

“What about alternate universes? A completely different you out there, living a different life.”

Diana turned her head to face Akko, the brunette still facing upwards, eyes glistening with unshed tears, barely noticeable in the dim lighting; but Diana always noticed. Because it was Akko.

“Don’t you think that somewhere out there... there could be another version of us; maybe a clumsy me, and a fantastic you, saving the world with strange words not understood by the rest of the world?”

“Maybe...” Diana breathed out in a whisper, oxygen effectively stolen by the tear that slipped down shapely cheeks. The moment felt so fragile, she was afraid if she made a move, it would shatter into a million pieces, never to see the light of day.

And god forbid it happen. Diana wanted to boast this tender feeling out under the brightness of the sun, for the world to witness.

“Why do you ask?”

She listened in agony at the choked intake of air, followed by the frailest of whispers. “Because maybe... the impossible for the Kagari Atsuko here... is possible for the Akko there.”

The heiress pondered those phrases a moment. “...Impossible, like?” Diana replied in equally hushed tones, something hopeful in her pitch.

‘Like you being meant for me, and I for you.’

But Akko couldn’t just say that.

“As impossible as using magic here, maybe?” Akko laughed in a normal, in-house voice, volume not too loud, but no longer a whisper. She should just bury her illegal thoughts deep down.

“I guess so.” She deflated. What had she desired to hear anyway? “Magic does seem like an unattainable power, some unimaginable, impossible concept.” Maybe she should get ready to leave soon. There was something heavy weighing in the atmosphere and in her heart, and she did not wish for a memory as sweet as this to turn sour due to her mood.

“You think so?” Akko’s steadying voice kept her rooted in place. “What if it isn’t so impossible after all?”

“How so?”

“Well, don’t they say that when people put their minds to it, when they truly desire and wish for it with all their hearts... like how the song goes, y’know? ‘When you wish upon a star your dreams come true’, or something.”

“Like the law of attraction and manifestation?” Diana supplied. “If you think positive things, positive things will come to you. Your reality becomes better. Like that?”

“Hmmm...” Akko tapped against the back of Diana’s hand, still entwined with hers, with her index thoughtfully. “Yes, but no. Kinda, but not really...? I don’t know how to describe what I’m thinking at the moment based on existing principles. Not too good at remembering. Heck, is there a quote that already exists?”

“Why not make your own, then?” Diana proposed.

“Heh... good idea. Let me think.”

“Take your time.” Diana enjoyed the little sounds Akko made as she thought.

“Oh! I got it!”

“Hoh? And what would those words of wisdom be, Miss Kagari?”

“Ready the papers, Miss Cavendish. We’re about to make the headlines with this!” They both giggled at their antics. “Drum roll, please! Dugudugudugudugudugu....dan!”

Diana nuzzled into Akko’s shoulder, enjoying all these little sound effects, the brunette’s voice calming her gradually, lulling her to sleep.

“Just what are these magnificent words, dear Akko?” Diana was far too drowsy to notice the splash of color painted across her companions face, the shyness melting into tenderness as she felt her warmth shift closer.

“A believing heart is your magic.”

And sleep was nearly robbed of her, eyes widening in the dark, unseen by Akko as the thumb on Diana’s free hand now brushed over the engravings on her ring. It was for sure now.

“You really are... the one.”

//-//-//-//-//

Something was off about Diana today. Was it her hair? No, impeccably styled as always, that couldn’t be it. Was it her makeup for today? No, it wasn’t that either. It was still that natural looking glow that brought out her innate beauty in all the best ways possible. Akko continued to check off boxes on her mental list, trying to figure out just what it was that was bothering her about Diana’s appearance today. Was it her clothes? But that was the uniform they wore daily! Did she... get any new jewelry? Hmm, she didn’t seem the type to wear any at school.

Then...

Was it the ring that painfully reminded Akko that the person she might be in love with was already meant for someone else? No, that couldn’t be it either. Last Akko checked, the ring was snugly fitted, definitely on... huh? The ring was... gone? No? Akko scanned Diana’s smooth looking left hand. No it wasn’t there. Not on the left, and her eyes couldn’t help but guide her hopeful soul to... ah. It really wasn’t on the left, but on the right.

Huh? That wasn’t right.

This confused Akko. Enough to make her approach Diana’s seat during lunch, tapping her attention away from her conversation with Lotte and Barbara.

“H-hey Diana, I have a question... “

“Yes?” Said girl gave Akko her full attention. There was something different about the way she smiled at Akko today as well, it seemed. Odd. Nice. But odd.

“So like... uh... W-Why is your... your ri-” Akko could feel droplets of sweat forming on her brow, threatening to trickled down the side of her face if she so much as twitched.

“Ri?”

“Why’s your ri- r....r-r- Right ear larger than your left?!”

Dainty hands shot up to cover her ears, blushing shocked and mortified. “WHAT?!”

Whoops, Akko messed up. “HAHA AHA.. KIDDING! Nah, I was messing with you!” The brunette forcibly laughed, patting Diana’s back in uneasy comfort.

“Akko, that wasn’t very nice.” Lotte scolded, and the said girl nodded, sighing.

“I know. Sorry guys.” She apologized properly, looking to Diana in particular. She received a gracious smile and a pat on the cheek, the skin underneath the ringed-hand warming speedily.

“It’s alright.”

That kindness allowed her to gather bits of courage to finally state her inquiry. Diana would answer her just fine, right? Akko had to when asked about the whereabouts of her ring. It was fair trade?

“I was just wondering, because I recalled you wearing your ring on your left hand until recently. But now it’s on your right. I guess you could say I was just curious?”

“Eh?”

“Is that so, Diana?” Hannah questioned, eyes wide. “But why would you move it in reverse? Now that you’ve actually found- mrrrpmmphhh.”

Akko shot a puzzled glance at Hannah and Barbara, the latter clasping a hand over the ginger’s mouth.

“N-nothing. You didn’t hear anything.” She covered. “You heard nothing, are we clear?” She threatened, and Akko actually shivered.

“Holy crap, your women can get so scary, Amanda.” She mentioned to the redhead seated in front of the other girls.

She heard her release a heavy sigh before getting up from her seat and turning to face the group. “It’s because you two are such a pain, that’s why. Just get it over with, Cavendish! What’s holding you back? It’s as simple as this, see? When you have a dense mofo like Akko, you just gotta give her a little push. A literal one.” And that was the only warning they got before Diana felt soft, slightly chapped lips barely missing her own, brushing against the corner of her mouth.

Akko removed herself so fast, they all worried she’d get whiplash. “S-s-s-s-s-sorry! Sorry Diana, I didn’t- it was... AMANDA!”

“I was helping.”

“You little...”

“Rather than giving me your attention, shouldn’t you talk it over with miss salad head over there?”

Akko blinked, the cogs in her mind slowly spinning, then clicked. “Did you just... insult... ah, screw you!” Akko yelled, blush burning so hot, it was hard to keep her eyes open.

Heeding Amanda’s advice nonetheless, she turned to an equally red Diana, unable to meet her eyes. Akko didn’t think her face could get any hotter than it felt right now, but at the sight of Diana’s tongue quickly swiping across her lips, Akko’s face might as well be venus.

She should at least try to say something, right? Something comforting... or witty... or clever.

“Sorry...” That would work.

“It’s alright.”

//-//-//-//-//

She stared at her invitation. Wow. Did Andrew really take her to shop for Denise’s birthday gift months before it happened? The neat script spelling out, ‘You are cordially invited’ underneath the older woman’s name with the date of the ball kind of set her nerves on fire.

She was not one for formal events. But then Denise had been nice enough to hand it in person, looking like she’d be willing to beg for Akko to come. Andrew stood behind her menacingly, a pressuring force looming in the room.

But really, how was she supposed to do this? Sure she had experience with the arts and dancing. She had wanted to be a performer at some point in her life before deciding on her current course, keeping the arts as a hobby. That covered her bases in terms of the ballroom dancing part. But as for etiquette and all that jazz, Akko had no clue. She was just a normal girl, living a normal life, having met amazing people, and... the love of her life.

She groaned in remembrance, pulling out a slip of paper, an extra entrance voucher. ‘Bring a plus one’, Denise had said. Well... that wouldn’t be a problem, Akko supposed. Maybe... She could always ask Diana.

The thought of the girl set flurries of butterflies wild in her stomach, face warming up along with her heart. She fiddled with the band situated around her left ring finger. She was still getting used to it, the metal feeling awkward in that spot. That’s just what she gets for never wearing it all these years. Kind of a nuisance, if she were being honest; but... at the same time... it was a reminder that...

[“So you’re... my soulmate...”

“Looks like it.”

“Did you... know about it?” She watched fluffy hair bounce along with the bobbing of a shy girl’s head. “How long...?”

“I had a feeling right from when we met... then confirmed it after you first showed me your planetarium.”

“...that’s a few weeks back.”

“You’re just so slow.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. It really is now.”]

“AAAAHHHH!!” Akko hollered, ridding herself of the embarrassed tension in her body. “Hnnnggghhh...” Holding in all her squeals, she flew onto her bed, hugging a pillow tight and rolling about. Maybe she should call Diana right now, if only to hear her voice. Oh, and she should just pop the question while she’s at it, the invitation.

A few rings, one, two, three fo-

[“Hello?”]

“Did you know I love your voice? It was the first thing I fell in love with, ever since you saved me from the clutches of death.” She couldn’t hold back the adoration she felt for the Englishwoman any longer.

[“Oh my god, Akko. Did you really just call me so you could be such a sap?”] Her giggle was always the best, Akko reveled.

“No~, or kind of yes, but not entirely.”

[“Is that so?”] Diana teased through the line.

“Don’t believe me?”

[“Of course I do! After all... it’s my magic.”]

“Who’s the sap now.”

[“I learned only from the best.”]

“Amanda?”

[“YOU, you idiot!”] Akko laughed at the reaction, squealing inwardly in delight. Diana’s laughter alongside hers died down, the phone going silent for a bit. And then, [“You’re the best.”].

Akko just couldn’t handle it.

“I love you.”

[“I love you too, sweetheart.”]

“I love you, I love you, I love you.”

[“I love you more.”]

“I love you! I love you! I love you!”

[“I love you more than anything in this world.”]

Akko was not crying.

“I love you... be my plus one?”

[“...”]

[“Always.”]

//-//-//-//-//

“My baby... so grown up now and looking all gorgeous.” Mrs. Kagari wiped a tear from her eye, admiring her daughter in a russet-toned gown, sleeveless, with a low dip in the back, fitting, and at the same time, flowing off her frame and onto the floor. It was simple, yet elegant. It matched well with Akko’s hair; usual bangs side-swept, signature ponytail gone, her long brown hair slightly curled and hanging off on one shoulder, exposing the other. All this topped with a little make-up, and even Andrew commended this picture of Akko that could pass as part of high society.

“Shall we?” He held out an arm for her to take, door open with a car waiting right outside. Akko’s father sobbed loudly, holding onto his wife for dear life.

“M-Mama! MY BABY! MY BABY IS BEING TAKEN AWAY BY SOME RICH YOUNG BRAT WHO JUST LOOKS GOOD, AND IS A LITTLE SMART, AND OWNS A HOSPITAL.”

“Well, don’t those sound like amazing specs.” Akko’s mama laughed, consoling the poor man. “You sound like a father sending his daughter off to meet her groom.”

“I AM.”

“But Diana-chan is so cute, though?”

“Man or woman, whoever takes my baby away from me and ends up hurting her... they will never see the light of the afterlife.”

Diana felt a chill run up her spine as she waited in the car.

“Oh, hush you. You’re overreacting.”

“AM I?!”

“Byebye, papa. I’ll be home soon. Love you~ Love you more, Mama!”

“Ah- bye, my darling daughter, my baby, my sun, light of my world, my angel!”

“You can stop embarrassing her now, darling.”

//-//-//-//-//

“Akko, don’t be so stiff.” Diana whispered into the girl’s ear, a hand caressing the small of her back to ease away the nerves. “You’ll be fine. Just think of it as any old party.”

“E-e-e-easy for you t-to say. You g-grew up with th-this.” Akko retorted, a hand with some champagne shakily approaching her lips.

“Really, you’re too high-strung.” The blonde sighed, pointing to Akko’s best friends. “Look at Lotte and Sucy, they look normal.”

Akko glared at her best friends who seemed to be enjoying themselves without a worry in the world. Oh, golly, what a treat. Maybe she shouldn’t have offered their extra tickets to them so she wouldn’t feel as bitter.

“Hey.” A flick was sent to her forehead. “No mean thoughts.”

“I wasn’t-”

“Di.A. NAAAA~” Here came a wild Denise, flying through the air to hug an alarmed Diana, barely catching her. It would appear as thought they were good friends, and Denise, not knowing anything about the relationship between her two dear bosom buddies, had sent them each an invitation with the hopes of bringing a plus one to introduce to her (so she could tease them about it), all the while, being kept in the dark that their plus one just so happened to be each other.

Which also explained the extra tickets that had gone to Lotte and Sucy. Akko was afraid it would be rude to just hand them away, but Diana reassured her it would be just fine. They both knew how kind-hearted and open-minded Denise was anyway.

“M-miss Walsh... please let me breathe.”

“Diana~ It’s Denise!”

“D-Denise... please... my airways...”

With greetings out of the way (Akko being squeezed to death as well, to be fair), the announcement were made, and the party commenced, music playing as the floor opened for the dances.

...

Akko swore she was a good dancer. Really! She was the ace of their studio. She could dance almost anything after learning it over the course of a few weeks at most, and so few days at the very least. So she couldn’t understand just how she’d suddenly acquired two left feet, constantly, and clumsily stepping on poor Diana’s feet.

One step. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

Another miss. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“S-sorry!”

“...”

“Oh my gosh, I really am sorry!”

“I-it’s quite alright...”

“...”

“Wanna get some fresh air?”

“Pleasured.”

//-//-//-//-//

The Walsh’s family gardens were certainly award winning, Akko admired. As someone with a hobby in that field, this was a dream come true, to see such stellar workmanship. With flowers o’er the earth, and stars up above, the moon reflecting ripples into a still, small lake just a few yards down, it was the picture of beauty.

Yet nothing could compare to Diana by her side. Akko admired the way the woman’s gown clung to her curves in all the right places, how midnight blue reminded her of the skies they were under, and the dear stars in the heiress eyes sparkled ever brighter. How the earrings that dangled sparkling silver matched Akko’s own, only in gold, how her hair was fixed to the side as well, a portion of her bangs tucked neatly behind her ear, held back by a pin Akko had gotten her recently.

Akko was transfixed, as though she were under a witch’s spell. A very gorgeous, kind-hearted, hardworking, and sincere witch. A woman she loved with every fiber of her being, with the entirety of her heart.

She watched the moonlight caress ivory skin, glistening under its kind rays. Akko wanted to do so as well. Touch it, and know she was real and not just a figment of her imagination.

“I love you.” She murmured, reaching forward, arms wrapped around a slim waist, lips pressing against a bare shoulder. “I love you.”

Diana hummed, hands resting over Akko’s latched on to her abdomen. “Dance with me, Love.” She beckoned, leading them to sway under the night sky, the crickets and the breeze playing them a song of romance solely for their rapture.

The moon as their only witness, they vowed silent words, moving along the area, spinning, swaying, dancing, laughing, smiling, crying.

Akko never felt as lucky as she did in this moment. She was beyond fortunate. This moment she’d never forget, a memory never to be destroyed all her life, reminding her that she was blessed.

Blessed, and still a little foolish.

“I still don’t get it, you know. Why ‘cabbage’?”

Diana laughed into the tranquil night. Slapping Akko’s bare arm in fondness. “Did you really just ask that? Now of all times? With a romantic mood set up like this?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You are amazing, Kagari Atsuko. I love you to death, really I do... but are you seriously still hung over that?” She inquired, spinning her fated partner about, bringing her back in close. “Does it have to make sense? Isn’t it enough to know that you’re meant to be mine, and I’m forever yours?”

Akko returned that tender smile, leaning up to place a kiss against Diana’s throat. “Well, yeah, I guess; but... like... doesn’t that defeat the rings’ purpose, then?”

“Does it matter?”

“...It doesn’t. Not anymore. Not when you’re by my side, because that’s all that matters.”

“Great answer.”

“Diana?”

“Hmmm? What is it now?” Diana asked, amused that the peaceful mood didn’t look like it would settle back down anytime soon.

“For ruining the moment.... sorry.” All Akko’s laughing refuted that statement. Diana knew they both didn’t regret it one bit. Not at all. So with a smile only meant for her world nestled in her arms, leaning down and closing the gap bit-by-bit, what else could Diana reply with except,

“...It’s alright.”

And they saw stars.

//-//-//-//-//

This... was an unexpected development.

“...Wanna come over?”

“I’d love to.”

Cold, soaked and dropped off by the Cavendish’s service car, they made their way up the drive way, Akko fumbling for her house keys in the wee hours of the morning.

“Sorry, I really didn’t expect it to rain when I invited you out.”

“It’s fine, it wasn’t something within our control at all. The night looked perfectly clear, too.”

Flipping on the lights by the threshold, Akko guided Diana in, drenched shoes flying off, but immediately retrieved and set to the side to drip properly. They’d have to clean and dry those tomorrow better, but for now, a bath of warmth was in order.

Akko had insisted Diana take one first, but ever the gentlewoman, Diana did not move an inch until she was absolutely certain Akko would be alright. Her strongest argument stood to be, “Just who was it that I had to take to the hospital upon our first encounter.”, and Akko could only pout, begrudgingly accepting her defeat and warming herself a bath, but not without leaving Diana a towel and a temporary change of clothes so she wouldn’t get chills.

As Akko tagged Diana with a kiss to the lips, switching places after drawing the girl a fresh warm bath, she made her way to the kitchen, deciding to make them some vegetable soup to warm them up from the inside. Would Diana like that too?

Choosing and gathering her ingredients, she began prepping, chopping up everything as her water in the pot was brought to a boil.

It didn’t take her long at all to finish. By the time the food was ready, Diana was back downstairs, clad in one of Akko’s oversized shirts and pajama bottoms. It did strange things to Akko’s dear heart. On Diana’s part, just the sight of her future wife (she was a woman with a vision for tomorrow) preparing her a meal, fresh from a bath, in their own little world... How could she not fall deeper in love? So in love that she could just kiss her!

And she did just that.

Walking up to the shorter girl, Diana coaxed her into warm arms, a hand making its way into brunette strands, entangling them around her fingers, ring shining amidst them. This was bliss. This was everything to her.

This was everything to Akko. Everything she’d hoped for and wanted, and even more.

“I love you.”

Soft. A little salty, maybe the soup’s seasoning. Warm and gentle, yet pressured and emotional. Tenderly passionate, and passionately tender, their lips danced a song that they’d forever remember.

And as they sat down to eat, seated in front of each other, they motioned for cheers with their chopsticks, a leafy green clipped between one pair.

And that’s when Akko realized that it all made perfect sense.

The rings weren’t wrong, and the words would always be right.

“Ah...

Cabbage.”

~end.

A/N: Can you believe it? All that, just so I could say in the end, “Cabbage”. Honestly, Akko is so slow. Somehow I’m not quite satisfied with this, and maybe I should’ve gone with a different approach or piece, or simply edited my original plan to fit safely within the guidelines, but... Idk. Maybe I’m as much of a fool as Akko, that way. Was it worth the thousands of bothersome words to read? Haha. Feedback is appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoyed.

~Shintori Khazumi

#heliishly long oneshot #I'mdying #diakkoday #diakkoday2021 #Little Witch Academia #lwa #diakko #diana cavendish #kagari atsuko #andrew hanbridge #Sucy Manbavaran #and all the other girls but I'm too lazy to tag #romance #soulmate au #cabbage #srsly #this could be a multichap

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bastardtetsu · 4 years

Text

critical thinking | ch①

pairing: kuroo tetsuro x gn!reader

genre: college au, enemies to lovers, tsundere!reader, slow burn

wc: 1.9k

warnings: swearing, being a theatre major

※ mlist | ● ② ③ ④

you knew it was a dumb bitch move to procrastinate on your science requirement.

trying to schedule gen-eds around the demanding requirements of your theatre degree was already a nightmare, and your aversion to maths and sciences makes it even more difficult to find classes that both fit in your schedule AND don’t make you want to actively drop out of school. you weren’t sure why you thought putting off your one and only science credit until your final semester was going to solve any of that. so, you couldn’t be shocked when your only option to graduate on time ended up being 9am chemistry 1. on a monday, no less.

the first class is just as bad as you expect. the lecture drags on for ages, and as much as you will your sleepy morning brain to wrap your head around the concepts being thrown at you, no amount of caffeine, color-coded notes, or mental gymnastics can ford the river of brain-muddling frustration standing between you and a passing grade - the one you need to graduate.

panic begins to set in as you visualize all the hard work you put into your degree rendered useless, all because of a class that doesn’t even have to do with your field of study. who decided there had to be a science requirement anyway? i don’t need fucking chemistry to get a theatre degree??

“if you’re having trouble with anything,” your professor announces, bringing your attention back to the lecture that's finally wrapping up, “the tutoring center on campus is a great resource. i also hold office hours at the times listed on the syllabus. that’s our time for today folks, have a good week.”

you check the syllabus - all of the professor’s office hours conflict with your other classes, of course. asking your classmates is out of the question, seeing as you’re the lone arts major in a sea of STEM and pre-med. as annoying as it is to have to add another item to your schedule, tutoring seems like the only option if you want any hope of graduating. luckily you have some time before your next class, so you pack up your things and head for the tutoring center.

you pray that a decent chem tutor is available during any of your limited free time as you approach the lady at the desk of the tutoring office. she informs you of several with hours later in the week, none of which align with your schedule, and one who is available for the next hour. you figure tutoring right after class isn’t a bad deal - especially considering it’s your only option. the woman gives you a classroom number and a name - kuroo tetsuro - and you set out.

it doesn’t take you long to find the right classroom, but you aren’t prepared for the sight that is waiting for you there. a strong jawline and a mess of black hair that appears to stick up on its own catch your eye first as he taps away at his phone screen, his bored slouch doing nothing to hide his imposing height.

“um... hi, kuroo?” you say tentatively. his eyes glance up from his phone, slightly startled.

“oh, hey,” he responds, sitting up a bit, “you here for tutoring?”

“i am,” you reply with a half smile, “y/n.”

“kuroo. nice to meet you, y/n,” he pulls out the chair next to him as an invitation, “what year are you?”

“i’m a senior,” you say as you make your way over and sit down, “i’m in chem 1.” he definitely seems taller up close, even sitting down.

“chem 1? as a senior?” he asks derisively, his lips curling into a smirk. embarrassment and annoyance shoot through your chest.

“i’m a theatre major, alright,” you respond dryly, “i’m just trying to get my science credit and go.”

“left it ‘til the last minute, huh?” that smirk is still on his face.

“yeah, not my best decision,” you reply, trying not to let your annoyance seep through, “but i’m just trying to pass this class so i can graduate.”

“well, hopefully i can help with that,” he says smugly, “i may be a lowly business major, but i’m pretty good with chem if i do say so myself.”

a business major. of course. you’re familiar with the future capitalist machinery of the business school from your limited experience with the frat parties they so densely populated. needless to say, the impression was not good.

“so what do you need help with?”

“um...” you pondered, “all of it?” he snickered.

“you’re gonna have to be more specific if you wanna get anywhere.” his tone is dripping with amusement. is he trying to piss you off?

“ugh,” you let out an exasperated grunt, suddenly averse to showing any kind of weakness to this jerk. you pull out your notebook and flip to the page where you had attempted to take notes earlier. “this stuff.”

he leans over to take a look at your notes, and as his eyes scan the page you suddenly notice his smell - some fancy-smelling cologne with like, sandalwood or some shit - and his strong but elegant bone structure. i could cut myself on those cheekbones, you think.

“these notes are terrible.”

annnndddd he ruined it.

“well i can’t exactly take good notes if i have no clue what’s going on,” you counter, “isn’t that what you’re supposed to help me with?”

“i can try,” he says with an amused grin, “but I’ve never seen someone struggle this much with the basics on day one.”

now, you could put up with a lot of shit, but the one thing you cannot stand is being condescended to. especially not by some egotistical capitalist fucker who barely knows you.

“look,” you say pointedly, holding back the urge to throat punch him right then and there, “i’m really busy, and i just wanna pass this class, so if you could help me without being a dick about it i’d really appreciate it.”

“aw, but where’s the fun in that?”

his lips twist back into that patronizing smirk - he’s definitely trying to get a rise out of you.

“fuck off,” you say with a roll of your eyes, refusing to take his bait, “are you gonna teach me chemistry or not?”

he chuckles quietly again, thoroughly entertained. “sure. only because I’m so kind, and i could use the challenge.”

you scoff, but hold yourself back from retorting. you don’t want to give him the satisfaction.

at first, it’s excruciating. you loathe this douchey business bro getting off on being condescending while explaining chemistry to you like you don’t understand anything - which, to be fair, you don’t. but that somehow makes you resent him more.

granted, once you actually get down to business, kuroo is actually a pretty good tutor. he’s not actively annoying when he’s actually trying to teach you something, and he’s surprisingly patient and good at breaking things down. dude is smart, there’s no denying that.

nevertheless, even when he’s not being snarky, every correction he makes seems to fluster you more. you hate looking stupid in front of others, and something about kuroo seems to amplify that feeling by a thousand. you blame his attitude.

as you fumble trying to wrap your head around the unfamiliar numbers, symbols, & formulas, you’re simultaneously attempting to maintain a shred of dignity in front of this man who clearly thinks of you as the dumbest bitch on the planet. and the more you struggle, the more you worry he’s right.

“seeeee? i told you it wasn’t that hard!” he hums as you finish off another homework question you’d been struggling with. he can’t seem to praise you without being patronizing as fuck, either. you look up from your page momentarily to shoot him a glare.

frustration and embarrassment simmer inside of you with each of his snide remarks, but you hold yourself together and divert the attention back to studying each time. the restraint it takes not to deck him right in his pretty face is honestly deserving of a nobel peace prize.

“not bad,” he muses as you finally finish off the last of your homework, “and it only took you two and a half hours!”

“i’m floored,” you deadpan. your brain is too exhausted to formulate a more clever comeback. then you suddenly realize - “hang on... has it actually been two and a half hours? i thought you were only available for one??”

“technically,” he shrugs, “that’s when my tutoring hours end. but I wasn’t doing anything after, and you seemed like you needed the extra help.” that shitty smile is back. you can feel your blood boiling, but at the same time that... is actually pretty nice of him?

“ah... th-thanks,” you mumble, still resistant to showing any signs of weakness - much less gratitude - to the messy-haired prick.

“so, should i expect you back next week?” his stare reminds you of a cat sizing up its prey.

“uh... maybe,” you say. you honestly don’t have an answer yet. “i have to run though, i’ve got another class to get to.”

“don’t be a stranger,” he grins, “you’re gonna need a lot of help if you wanna graduate.”

you shoot him another glare as you swing your bag over your shoulder.

“i’ll think about it.”

he's still smirking at you as you walk out the door.

—

as much as you’d like to deny it, there’s not much to think about. none of the other chem tutors are available when you are, and there’s no way you’re passing the class without the extra help. and, as insufferable as he is, kuroo did help you get through your entire first week of homework successfully.

of course, you still resent having to rely on some nasty ass, pompous business major to mansplain chemistry to you every week so you can graduate. well, technically it’s not mansplaining since you don’t actually know anything about chemistry. and you technically also asked him to do it. but god, does he have to be such a dick about it??

it’s just an hour or two once a week, you reassure yourself, you can put up with it.

this is easier said than done, of course. the following monday, you begrudgingly approach the same classroom, empty except for one (1) chickenhead douchebag, who promptly stares you down with the most shiteating smile you’ve ever seen.

“oya oya~ look who decided to come back!” he croons.

“don’t flatter yourself, it’s not like I had much of a choice,” you respond flatly. why is he still looking at me with that dumb expression?

“true, there’s no way you’re passing on your own.”

“listen,” you reply pointedly, “some people have better things to do than worry about how many neutrons are on hydrogen or whatever”

“hydrogen doesn’t have any neutrons.”

“COOL!!!! i just want to graduate!!”

“well then you’re gonna need to know that hydrogen doesn’t have any neutr-”

“ALRIGHT, i got it,” you huff, “can you just… help me figure out this balancing equations shit? WITHOUT being an asshole about it?”

“hmm… sorry, i can only accept one request at a time.”

this is gonna be a long fucking semester.

a/n: eeeeee this is the first time i’ve actually wholeheartedly attempted to write a fic in lord knows how long (possibly ever?? idk them memories repressed) and my first time posting my own writing so i hope y’all like it !! everybody who’s ready to see me trash talk k*roo t*tsuro say way ho

#haikyuu!!#kuroo tetsuro #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo x reader #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo tetsurou x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #.txt #e writes

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jdramione · 3 years

Text

Touch: Chapter 12 Posted

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12464469/chapters/28366737 I am still here. Stay with me. There has been a lot on my plate these past few months, more than I ever intended and nothing at all bad. Just... constant and busy and overwhelming. I've got a family and am building a business and at the end of a long day, there isn't a lot of brain space and creative space that comes when all you can think about is the next thing you need to get done. The semester closed with a bang and then a face plant, and now that I've had several days in front of the TV watching reruns of Downton Abbey and somehow falling back into HP fanfiction, which was my first love and I'm glad to come home to it on some downtime, I have made the sole resolution to myself to set firm boundaries for myself in the upcoming semester. I need to pace and balance, and not dive headfirst and sink too quickly. There is a lot involved in what I do professionally and am building and the work is endless. As such, to come back to this specific story topic is a hard one to dive into and climb out of. With that said, I didn't set any boundaries in the previous month and trampled over my own self. In many ways, I think I did more harm to myself than good, because there does come a place in work where you forget not only how to be present for your family, but you lose yourself somewhere in that. You just become another wheel in the clock, ticking towards the next minute. I didn't sink, and I kept my head above water - I had a big success in December. But somewhere in this semester I allowed myself to get seated in a corner and it felt as if someone had thrown a living room blanket over me, covering me up and hiding me. I was there, but stuck and unable to do more than sit there under a blanket. I'm not sure if that makes sense and I'm not sure I feel fully out of the hole or even myself as of yet. I feel slightly distanced from creativity and it makes me need to grasp onto it all the tighter, the desire to delve into this all the stronger - if only to immerse myself back into creating and artistry and doing something for me that feels like me.

I'm not sure where or how or when, but I will be plowing forward and begging my beta to be present with me along the way this semester. Thank you for being with me on this journey, and with my Beta and friend, Etherea. The story is not abandoned, and I am working towards updates as soon as I feel they are ready. Stay with me - there is so much story to tell and I can't wait to get there all in it's own time.

A HUGE thank you to my Beta and friend, Etherea , whom I love and could not have made it this far without. She's wonderful, simply put, and I'm so thrilled she has held my hand through this amazing process. She just came into my life through this story and has been such a powerhouse in making this story what it is. She has encouraged and supported, motivated and helped me process. She takes me as I am and has been such an enormous part of the process of rewrites and revisions and just helping me make a simple story "more", not only making me a better writer, but helping me in ways I didn't even know to ask for help. She has been the greatest soundboard ever, listening to me go on for novel-length emails, never criticizing or shutting me down, and takes the jumbled mess that I have spiraled on and offers the most amazing insight and helping me narrow down plot points and story arc, when all I feel that I've done is make a mess of things. She's incredible, generous and talented and kind, and I will be FOREVER grateful that she's with me on this journey.

She has written the following, wanting to say hello and introduce herself, and I'm so warmed and glad she has offered:

"Hello faithful readers! Thank you for sticking with us both :) I became the beta for this story as a reader who wanted to help, because I wanted to read more of it. Working across time zones and competing schedules makes it slow going, but I am here with JD til the end of the line, and I'm always excited to see your comments as you discover the next part of the story. And I am LIVING for the fanart, it is so excellent!" *** Chapter 12 Excerpt: *** “When you touch me…when the touch is kind,” Bucky had stammered. “It’s alright, Buck,” Steve had reminded him gently. “Take your time.” The evening had ended with the two of them watching a film in their quarters, Bucky settling in on the floor leaning against Steve’s legs; he’d had a rough go of it that day. His anxiety had been through the roof, set off by nothing and everything all at once, and he’d been unable to handle being around the group that evening. Some days were more overwhelming than others. Steve, overly observant as always and taking it, like most things he did, in stride, had simply reached out and grasped his hand gently. He’d pulled Bucky up from his spot on the floor and had them both moving towards the elevator as Steve gave their farewells. A chorus of “goodnights” and “see you guys in the morning” followed them out; every one of them knew what it was like to just need to be...away. Steve had pushed Bucky gently, so gently, against the wall of the elevator and pressed his body into Bucky’s, chest to toe, leaning on him rather than really hugging him. Bucky could already feel his stuttering breath calming just from feeling Steve’s weight against him. When the elevator had dinged, Steve had slipped a hand behind Bucky’s back and pulled him down the hall and into their apartment. He’d talked the whole time, speaking softly about this recipe he’d found on Pinterest. Darcy, upon learning that neither of them could bake, had remedied that problem immediately, demanding that they join her in both the app and in the kitchen. She had, in her words, ‘no patience for any 1940s gender role nonsense they might be smuggling.’ When it was just the two of them, Bucky and Steve, Steve would allow his more natural Brooklyn/Irish cadence to seep through. Just listening to the phrasing, the lilt and rhythm of his words, everything about it was tantalisingly familiar. A feeling somehow both impossible to forget, and not quite remembered, would come sweeping over Bucky, and just like that he could breathe again. Steve had sat down on the couch, briefly letting go of Bucky; he’d tried to let Bucky choose where he wanted to be, when he was like this. Sometimes he sat on the furthest edge of the couch, not wanting to be touched, but unwilling to be alone. Other times he would sit practically on top of Steve (which was frankly how Steve preferred it),insatiably touch-hungry even as they were plastered together. And then there were times like this one, where Bucky needed to feel touch, but not feel seen. He’d put himself on a different level to Steve, literally, on the floor at his feet. There, he could just “be” until the world stopped feeling too big, and he could once again regain his focus. This night had been one of those days, and Bucky had quickly settled on the floor, taking long minutes to feel comfortable enough to ease back against Steve’s legs. When he got there, he released a breath he’d apparently been holding and sagged, trusting Steve to hold his weight and keep him steady. Steve had reached out as soon as he had felt Bucky relax against him, and had begun pulling his fingers through Bucky’s long hair, feeling the softness slide through his fingertips from root to end, before repeating the movement, fascinated with how the different shades of brown and auburn and black shifted between his fingers. “It helps,” Bucky had whispered. “What helps?” Steve had whispered back, not pausing in his ministrations, keeping up the gentle petting, his need to keep whatever Bucky had to say secret, private, these frozen and rare moments of time when Bucky would open up and tell Steve something… anything, really. Bucky was so unaccustomed to keeping things inside, unable or unwilling to let anything escape. Steve was beginning to understand that most of the time, the pain was just too much, and speaking of certain things caused more pain and anguish than just holding Bucky and allowing him to process it internally. It was always a thin precipice that Steve walked, always worried that he might push too hard or worse, not enough, when Bucky needed to let something out. Most often, he’d found that waiting Bucky out, patiently and gently, that Bucky would at least open up in pieces, enough that Steve could usually put together what he was saying, or more, what he didn’t say, to understand what Bucky needed to tell him. “Touch,” he had replied, brokenly. “Your touch helps ground me when I can’t reach out for it.” Steve’s eyes filled with unshed tears, but he steadied his voice when he replied, “I’ll always reach for you, Buck. Always.” ***

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lovelyirony · 4 years

Note

made up fic title: i didn't know i was lonely (til i saw your face)

i wanna get better

Howard Stark is the world’s smartest man. Tony knows this, has read it in so many newspaper articles and interviews and magazines that he could probably cut out every single time a journalist writes it and make a new fucking wallpaper out of it.

It’s permeated every single aspect of Tony’s life. The problem is that Tony looks exactly like his father did. Everyone compares everything. How quickly he builds a weapon, how fast it can take for him to churn out an idea.

His humor is the same, way of dressing is the same, and he should be the same. The world needs another Howard Stark for the next lifetime. They don’t need a Tony Stark.

(And maybe...maybe Tony doesn’t mind that. It’s so much easier, to pretend to be somebody else and have them look at that.)

Tony doesn’t make friends. Ever. Friends are not beneficial, and it’s not like they could hang out anyways. Tony reads in books about friends who go to diners together and attend movies and skateboard, but really? He doesn’t have time for that. He has to build things and study business, and get his life all sorted out.

He is sixteen when he goes to college. He feels far too young, and the kind, warm hand of Jarvis’ smoothing out his hair makes the feeling worse.

“You will be fine, Anthony. Study hard, and who knows how quickly you’ll graduate.”

“Of course,” Tony says stiffly.

“Have fun, Tony,” Ana says, grinning. “College can be a fun time.”

It’s not supposed to be fun for him. Howard told him to focus on his studies only. His whole life would be the engineering and business buildings, and maybe he would sometimes get takeout. Maybe he wouldn’t.

Point is, this is just like everything else in his life: the goal was to be exactly like Howard. Graduate top of his class, blow the world away, and have a glass of scotch after a job well done. (Or gin, or whiskey, or hell...all three.)

Rhodey was not a factor. At all.

Tony had thought that his mother had paid extra to make sure her son had a room all to himself. Not out of a desire, no: out of necessity. Can’t have daddy’s little prodigy revealing anything.

And maybe she meant to, but he’s not going to question it. Not when he’s just been staring.

“Hey man,” the guy in the room says. The name-tag on the door says “Jim.”

“Hey,” Tony says. “Good to...sorry. I just...I wasn’t expecting anyone here.”

“Last minute decision. My room decided to burst a pipe. Technical difficulties. They say they’re gonna get it fixed as soon as possible. That a problem for you?”

There’s more to the eyebrow raise, more to the tone. Jim isn’t going to take shit, and he knows who Tony is. He saw it in how his eyes widened for a moment.

Tony likes him. He doesn’t know how it’s going to go later, but for now: Jim is a likable guy.

“Not at all.”

To get used to sharing is definitely interesting. Tony has to get used to a lot, which isn’t a bad thing, but he wasn’t expecting to have to tiptoe at three a.m. while making ramen because Rhodey has something called a “sleep schedule to maintain.”

Tony doesn’t know what the hell that is, but he doesn’t like it.

Jim plays a lot of records, which is...odd. Tony’s never really been one for records, mainly because he’s future-thinking. But the way that Jim smiles when he hears a song and tells Tony a little anecdote about his father’s dancing in the kitchen? That’s good.

So Tony buys some records, and falls in love with one band in particular: AC/DC. He can’t get enough of it.

Jim, apparently, can.

“Oh my god,” he groans, entering their dorm room. “Are you still playing that band?”

“They’re amazing, Jim-Jam,” Tony says, turning it down a bit. “Besides, I thought your bio lab lasted for another hour.”

“It was supposed to, but one of the sorority girls got too flustered with a fraternity guy and then things caught fire.”

“Boo,” Tony says, frowning. “It’s the worst when a lab catches on fire.”

Tony is not expecting Jim to invite him anywhere, take him anywhere. After all, that’s not what school is for, and Tony’s not exactly the world’s best roommate. Besides, their RA said that they didn’t have to be friends, they just had to be good roommates.

(Tony remembers this whenever he forgets to put away his ramen bowl.)

But Jim invites him to a restaurant with a couple of his buddies from ROTC.

“It’ll be fun,” he says, smiling. “Besides, you never go out.”

There’s a reason for that, although people here aren’t really “fanatical” about Tony, thank god.

The dinner turns out to be terrible, because all of the guys just want to talk about Tony’s dad.

“How did he end up getting the better reaction timing on the new pistol, the Stark 77?” A guy named Terry asks.

And Tony freezes.

That wasn’t Howard’s. That was his.

Jim must’ve seen something on his face.

“I, uh, I guess it must’ve just been something with the screw-in method during assembly,” Tony says weakly. “If you’ll excuse me, I just realized I have something to do at home.”

Howard’s been using his designs. No credit.

He spends about ten minutes on the phone. It amounts to this sentence:

“Without me, boy, you’d be nothing. Who do you think paid for school? Private tutors? Advanced textbooks? Who, yourself? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Tony’s red-faced, and the phone gets hung up, and he stares out at the sky for maybe way too long. He forgot his ID to swipe back in, and has to launch little bits of rock at what he thinks is his and Jim’s window.

Jim brings him up and sits with him on a bed.

“I’m fine, honestly.”

“No, you’re really not. Tony, you’re a terrible liar.”

And he is, really. He can lie about so many things, but family and his state of mind are a bit harder nowadays.

He gets hugged.

That’s...holy shit, that’s new. He’s not sure the last time he got hugged by someone he liked. Jarvis tended to like the shoulder-pat, and Ana...well, she loved to hug him, but it had been a while. (Maria and Howard, he was quite sure, had skipped the ‘human emotional intimacy’ section of life.)

“Your dad sucks,” Jim mutters. “Just so you know.”

“I know. I know.”

From then, they become friends. Tony is wondering if its pity. He asks Jim as such. He snorts.

“Tony, I don’t make friends out of pity. I’m not that kind of guy. If we were friends out of pity, I’d be moving out next semester.”

Tony smiles.

He learns how to do friend things. They have a sleepover complete with the greasiest pizza possible, video games, and at least one debate over Star Wars.

(It’s about whether or not the skeletal structure of Jabba the Hut holds up in truth, and how density of space affects him on different planets.)

Tony, somehow, starts calling him Rhodey. It sticks, and Jim doesn’t complain.

Rhodey’s sweaters slowly become Tony’s, and Rhodey teaches Tony all about casual affection.

Hugs before class, kisses on the forehead, and more than enough teasing to last three lifetimes or more.

Come May, everyone’s abuzz with summer plans. Tony, however, is dreading it. Rhodey lives in Virginia, and Tony lives in New York. His mother wants him to live in their summer home in California.

“Oh come on, I know that you’ll have to visit me,” Rhodey says, grinning. “Tell your mom it’s a business trip or something.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were corrupting me,” Tony says haughtily. Half his wardrobe is packed up, and he’s just waiting on Jarvis with the car.

“Of course I am, gotta train you for when you liaison with the government for army contracts.”

Tony laughs loudly.

“Ah, so true. I’ll mark it down as heir-apparent training with my dear, drastically old father.”

Rhodey nods, grinning.

Tony’s leaving a day earlier than Rhodey is.

He hopes he comes back a day earlier.

After all, you can’t wait until you see your friend again.

#howard stark is a stinky stinky man #absolutely do not vibe with him #and yes i was going to make this romantic rhodeytony but i think friendship is equally important #rhodeytony #ironhusbands #i just like how easily they can fit together and i am slowly falling more in love w this ship #thank u ava!#lovelyirony writes #tony stark #rhodey #iron man #war machine

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angst-fairygodmother · 3 years

Text

Flowers ~ An Idiot (Affectionate) Story

A/N: I wanted to continue Ryne’s backstory, especially since my drabble really just raised more questions (and then y’all said you wanted it). Also, this is like super heavy topics, and I tried to tag them all, but please let me know if I missed any or need to make any tags clearer. Word Count: 1914 Rating: M - self-deprecation; discussion of: past emotional abuse, teacher/student (adult/minor) relationship; cheating; manipulation; canon-typical language

“Hey, can we talk?” Derek asked, leaning against her kitchen counter, folding his arms over his chest casually.

Ryne faltered, nearly dropping the bowl she’d been scrubbing. “About what?”

“...that guy. The one that had you sobbing a few days ago.” He flinched at his own bluntness, guilty but unsure how else to put it.

She sighed, setting down the soapy sponge and turning to him. “Yeah. I mean I guess, if you really want to know.”

“You haven't been you since. I’m worried.”

“What do you mean I haven’t been me?” she frowned, bewildered.

“You’ve been distracted, grumpy, passing up opportunities to insult me even when I leave myself wide open.” He shrugged. “I’ll believe you if you tell me it’s nothing. But I wanna help, if you’re hurting. And I wanna know you, the good and the bad. Please?”

He was asking, but he meant what he said that it was up to her, and she knew that. It was strange, to be that in control, and stranger still, that she wanted to open up.

She closed her eyes, taking a shuddering, steeling breath.

“Lucas was...a teacher, not like a teacher-teacher, just someone my uncle knew who he paid to tutor me or whatever, push me further than school could. He was really set on getting me ready to be that whole Ivy League, MBA, 9 to 5 in a three-piece suit, bust my ass to climb the corporate ladder but never actually make it to the top because I have a vagina but hey it looks good for him because he raised me, bullshit.”

“You and Sean really are related,” Derek mused, shaking his head and earning a glare before motioning for her to continue.

“Anyway. He tutored me, and he listened to me, and pretended to give a shit, and told me that I was brilliant and beautiful and special.” She spat the word like it was poison. “No one had ever bothered before. The first time he kissed me was when I got my SAT scores back. And I thought, it didn’t matter that I was...I guess I hadn’t quite turned seventeen yet, or that he was twice that, because I was stupid, and I thought he actually loved me.”

“Ryne…” Derek murmured as he stared, aghast and furious. He knew what she was saying, but couldn’t wrap his head around it. That someone would, or could do something like that, could take advantage and play someone like that, or that she had ever believed, been made to believe, she was less than incredible.

“Lucas?” she called as she opened the front door and poked her head inside. “He-llooo?”

When she was greeted by total silence in the apartment, she pouted. Sure, she was a little over an hour earlier than she expected to be getting to her boyfriend’s home, but that shouldn’t have been enough time that he wasn’t home. They hadn’t seen each other since the semester started so she had sort of expected him to meet her as soon as she walked in the door, or at least be waiting for her in the living room, but the place was empty.

“I’m just going to grab a quick shower,” she announced to the air, dropping her duffle bag on the couch to deal with later.

As she passed the bedroom, she heard a sound that made her heart drop into her stomach. Slowly pushing the door opened, she tried to prepare herself for what she knew was on the other side.

“Kathryn!” Lucas shouted, scrambling to sit up from where he lay tangled with two women in the sheets.

“I...Lucas...what...why?” she stammered.

“What was I supposed to do Kathryn?” he snapped, glaring. “You weren’t here. I have needs.”

“I was at school for a month...and you didn’t say anything.”

“I shouldn’t need to. If you really cared about me, you’d understand that. You’d have come home on the weekends, or sent me a video. Taken care of me, instead of being so selfish.”

“We should go,” one of the girls said to the other, awkwardly shuffling around with a sheet pulled over her chest to find their clothes.

The other leaned in, kissing Lucas on the cheek before realizing what she was doing. “I’ll...bye.”

Ryne stared with wide eyes at the scene unfolding before her. It was like something out of a bad dream. The first woman to have to have spoken patted her awkwardly on the shoulder as they scooted past.

“I had school. I needed to focus, and I...you cheated on me…?” she said, eyes welling with tears.

“No. Sweetie. It’s not cheating…” Lucas cooed, climbing out of bed and approaching her. “I swear it didn’t mean anything. I love you. I just needed a little relief. You understand don’t you? I’d so much rather it was you.”

He leaned down to kiss her and she turned her head away. Undeterred, his lips sought her neck and she found herself relaxing into his touch like she always did.

“I really thought it was my fault. Somehow I believed that if I had just given him more, it wouldn’t have happened.”

She laughed bitterly. Derek wanted to reach out and hold her, but something in her body language told him not to, not yet. It hurt him not to, but now that the floodgates had opened, he could see she needed to tell all of it, and that his comfort would just be getting in her way.

“I don’t even know how you give someone more than everything?” She looked at him, tears in her eyes and confusion on her face, like she was expecting an answer and he shook his head.

“He begged me to move in with him so we’d have more time together. I convinced myself that whatever I’d done wrong, I could...fix...it. But I couldn’t. And then he was just cheating on me right under my nose, and trying to get me to do things I didn’t want to do. And making me feel like dog shit under his heel was worth more. And somehow, like a moron, I still believed he loved me.” She shook her head in disparagement.

“Hey, don’t do that. Shit. The only one you should be saying anything bad about is this douchebag, not yourself.”

He decided to reach out anyway, taking her face gently between his hands and using his thumbs to brush away the tears running down her cheeks.

“Come ‘ere.”

He drew her in, and she gratefully stepped into the protective bubble he formed just by being there next to her. She leaned against him, breathing deeply and taking comfort in his solid warmth.

“So...you never said what brought you to Boston?” Ryne asked her aunt, tugging the sleeve of her winter coat down further over her wrists and palms.

“I came to see you,” Patty Falco responded flatly. “David told me where to find you. He said you dropped out of Brown?”

Ryne shrugged, staring out over the waterfront instead of meeting her eye. “I couldn’t handle it. I’ll go back…” It sounded unconvincing even to her own ears. “I just need to figure some stuff out first.”

“Stuff like that boyfriend of yours?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice how much older he was than you. Or his over-inflated self-importance. I was worried about you when you didn’t come out for Christmas. You haven’t missed it since you had the stomach flu when you were seven.”

“I know...Lucas didn’t want to go. He wasn’t ready to meet my whole family. We just stayed in and had a quiet holiday. I meant to call but…”

She looked down, fiddling with her fingers. She didn’t want to lie to her aunt. But how could she admit the truth? How could she say that it had been her idea not to fly out to Portland because she’d want to never come back, because she knew as soon as her family met him they’d pick up on the fact that Lucas didn’t make her happy, if anything he did the opposite.

“I’m not blind, Ryne.”

She turned her head sharply to look at Patty now, frowning.

“You’re miserable darling. You look exhausted and pale, and like you forgot what smiling is. You dropped out of school. I can list things til the cows come home, but I don’t need to when we both know it. Does he hit you?”

“Aunt Patty it’s not—”

“Don’t tell me it’s not that bad or not what I think. You know better than to lie to your elders. Answer the question.”

“No,” Ryne blinked back tears. “No. It’s all in my head. I’ve just been trying so hard...I...I just wanted him to love me again. If I change, if I do what he wants...”

“He’ll just keep pushing further. Men like that, people like that, aren’t happy until they’ve chipped away everything you are and reduced you to nothing, because it makes them feel powerful.”

“That’s all I’ve got left already.”

“No. It’s not. You have your family. He’s at work right now right?”

Ryne nodded hesitantly. “Yeah. He should have left about twenty minutes ago.”

“Good.” Patty stood up from the bench, holding a hand out for Ryne. “Let’s go.”

“I moved in with them, got my feet back under me, got a job. Reapplied to school, maxed out my summer classes to get back on track. I thought about giving up on higher education, but it just seemed like that was letting him take it all away, make everything pointless. I moved on, and I was...I was good. But seeing him again...it just...I thought I left that and him and everything behind. I haven’t been back, I barely talk to my uncle,” she sighed deeply, “and somehow that bastard still managed to...show up here, in my life.”

She sniffled and buried her face into his chest. He pressed a kiss to her temple and let her, both of them silent for a while.

“Does Sean know?” Derek asked eventually, hesitantly.

“No. He knows that something happened that fucked me up for a while, but not what. And he can’t. You know he gets all...protective or whatever. Even though there’s only a few months between us and I could probably take him in a fair fight.”

Derek laughed. “You don’t fight fair.”

“Yeah, but Sean does, and would believe me if I said I would too. That’s why I can take him.”

“I know some guys from the neighborhood, and we know where he lives now. If you want me to…”

“Derek, no. I just want to forget about it.”

“We could just go round and scare him a bit?”

“No.”

“Okay. Okay. What do you need then? What can I do?”

She shook her head softly, fondly. “You don’t even know how much you already do, do you?”

He gave her a puzzled look.

“I just need you to keep being you.”

“I don’t understand. But if that’s all you want, I think I can manage it,” he said with a half smile and a chuckle.

She tilted her head to look up at him. “And if I need a little more reassurance for a while...or say, more kisses…?”

He leaned down, not quite touching her. “I can definitely do that one.”

#infidelity tw #emotional abuse tw #Yes that's a deeply relevant Hadestown-reference title #I'm so sorry my baby #applications to fight a bitch may be sent c/o: Derek Sandoval 4855 Northwest Hamilton St Portland #Derek Sandoval x Ryne Cassidy #Idiot (Affectionate)#I am the Angst Fairy Godmother

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tngrace · 3 years

Text

Road Trip

Written for @911lonestarangstweek day 4. This really got away from me 🙈 it was supposed to a short one shot, but now I'm debating making it into an AU series - so please leave me your thoughts on if that is something you'd like to see -and if it is something you'd like, I'd be open to request for the series.

This also takes my Road Trip square on my GTHB square for my bestie @justkillingtimewhileiwait thanks for letting change your original idea and run with this. I hope you like it boo! ❤

As always thank you @moviegeek03 for all your support on my writing.

GTHB masterlist; Read on A03

TK and Carlos met when they were freshmen in college at Austin Community College. They had a joint Lit class, and instantly became best friends. TK had escaped to Austin from NYC, having picked a random place on the map just wanting to get away from his parents. He was taking some classes to appease his mother, but he wasn't sure he'd make it past the first semester. He was debating between a career as a paramedic or a firefighter, but his mother insisted he needed to try college and find his own path. Carlos was struggling with his own career path as much as TK; he'd had a chance to go to the University of Texas on a soccer scholarship, but had turned it down in favor of finding his way at the community college first. He still played in a league in town on the weekends, but he knew it wasn't his career path. His father was a Texas Ranger, but Carlos wasn't sure that was the path he wanted to take. He was taking a mixture of classes between criminal justice, social work, and psychology to see if something stuck out more than the rest.

Their first semester was just general entrance level classes, but TK had already started some EMT classes alongside his Gen Ed ones. Carlos had started a psychology class with his Gen Ed ones, but he was waiting until he could delve deeper into all three programs before making any decisions. TK ended up liking Austin more than he expected and not just because of Carlos, so he ended up making it a whole year in the EMT program at Carlos's insistence. Carlos wasn't ready to lose his best friend just yet, even though he knew after that year, he probably would.

After that one year, TK joined the fire academy at ACC, electing to stay in Austin much to everyone's surprise. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to be a paramedic or follow in his father's footsteps, but with his level one EMT certification completed through ACC, he was able to join the academy fairly easily to see if he would like it. Carlos supported TK's decision either way.

They ended up renting an apartment in town together close to campus over summer break once TK decided he was staying. Once fall classes started back up, Carlos worked shifts at a community center that offered activities for kids, teens and elderly, around his class and soccer schedule, and TK worked weekend shifts at a coffee shop and restaurant. Thankfully real estate was cheaper in Austin than NYC, and they were able to afford the apartment on their part time jobs. Living together led to new challenges of getting to know one another better, but it also brought the greatest change to both their lives. Ever since the day they met, they were both slowly falling. Getting together was inevitable; falling in love was easy; making it last, well that was to be determined.

Sophomore year seemed to fly by and before Carlos knew it, he was having to make a decision on what he wanted to do next. TK had joined station 126 when he graduated from the fire academy. He was dual certified, and a total badass at his job in Carlos’s opinion, making him one of the most sought after probies of his class. Carlos ultimately decided to go on to UT and get a bachelor's in criminal justice with a minor in psychology. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure what he would do after, but having that extra time to decide eased his anxiety.

With TK working full time now at the station, Carlos was able to take on more classes if he wanted. He chose not to though; instead TK encouraged him to get back into soccer more, knowing how much Carlos missed it. His first semester at UT, he watched a soccer practice and decided to try out. Surprisingly he was able to walk on that year. TK supported all of Carlos’s decisions, just like Carlos did of TK. TK did his best to never miss a game, although sometimes his shifts coincided with them.

It was senior year, and there was a soccer match in Florida over spring break. The team elected to drive having convinced the coach to let them all drive separately so they could fully experience spring break after the games. Carlos was fine with driving on his own because he was known for getting car sick, sometimes exceptionally bad. He was surprised, however, when TK announced he'd taken the week off work to go with him. "Are you sure?" Carlos asked him when TK had told him.

"Yes. I saved up vacation for this. I might not have wanted the full college experience, but I don't want to miss your last spring break, or games," he grinned.

Carlos gave him a soft kiss that they both smiled into. "Ok," he whispers, not breaking their bubble. They packed that night and loaded the car so they could head out first thing the next morning. They had a sixteen and half hour drive ahead of them, so they wanted to hit the road as early as possible. They technically didn't have to be there til Monday, but Carlos liked having this extra time with TK since he was off work.

In the two and half years they'd been together, Carlos had managed to only catch a cold or bad allergies on TK. He had forewarned him on their first ever adventure together that he was prone to car sickness, but thankfully he'd not had any. The first part of the journey, Carlos was going to drive. TK was coming off a twenty four hour shift, and he wanted TK to get as much as sleep as possible. They'd just crossed into Alabama nine hours after leaving home. They'd stopped a couple times, but Carlos had insisted he was fine to keep driving. They were stopping for food, gas, and to stretch their bodies for a bit. TK was feeling more refreshed after his long nap, and he insisted on driving afterwards. Their goal was to make it as close to Orlando as they could before having to stop to sleep.

They eat at a roadside diner and discuss their plans for the week ahead. Carlos has a game Monday and if they win they'll play Tuesday; lose and they'll go home. He has to admit he's glad TK pushed him to pick it back up because it's been a great distraction when life feels too stressful. After they walk around for a little bit, and refuel, TK takes over driving and they hit the road again.

They've been driving for about five hours when TK notices Carlos has gone exceptionally quiet. "Babe? You ok?"

"Yea. Yea. I'm ok." He reaches over and squeezes TK's knee in reassurance even though he's not that convincing.

"Carlos?" TK tries again with a little more worry lacing his tone.

"Ok. Maybe I'm not so ok. I think I'm starting to get a little queasy, so I should probably try to sleep." He says it almost apologetically, but he also isn't sure he wants TK to see how sick he can get.

"Of course. You lay back and sleep and just let me know if we need to stop," TK says the worry clear in his voice as he runs a hand through Carlos's curls. He'd come prepared with some sprite, Gatorade, dramamine, and even his medic bag just to be safe. He knew Carlos said sometimes his car sick episodes could be pretty rough and he just wanted to be prepared to make Carlos feel better. He keeps an eye on him out of the corner of his eye, and while Carlos appears to be asleep, TK can tell from the furrow of his brow that he's still feeling rough.

After another hour, TK pulls into a gas station to refuel. He softly rubs Carlos’s cheek. "You want some dramamine?"

"Not really. It knocks me out and leaves me feeling fuzzy afterwards," Carlos murmurs.

"Ok. Gonna get some gas, and then we'll figure out a plan." TK softly kisses Carlos's forehead before he gets out. He hates that Carlos is feeling so sick, and he looks up motels nearby in case he can convince Carlos to stop and rest since they're so close to Orlando.

Carlos insists he'll be fine the last hour of the drive, even though TK is skeptical. He does get Carlos to take some sips of a sprite before they get back on the road. Carlos does his best to sleep the last hour to the hotel they'll be staying at for the soccer games, but it's hard with the way his stomach is rolling. Carlos elects to stay in the car while TK checks them in, and it's only once they've stopped moving that he realizes how sick he is.

He makes it over to the nearest bushes, and he violently loses everything he'd put into his body that day. If there's one thing Carlos hates, it's puking. It's the worst in his book, but he hates even more that it makes his eyes water to the point he cries. TK finds him mere seconds after he started puking, but Carlos is too sick to care at this point. He feels TK rubbing his back until he is done, ending with dry heaves. He stays bent over trying to catch his breath as his head pounds in time with his heartbeat. It's the sickest he's been in a long time.

"Here small sips. We'll stay right here until you think you can make it to the room." TK passes him a Gatorade he seemingly pulled out of thin air and rubs a piece of ice on Carlos's neck since he doesn't have a towel or washcloth. Gatorade is his least favorite, but he knows he'll need the electrolytes so he does as TK says and takes small sips.

After a few small sips and a few more gags at the taste, Carlos finally stands up and wipes at his eyes to try and hide and dispel the tears. "Sorry you had to see that."

"Hey no. I don't mind. I just hate that you were sick. Think you can make it to the room?" TK asks wiping at Carlos's face.

"Yea. Think so." His body feels heavy with exhaustion as always after being car sick and his head pounds still. He really just wants to lay down. TK wraps an arm around him and gets him back to the car. He drives around to their room and then helps Carlos out. When Carlos moves to grab some of their stuff TK stops him. "I've got it. Let's get you on the bed."

"You shouldn't have to carry all this in," Carlos pouts.

"And you need to rest ," TK counters. "You were pretty sick babe and you're still looking a little pale."

Carlos tries to hide his face, hating that TK had witnessed that, but TK just stops him with soft reassurances and leads him to the room. He hurries out for their bags, promising Carlos he can brush his teeth soon, and then he's back. Carlos’s eyes feel like they weigh a ton, but he stays awake long enough for TK to dig out his toothbrush. He let's TK help him over to he bathroom, hating how weak and tired he feels, but TK keeps up the quiet reassurances that he doesn't mind helping. It's nothing he hasn't seen on the job, and he loves Carlos, therefore he doesn't mind taking care of him.

Once his mouth feels fresh, he let's TK strip him down for bed. TK gets a cold wash cloth and rubs it over Carlos’s face and neck making Carlos hum in contentment. He gets Carlos settled in bed, and Carlos clings, not wanting TK to move far. "Ok. Let's cuddle," TK says fondly. He hates that Carlos is sick, but he's kinda enjoying seeing Carlos in a different element of being vulnerable in front of TK.

He softly rubs Carlos’s back as Carlos gets comfy. "Tomorrow should be better," Carlos murmurs softly.

"If it's not it'll be ok. I have some of the sea sick bands in my medic bag if you'd like to try them. You have to wear them at least thirty minutes before going anywhere or I would've suggested them earlier when we stopped. I just wasn't sure they'd do much for you then. "

"Mmm I might. Dramamine works. I just don't like the after feeling."

"I get that babe. But don't worry about it now. You just rest and let me take care of you." Carlos murmurs his assent, and with TK rubbing his back, he drifts off to sleep fairly quickly. TK makes sure he's good and asleep before he goes to get the rest of their stuff. He's quiet as he carries it in and starts to unpack. Once he's got the cooler situated, with most of the food in the mini fridge, he feels his own exhaustion creeping in. He strips down and crawls in bed with Carlos, smiling as Carlos instantly curls back around him. He's glad to see his boyfriend finally resting.

Carlos is still a bit sluggish the next day, so they sleep in and take it easy. After a light lunch and more Gatorade for Carlos, they try out the bands when they do some light exploring. They seem to help, but the true test will be on the trip home. By Monday, Carlos is back to full speed, and the soccer team wins. They lose on Tuesday though so the rest of the week is theirs to do as they please. One day is spent at Disney since neither had been before and despite knowing they won't be able to do it all, and the rest of the week is spent on the beach. They talk about coming back to Disney one day, wanting the full experience of all the parks. They have a blast together just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Carlos wears the bands on the way home when TK drives, and he doesn't get sick so he takes the win. TK is just glad he was able to take care of Carlos for a change and hopefully found a permanent solution to keep his love from being that sick ever again.

#911lsangstweek #911 lone star angst week #911 lone star #911 lone star fic #tarlos #tarlos fic #tarlos au fic #writers life #gthb #good things happen bingo

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writingsfromhome · 4 years

Text

Lookalike

Request: Can you do another cone song? Maybe lookalike or maniac? [Can you do it like harry dates a lookalike of you?]

A/N: I know this is way later than I said, I honestly wrote four version of this and deleted them before settling on this one and it’s still not the best. I’m just posting it so I can move on to my other ideas. I hope you enjoy it anyway! Soz it ends kinda on a cliffhanger, I didn’t want to make it super long. It already feels really long.

———————————

It was a humid summer evening, not the kind of evening you wanted to step out in. But here I was, in line with my best friend Jules who’d somehow gotten word of this pop-up club that was recently getting more popular with social media. The location would be dropped in code somewhere online for a limited time and then the rest was just word of mouth. Jules worked as a makeup artist so she usually knew what the “in crowd” was doing. This time, she knew where the club was going to be.

Myself, I was just a recent masters-graduate with low job prospects and big time loans. Always tired, single, and at the moment, very, very sweaty. The humidity was really damaging the effort I’d put in for this night out.

“Do you think we’ll spot Ed Sheeran?” Jules asks, her one true desire. “Then I can finally tell him how much he means to me.”

“Don’t know if this is Ed’s scene,” I tease her. “He seems more like a laid-back pub sort of guy.”

“You’re so right,” she still peers around us. “You hoping to see any celebs here? This one’s the biggest so far I’ve heard.”

His face pops into my head but I slam my guard down. “I’ll be lucky just to find a cute guy.”

“Two of you?” The bouncer asks Jules as we make our way to the front-she looked twelve, and we finally head inside. We’d stepped into a storybook.

Vines and tiny lights covered the ceiling and floors, rays of green and pink lights flash around us and the ground was littered with flower petals.

“Oh my god the seats are trees,” Jules whispers in my ear. This was insane.

“They probably have themed drinks,” I grab Jules’ hand and pull her to where I see the bar. We loved a good themed drink.

“This is amazing,” Jules shouts. “I think I just saw Adele!”

On a second look, we decide it was Adele’s doppleganger but we’re soon preoccupied by drinks. I order a Cosmic Boom and take another look around the open space. It was getting pretty full, people dancing but a lot of people hanging about talking.

Jules and I take our drinks to the dancefloor and enjoy ourselves. This was new all over-enjoying myself. I’d spent the last five months working hard at school, job searching, and then a bit of travel. But I was so busy convincing myself that if I worked hard enough I’d forget about the awful year I’d had. Would forget about Harry and the way he left me.

Nobody would believe it, but Harry Styles was my boyfriend for a solid year. We’d met when I was visiting Jules on set of some talk show. He’d been there, after his interview, and mistakened me for backstage crew. He asked me to show him where his room was. He’d been so embarassed when I told him I didn’t work there, but I volunteered to help him find it anyway. I was just killing time ‘til Jules was done.

We had gotten lost and ended up in this storage space where it was clear stage props were stored. We’d found half a car-cut clear through the middle and ended up sitting inside and talking. It was weird, just an hour before that, Harry Styles was this iconic and unattainable person who lived in the fantasy part of my brain. Sitting in the semi-dark with him, in a half-car, and being only a foot away, he was just another person. A regular bloke who was gorgeous, talking to me about his recent mother’s day disaster while I laughed and told him about something similar that had happened when I was a child.

It was quite silly to think we were going to leave that room the same way we walked into it.

He’d leaned in once quiet had settled down around us, both of us just watching the other, afraid that speaking would ruin the moment. His finger had ghosted my face, hesitating, asking me without really asking me. I’d leaned in the rest of the way to tell him it was okay. That’s when I knew I was a goner.

He was gentle with me, but also entirely self assured, leading the way. I couldn’t keep track of his lips or his hands but every part of my body was alive and I lived entirely in the moment for him.

He’d called me later that night asking if I wanted to have dinner at his place. We knew we had something good going. So we kept at it.

Until five months ago.

“Y/N?” Jules says in my ear. I snap out of my memories and look to where she’s pointing. And then back to her ecstatic face. There, sitting near the DJ was actually Ed Sheeran.

“Jules,” I say, lost for words. We had to do this now. We had to approach him, now or never.

“I can’t,” she says close to me. “I’m going to vom right now.”

“Come on!” I grab her and try to move her stiff body one step at a time until we’re only a couple feet away. That’s when the group he’s talking to shifts and I see Harry. Harry with a girl on his arm. My Harry.

“What’s wrong?” Jules halts as my own body goes rigid. “Don’t tell me you’ve got nerves now...oh hey isn’t that Harry?”

“Yeah...” my mouth was dry and I couldn’t believe it. He was here, I really didn’t think I’d see him ever again.

“I need to talk to you,” Harry says as I pour my morning coffee. It was the first week of my final semester so I was actually in a good mood, optimistic before all the deadlines hit. I never saw it coming.

“What’s up?” i was so innocent, drinking my coffee with no idea what else was brewing.

He takes the coffee cup from my hands and puts it down, gathering my hands in his. I notice his hands are slightly clammy, that was the first red flag.

“What’s wrong?” I ask again, the anxiety spiking up.

“No-nothing. I was just thinking about how I have to on tour for the next year. You’ve still got school to finish and a great big career ahead of you. I feel like I’m just going to hold you back and I-“

“That’s silly,” I interrupt. “You’d never...”

“I might. I’ll have tour and you’ll have school-“

“Hold on. Are you just trying to say...is it you who’ll hold me back or me who’s going to hold you back?” I asked, confused. How would Harry ever hold me back? I offered to go on legs of his tour with him when I could. I could do my work on the road. Nobody was going to hold anybody back

Harry opens his mouth to explain but I don’t let him get a word in. How dare he try to twist the situation. He should just say what he felt!

“Is that really it? I’m just a regular girl-next-door who’s run out of her luck with the famous superstar? She could never understand your fame, you could never want her in the public’s eye? Is that it? You’re too good for me? You can’t even think about going public with our rel-“

“Trust me you don’t want tha-“

“Don’t tell me what I want!” The coffee had curdled in my stomach and I felt like dry-heaving but I hold it together. I was so in love with this man, to think about living without him was painful beyond comprehension. But all he saw me as was deadweight. The realisation is crushing. “Just leave Harry. Just bloody leave then, I don’t want to see you! After all we had together I’m just deadweight to you? I’m going to hold you back? And yoy can’t eve be a man and say what you really want!”

He’d ruffled his hair, given some explanation, tried to tell me he loved me but I was somewhere else. My life felt like it was falling apart, and I had a lab to teach in a few hours. He was so bloody selfish. I decided I hated him.

“-show him who cares. Go right up and pretend you don’t even know who he is...” I wasn’t sure how long Jules was talking but she was right. I didn’t care about him. This was my night out.

Jules walks ahead and uses her charm to wriggle her way into the small conversation, inserting me right beside her. She knew the business, taking her time to talk to Ed Sheeran so as not to overwhelm him. In the meantime, my eyes catch Harry’s, and it’s like a movie line. Time slows down, I hear the breath I take and see the surprise register on his face. But I let my eyes skim past his, he meant nothing to me. Instead, they land on his girlfriend and that’s where I fight to hide the surprise.

There’s these photos I see online sometimes, you take a picture and draw it in your own style. His new girlfriend was kind of like that. She looked just like me, except slightly off. More like how I looked last year. Since then, I’d grown out my hair and let its natural colour grow in. But I nudge Jules and use my hair as a curtain, trying to tell her to look. She speaks my language so she sees right away and her eyes widen. She mouths oh my god.

I watch from the corner of my eye while pretending to be engaged by Jules introducing what she does to Ed Sheeran. Harry says something to his girl and she laughs. Jesus, even her smile was reminiscent of mine. I try not to stare, using my drink as a distraction but some small part of me-most of me is upset-but a small part of me feels like I’d won. Harry had told me I wasn’t good enough for him, and then gone out to find someone who looked just like me. That gives me the confidence I need to finally look him in the eye. It’s like he was tracking my moves because he looks at me too. He smiles and I just raise my eyebrows.

“Y/N,” he says in that deep silky voice of his. It carries across despite the noise. My heart squeezes.

“Harry,” I say. I let my eyes slide to his girlfriend and she raises a hand.

“Hi, I’m Katy.”

“Hi,” I smile, she’d done nothing wrong except look like me I guess. She looks up at Harry, waiting for him to introduce us. Ugh.

“And this is Y/N, she’s my best friend but she always says she never understands my absolute obsession with your music.” Jules from the right of me catches my attention. She was introducing me to Ed Sheeran-and exposing me.

“Okay. Ouch.” I give her a look which makes her laugh and shake Ed’s hand. Oh my god. “I’m definitely a fan, just not as big as Jules.”

“She’s more of an indie rock girl,” Harry’s deep voice comes from behind me and I’m surprised to find him standing right behind me.

Jules raises her eyebrow at him, glances at me while Harry and Ed talk before interjecting and resuming her conversation.

“I’d say I’m more of a pop girl.” I turn to Harry. I look for his girlfriend but she’d disappeared.

“But that’s not your guilty pleasure,” Harry says and I avoid the tingle in my stomach as he says it. “And Kat’s gone off with her friend, they saw Adele they want to get a picture.” I don’t bother to say it wasn’t Adele. “How’s it going with you?”

He has to lean in close to be heard and I find myself drawing closer to his orbit. I had to be careful here. I remind myself that I hated him.

“Same old,” I say. “I’ve graduated, now looking for full time work. Travelled a bit too.”

“You finally see those tourist traps you wanted to?”

I forgot how intimately Harry knew me, I wanted to forget how much history we shared. But it’s so painfully obvious now that that would be impossible. Even holding onto my hate was proving slippery.

“The Great Pyramids were better than the Eiffel Tower,” I reference an old conversation we’d had. “So I was right.”

This makes Harry laugh and the club narrows down to just us as he steps to the side with me to a quieter area.

We stand in silence for a moment, just watching each other, memorizing the details about each that time had blurred. Like the laugh lines around his eyes, or the depth to his eyes. It feels like he’s cheating with me, with how fiery and focused his gaze is on me. The unspoken words in his eyes.

“Harry I-“ I raise my hand to tell him I should go, I didn’t want anything to happen we would regret. But he takes my hand and puts it to his warm chest. The words leave my mouth as I look at him again. Really look at him. From afar he looked like he was doing better than he ever was but up close I notice the tired bags and the lost look in his eyes. It was the same one I saw in my own after we’d broken up.

This was ridiculous, I tell myself. He left me, I shouldn’t feel bad for him. I’d won. But I want to ask him about Katy, when he looked in her eyes, did he think of mine? And when he looked at her smile, did I cross his mind? I already knew that he saw me instead ‘cause she looks a lot like I did back then. I wanted to ask him and tell him not to lie.

“How are you doing?” I finally break and ask even though I want to ask, is she just a lookalike?

He looks away, his hand letting go of mine. His fake smile is back on his face as he performs for me once again. “Not too bad. I’ve got a break from tour right now so just layin’ low.”

I look around and point to the club around us. “Laying low?”

“Yeah,” Harry laughs at being caught. “My girlf-Katy-she really wanted to come out to one of these with her girlfriends. She convinced me to come along.”

I didn’t know what to say to that so I just smile. My phone buzzed and I see a text from Jules. I look for her in the crowd and she’s staring at me with a raised eyebrow. I give her the everything is okay smile and she looks relieved.

“Jules is overprotective as usual,” Harry notices. What did he expect, I think, when he’s the selfish arse who broke my heart. The small flame of anger reignites as I watch Jules smile at me with caring eyes.

“She just wanted me to hook up with a cute guy tonight,” I say to Harry. “Spending it with my ex kind of kills the vibe.”

There, I’d addressed the elephant in the room. And just as I suspected, Harry gets uncomfortable.

“So I take it you’ve not got a boyfriend?”

“Nope,” I cross my arms. “Was busy travelling...” and feeling depressed at home I don’t add.

“Right,” Harry straightens up. “Well don’t let me keep you Y/N. Sorry to...”

I look up at him, his pause. His apology seems to be about something bigger than keeping me from the rest of the club. But I don’t mention it. I don’t push it. Yes, I wanted to stay here in this corner of the club with him but I don’t want to make it a big deal. I give him a squeeze on the arm to tell him it was alright. He paints a smile on and I walk away even though I want to just stay.

I walk to Jules, tell her I’d get another drink for us. At the bar, waiting for our drinks, I notice Harry with Katy again, they’re dancing with her friends, she laughs, he pulls her closer.

That was us not long ago, before that morning chat. God. I really did hope, in his head, he saw me instead. Cause...he’d been in mine every day since then. I admit it, some nights, no almost every night...I still though about him. I tried to hide it, I did an amazing job at hiding it, but I couldn’t erase him from my mind. The thought almost makes me laugh as I get my drinks...maybe I just needed to find a lookalike.

#harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles x reader #harry styles angst #harry styles imagine #harry styles #conan gray #lookalike #fic #writingsfromhome #sunset season

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weepingvoidpenguin · 5 years

Text

Misconception

Summary: After Elijah harshly cuts you out of his life, you’ve learned to move on from a love that once was. Or was it? The love lingers there but when Elijah returns he’s met with an unexpected surprise and you have to decide whether you want to forgive him or finally let him go.

Warnings: Angst, or at least my attempt at it

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Hey guys! I’m sorry I haven’t posted so long! I just started the school semester and I’m working part time so I rarely have free time but I don’t want to leave anyone wondering. For those of you who are following me for The Gods’ Blessing story, don’t worry it hasn’t been discontinued. Again, just busy. Sorry! I hope you enjoy!

“There’s nothing about this conversation that can be serious,” you said, standing up from the armchair and gliding your way over to the container of bourbon on the platter.

There was a pause, a hesitance in Elijah’s tone that sprouted just a hint of fear in your heart but you pushed the negativity aside and poured the liquid into a glass. The trickle of the alcohol was the only sound that could be heard in the room, you hadn’t even realized you’d been holding your breath in hold of his response.

“(Y/N) . . . please.” You twirled around and raised an eyebrow at him over the brim of the cup as you sipped from it, “Let’s not make this harder than it already is,”

You watched how his eyes never met yours, how his throat strained at the guilt mingling in his voice and how he looked down at his phone expectantly, his gaze roaming back and forth from the floor to his screen.

“Who are you waiting for?” You twirled the liquid around in the glass, your elbow rested on the hand wrapped around your own waist.

For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, Elijah looked up at you and there was an honesty, a hidden pain behind his gaze that triggered the reality of his words in your soul. You exhaled the little breath you withheld and a tight knot formed in the pit of your throat. He wasn’t kidding. You fought the sudden overpowering ache in your chest and forced yourself to blink away the tears threatening to spill over despite never being afraid to cry in his presence before and the glass slipped from your grasp.

You were sure the shattering of the crystal was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the household but no one came and it dawned on you that they knew that this was coming. They knew what was happening and they had been ordered to stay out of it.

“Why?” you croaked through the pain in your throat.

His phone lit up. Your attention shot to the device on the side table and the name sprawled across the screen clenched at your heart.

Hayley.

He pried his sight away from the black screen and his flared nostrils mixed with the red rim of his gaze spoke volumes louder than his words ever could.

“For her?” You cursed yourself for emitting so much vulnerability in your tone, “You’re leaving me for her?”

“I-I love her,”

“You love me!” You shouted, stepping around the shattered glass that lay around your barren feet. “Or have you forgotten that?”

“(Y/N), I – ”

“Does she cloud your judgement so much? So much so that you forget the promises you’ve made me?” You clamped your hand on his jaw and jerk his face towards yours. If he was gonna do this then he would have to bare witness to your pain.

“She clouds nothing!” Elijah yelled, the pain in his voice constricting his words.

Your eyes studied his own, observing how his gaze never landed on yours and danced across the room. You felt the beginnings of stubble under your fingers and the smell of him, of his scent, was among the many things you were to miss.

“You’re lying to me, Elijah,” You hissed, the tears no longer contained by your lids, “I know when you’re lying,”

Elijah gripped your hand painfully and pried it from his face, “You believe what you choose to despite me telling you what’s true,”

“It’s not!” You shouted, ignoring the pain shooting up from the sole of your foot.

Elijah looked down, already smelling the cause of your pain and unlike his usual mannerism, ignored it and held strong in his words. He was showing that he cared nothing for you anymore. You were no longer his concern. And that went into effect immediately.

His glare bore into yours and a ferocity that replaced his pain urged him on despite how much he knew he was hurting you. It had to be done.

“You have ‘til the end of the night to find somewhere. If not, I’ll personally escort you off the premises,”

Your glare softened and disbelief took over, “E-Elijah,”

He bent over ever so slightly so he was at your level and you took a step back to make up for his intimidation, “Get. Out.”

Four years. It’d been four years since you’d last seen Elijah.

That night you called Damon and he offered you his home with open arms. Very un-Damon like but you sighed with relief when he did. Your family was back in Mystic Falls and although they’d be the logical option to move in with, your brother had a wife and you didn’t want to intrude on that.

The first year was hard for you. Everything about everything reminded you of Elijah. The kindness in your friends, the suits on Damon, the morality of Alaric. It was all too much for too long. Then Bonnie came up with a solution, temporary of course. She offered alleviation. A numbness without a cold. You would feel nothing but a dull ache while you sorted your pain out. Eventually, it worked.

These days, Elijah was the last thing on your mind, truly. You’d moved on, lived your life and stuck with Damon as a weird duo but you’d retained your mortality, until you were ready to give it up anyway. Or so he offered. But you weren’t sure. You couldn’t trade all that you currently had for immorality.

And as you sat on the chair outside The Grill, waiting for your food and drink, the reason for your hesitation waddled out of the restaurant, her eyes looking for your familiar figure. Your smile met your eyes as you outstretched your hands, repeatedly closing and opening your fists to motion for her to come to you. Her laugh brought a joy to your ears you’d long thought you’d lost but she rejuvenated you.

“Where’s Daddy?” You asked, not waiting for a reply. “Where’d he run off to?” You continued your chatter with her, not noticing the figure walking up to you.

“(Y/n) . . .” a voice emerged from behind you and your heart twisted in your chest.

You couldn’t bring yourself to turn around, afraid of seeing who you thought it was. Or worse, not seeing him at all. Your body shook but for what you didn’t know. Was it agony? Anger? Excitement? You didn’t have enough time to ponder its reasoning before he spoke your name again and you slowly turned around.

And seeing him now hurt just as much as when he’d kicked you to the curb.

“Elijah,” you whispered, afraid at how weak your voice sounded.

You watched as he looked you up and down slowly, not in a way to objectify you but like he was taking you in all over again. Like the first time he’d ever set eyes on you.

“W-what are you doing here?” You asked before a tugging on your leggings caught your attention and you looked down to see the toddler’s hands reaching out for you.

“Up!” she demanded and you contemplated it momentarily, afraid you’d honestly drop her from how hard your body shook but you seceded and picked up her light figure, resting her on your hips.

Elijah observed as your motherly instincts took over and a tightening in his chest that he’d felt throughout the years came back with a ferocity. It was too late. Unless . . .

He watched how you almost hid the girl from him, as though you were afraid he would notice something about her and the tightening twisted into physical pain at the thought that crossed his mind but he couldn’t help but ask.

“I-is that . . . I mean, is she,” but he couldn’t find the words, rather he pointed to you and then to himself. Normally, he wouldn’t even have considered the idea but Klaus managed to have a child with Hayley so anything could be possible, he thought. He hoped.

You twisted the child away ever so slightly and shook your head, “She’s not yours if that’s what you’re wondering,”

He smiled sadly at the child and stared down at you, of course she wasn’t his. That’d be more ‘good’ than he deserved. Especially considering how he behaved the last time he saw you. But he needed you gone, needed you safe. And you were.

The ache pulled at his stomach and made its way up to his throat, cramping it up. He’d waited too long to come back for you. How foolish he was to think you’d wait for him.

“She looks like you,”

You nodded and jumped up to raise her higher onto your hip, “I get that a lot,”

Moments of silence passed between you before you cleared your throat and shook him from his fantasies.

“I’m sorry to bother you, I have business to attend to,” he whirled around and took elegant but hasty strides away from you.

Oh God. Don’t go.

“Elijah,” you whispered, knowing he heard you despite the hush of your tone but he didn’t look back. He never looked back.

“It’s too late, Klaus. I’ve lost her,” The words burned Elijah’s throat as he spoke them.

“That’s not possible, Elijah. The woman’s in love with you,” Klaus responded, bearing no mind to the pain that his brother was living through. “You snap your fingers and she’ll come crawling back to you I know it-”

“She has a child, Klaus. A daughter.” Elijah whisked back the drink in his hand, staring menacingly at the lit fireplace.

Klaus raised his brow, “How old is the child?” He asked, the same curious tone that Elijah emitted not too long ago.

“Three, maybe four,” he responded.

Klaus’ eyebrows raised even higher, “Could it be-”

“She’s not.” Elijah silenced his brother in his retort. The topic would no longer be discussed.

“I see,” Klaus rested lazily back in his seat, “That’s too bad, Hope could do with a cousin her age,”

“This is your fault,” Elijah spoke, no specific emotion prevalent in his words.

Klaus let the silence go on for a beat too long, not knowing what he could say to calm the heartbreak of his elder brother. “You know she wouldn’t have left if you hadn’t broken her heart, Elijah. She’s a stubborn one. She would’ve stayed for the war and then you’d have truly lost her forever,”

Elijah chewed on the inside of his cheek, the resentment he had for his brother at a point he wasn’t aware it could reach, “I already have,”

By the time you pulled in to the driveway you were practically a mess, only holding it together for a few more moments before you were going to implode.

“Let’s go,” you said, unbuckling her tiny body from the new car seat you bought and walked her over to the front door before looking at the man standing beside you and waiting for him to pull out his keys. When he gave you a sheepish smile, you rolled your eyes and knocked on the door.

The seconds of silence that passed gave you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the pain you’d avoided for years now and if the door wasn’t opened soon you wouldn’t be able to hold it together for much longer.

“Mommy!” The door creaked open and she ran up to her mother and jumped into her arms.

“How was she?” she asked and you smiled, hoping the man beside you couldn’t see the pain in your action but he knew you too well to not notice.

“She was great. We went for ice cream and took a walk around the park then played on the swing set.” You chuckled at how loving she was towards her daughter. She watched as her husband entered the house looking as exhausted as ever.

“Thank you for watching them both.” She giggled and gave you one of her world renown smiles.

You nodded, “Of course, you know I love her and am obligated to love my brother as well,”

“No! Stay Aunty (Y/N)!” The toddler demanded and you smiled lightly at her.

“I’ll visit again soon, I promise!” You stuck out your pinky for her and she twisted her own miniscule one around yours.

“Pinky promise,” she said and smiled goofily at you.

“Pinky promise,”

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magicalforcesau · 3 years

Text

Dancing With Ghosts in Your Garden~ Chapter 17 - Year 2: January

(ao3 link)

Rex stared at a particularly peeling, cracked section of his older brother’s wall. Hevy had fought tooth and nail for his own room, he used to share with Cody and the two older boys used to butt heads more often than any other members of their family. He’d never seen it himself, but Fives and Echo had both confirmed and been pleased to share some nasty insults they’d heard them toss at each other. Rex counted himself lucky since he’d managed to avoid having to share a room, because he was the youngest, but more likely because Fives and Echo had wanted to share. Everyone knew that they were probably hiding some contraband in their room, but none of them were particularly brave enough to enter, Gryffindor or not they didn’t have a death wish.

Hevy himself was sitting at his desk scribbling on some documents that Rex didn’t find too interesting. He hadn’t bothered to look up when Rex entered and still had yet to acknowledge him in any way. He guessed as an older brother that he was probably used to it. Rex had done the same thing to Ninety Nine and Cody practically his whole life and neither had ever been bothered. Boba always was, but he was an extremely private person, Rex felt like he didn’t know him at all, but Cody always said that was just who Boba was.

“Are you done rummaging through my drawers or whatever you’re doing back there?” Hevy’s voice brought him out of his musings, making him scowl and cross his arms.

“I’m not looking to be scarred for life, thanks,” Hevy just huffed and Rex could practically see his eyes rolling through the back of his head, “You know Cody wanted to leave at 11 sharp.”

“Why’s that my problem?” Hevy swiveled around in his chair to stare down his younger brother, “I’m not the keeper of the house.”

As if on cue, they heard Cody’s angry shout from down the stairs, “HEVY! YOU SAID YOU WERE READY AN HOUR AGO!”

“And I was,” Hevy muttered to himself, standing up and stretching, before shouting down with just as much frustration, “KEEP YOUR PANTS ON I’M COMING!”

“This wouldn’t happen if you were ever on time,” Rex snickered as Hevy shoved his hand in a drawer in search of a shirt.

“I’m used to Cody being the late one,” Hevy grumbled, “The little bugger used to be so late we’d have to turn the clocks forward so he’d be ready in time,” He looked at Rex as if really realizing he was there, “Hey! You best be ready to go! I’m not apparating the stragglers.”

“Suuuure you aren’t,” Rex backed out of the room with a grin. He was packed and ready, but Hevy didn’t need to know that. He heard the older boy make some thinly veiled threats as he took the stairs up to the top of the house. He rarely came up here as two of the three occupants on the floor wouldn’t be pleased that he was invading their space. His father’s door was straight ahead and currently unoccupied. He was out on business. Boba’s was on the right, door shut and locked, also empty at the moment. It was the door on the left he was here for anyways.

The door was wide open and the colors on the walls were inviting as always. Ninety Nine had a lot of free time. He hadn’t had any luck finding a job that would take him and he no longer had any magical talent. Rex thought if he ever lost his magical talent and people were nothing, but mean or rude to him, he’d grow bitter and lash out at everyone. Not Ninety Nine though. He had simply taken the opportunity to pick up hobbies here and there. One of his first had been painting.

Most of the walls in their house were chipped and cracking, just like Hevy’s, but his eldest brother’s swam with color. It was abstract in nature, not having much meaning to Rex, but it must have some meaning to Ninety Nine because he was always as precise as he could be and had a knowing look in his eyes.

“Rex!” His brother crossed the room immediately to welcome him in. Smiling at him like there was no one he’d rather see, “Come in. Oh! But shouldn’t you be downstairs getting ready to go back to school? I’d hate for you to miss it, I’m eager to hear about what you’ll get up to this time.”

“In a minute,” Rex answered, waving off the concern, “Hevy and Cody are arguing anyways.”

His eyes twinkled as he laughed, “I’m sure they’ll notice sooner than you think,” Ninety Nine sat carefully on his desk chair and Rex sat across from him on the bed, “I’m glad you came to see me before running off, Fives and Echo were always too eager,” He looked towards his wall, where white and black paint danced around each other like two magnets, different, but stuck beside one another.

“You know them, hard to keep them in one place,” Rex shifted his weight, as he gazed around.

Ninety Nine paused in his reminiscing to size him up and Rex squirmed. It felt like he was being read from the inside out, “Something’s been bothering you.” It was a statement, not a question, but Rex felt the need to give a halfhearted shrug in answer anyways.

“What sort of answer is that?” He asked him with a tilt of his head, “Am I right or am I wrong? You know, if you’re not careful, your worries will eat at your brain til there’s nothing left. I know big tough Gryffindors are more about brawn than brains, but I think some of them could do with a little more of them,” Rex chuckled, thinking about some of the antics that commonly went on in their common room; he couldn’t exactly disagree.

“Well,” He started. He hadn’t been planning on talking about his fight with Anakin any more. They’d played together at Qui-Gon’s Christmas party so there was no reason for him to feel nervous to see him on the train, “I fought with a friend right before break. He was ignoring me and being a right arse,” His older brother stifled a laugh and motioned for him to go on, “I still think he was, but...” Rex had heard about Anakin’s mum. He didn’t know his own mum very well, but Anakin only had his mum, Rex wondered what it would be like if he was the only one left of his family. It was a rather gruesome thought, “I just want to move past it and be friends again.”

Ninety Nine gave him a nod, his expression more serious than it normally was, “Very noble of you to let bygones be bygones, many others, both muggles and wizards, stew in their grudges far too long if you ask me.”

“I hope he still wants to be my friend,” Rex admitted, although at the time of their fight, he’d assumed he was better off without him, it wasn’t until going most of winter break alone that he thought he might have a few regrets.

“Both of you are still young, I have no doubt that Anakin will welcome you back with open arms. He’s going to need a friend as loyal as you Rex,” He placed a hand on his knee and looked him in the eye as he said it.

“Yeah-” He started before he narrowed his eyes, “Wait, how did you know I was talking about Anakin?”

“Because he’s your best friend, Rexy,” He sat back with another smile, “and you’ve not talked about him much the whole break.”

Before Rex could respond, two booming voices shouted up the stairs, making him nearly fall off the bed, “REX! WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU? WE’RE LATE!”

“Aw,” Rex winced as he hurried for the door, “I’m in for it now,” He paused before leaping down the stairs to throw a grateful smile back to his brother who had climbed to his feet as well, “Thanks.”

“Have a good semester, Rex,” He answered with a wave.

***

Anakin and Qui-Gon had arrived at Kings Cross Station far earlier than he’d ever been. Qui-Gon had apologized, but as he was staff, he was needed there to help keep track of all the children. Anakin wasn’t in any position to complain about that. Qui-Gon had already done a lot for him, taking him in when he had nowhere to go and trying to keep him from spiraling too far into the dark thoughts that plagued him.

Still, it had been rather boring waiting around. He’d already deposited his trunk in the luggage cart and been resigned to counting the stones in the wall as students started to arrive. Obi-Wan had arrived earlier than anyone, his parents nowhere to be seen and his face brightening as he took in the sight of the red train, but falling again when he saw Anakin sitting alone on the side.

“Anakin,” He greeted kneeling down next to him, “How are you?”

Anakin wished people would quit asking him that. He had been saved from a lot of scrutiny by mostly keeping to himself and Qui-Gon seemed to know he didn’t want to be asked. He supposed he’d have to get used to such questions now that he was going to be around a lot of students that had likely seen the missing peoples report for one Shmi Skywalker in the Daily Prophet. Anakin had always liked his last name, but he sort of wished it was common enough that he wouldn’t be put under such scrutiny.

“Okay, I guess,” He answered his mentor while picking at the stone beneath him. Thinking about her too hard still hurt. He’d wanted to start a crusade to look for her, but Qui-Gon had somehow managed to distract him the whole break with little tasks and a few outings to Diagon Alley. It didn’t stop him from keeping his eyes open and wondering if there were any details he missed. She had to be somewhere.

“I know I’ve said this many times,” Obi-Wan put a hand on his shoulder, “But I’m here if you need anything.”

“Yeah okay,” Anakin let the hand fall from his shoulder. They lapsed into silence and Obi-Wan stayed by his side for a minute more before the clock started chiming. 11am was when most students started pouring in and Obi-Wan, he knew, would need to lend a hand. He both wanted Obi-Wan to stay by his side, so he could see him and be assured he too wasn’t going anywhere, but he also wanted him to leave so he could be alone without sad, worried eyes following his every movement.

“I’ve got to-” He started.

“Go do your job Obi-Wan,” Anakin ran the toe of his shoe across the uneven ground, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Obi-Wan looked unsure for another moment before standing back up and straightening his already straight sweater, “Alright.”

Anakin was once again left alone. It was odd being in someplace so familiar, but it felt so alien at the same time. He supposed he wasn’t actually alone, as he had come with Qui-Gon. No matter how nice Qui-Gon was, he still would never really replace his mum. He felt angry just thinking of anyone trying to.

He stood up, intending to go find Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon, maybe offer them a hand to get his mind off things. What he didn’t expect was to step right into the path of Padmé, who nearly tripped trying to avoid running into him.

“Oh, Anakin!” She put a hand to her heart and caught her breath, “I didn’t see you there.”

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to catch you by surprise,” Padmé always made the room feel warmer just by being in it. Even now when he felt lost and alone, she made him feel better just by smiling at him. It was a shame when her face fell a little, “I didn’t really get to say it at the holiday party but, I’m so sorry Anakin. About your mother.”

He’d heard the same words probably a dozen times from a dozen or so people and he knew he’d hear them many more. Coming from Padmé, they felt different though and he had to struggle against the lump that was growing in his throat. He coughed, trying to make it go away and tried smiling at her.

“Thank you,” Qui-Gon had told him it was a proper response to people’s sentiments even when he sometimes wanted to tell people to go away. He definitely wanted Padmé to know that he appreciated the way she cared.

“If there’s anything I can do to help,” She told him, earnesty practically exuding from her, “Let me know okay?”

“Of course,” Anakin definitely appreciated that. It was good to know who was on his side in case they needed to form a rescue mission. He had Padmé now as an option, which was great because she was a year older and one of the smartest people he knew, aside from the know-it-all Ravenclaws.

She let her hand rest on his shoulder for a moment before she moved off to go greet her friends. He could feel the exact place her hand had been even after she was far out of sight and he briefly debated if he should ever wash his jumper again.

“I don’t think your plan to stop having a crush on her is working, mate,” Anakin turned to see Rex. The boy had his hands in his pockets and was looking a little awkward just staring at Anakin from a couple feet away.

They’d been on the same team during the snowball fight and it had been quite a fun time, but Anakin had been wondering if that meant they had patched things up or not. He would have asked his mum what she thought if he could have. He missed her advice.

“Look,” Rex started looking him in the eye, “I know we had a bit of a falling out back there,” He acknowledged with a head nod, “But you know what they say, new year and new beginnings and all that rubbish.”

“I’m sorry,” Anakin said and he was. Rex had been one of the few at the party to acknowledge him at all outside of giving him their sympathies. He didn’t want to lose a true friend. Obi-Wan had been right during their little chat back before, when things were simpler. The only one to stay by his side, even putting aside their spat for him, was Rex.

“Don’t worry about it, mate,” Rex waved away the apology with a grin, “Just don’t do it again alright? I’d be sore if I had to find a new best friend when I already like the one I’ve got.”

Anakin couldn’t help the grin that spread across his own face, “Alright!”

***

Obi-Wan let himself fall back into the plush seat of his compartment on the Hogwarts express. It was just him and Cody for the moment.

“Where’s Satine?” He asked Cody, who just raised an eyebrow at him from over his sandwich.

“Dunno, she hasn’t been by yet,” He said with a shrug, “Why do you look wiped, did they have you out there pushing the train?”

“No,” Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, “I was on luggage duty,” He’d been stuck in the back dragging heavy trunks around and while he was far from out of shape, he usually lucked out doing a much more simple task of checking compartments or providing a watchful eye, “You’d think most students would leave their things at school, practically all of the trunks seemed to hold half the books in the library.”

“I’m surprised a prefect would suggest that students not bring home their school work,” Cody laughed, “Especially one that’s as big of a nerd as you. I assume you brought home half the library?”

“I have the decency of placing a lightening charm on mine. We certainly didn't have the time or energy to apply that to every piece” He glared, “I do believe I noticed a few familiar looking Gryffindor trunks that were particularly heavy.”

“Well I can guarantee you I didn’t waste my whole break reading,” Cody feigned innocence, “All I brought home was some Quidditch equipment. Windu won’t mind.”

“He won’t mind because he doesn’t know,” Obi-Wan pointed out, “Would be an awful shame if I suggested they take one or two trunks in for a quick search.”

“Hey!” Cody complained, “Not my fault you signed up to be the school’s maid. Besides, I couldn’t put any charms on my trunk. What if it affected my gear?”

“What if it affected your poor friends back,” He groused, slumping further into the seat.

“You sound like an old man,” Cody said around his sandwich. Obi-Wan didn’t bother responding, just turned to look out of the open door to their compartment. All the prefect tasks should be done by now. There was no reason for Satine to be lingering.

Unless… She didn’t want to sit with him.

He hadn’t managed to send her anything and he hadn’t seen her since Qui-Gon’s party. What if she didn’t want to see him? Cody had said she asked about him at his New Year’s party, but maybe she’d decided that things were weird between them now and was deciding to cut contact completely.

No, that wasn’t right. Satine was one of his best friends. She probably just got caught up talking to her other friends. He knew Stass was still rightfully torn up about her cousin. It was selfish of him to assume Satine didn’t have other people to see. Maybe she got caught up talking to Qui-Gon or another professor about her homework.

“What’s got you lost in your head this time?” Cody asked and Obi-Wan rocketed to his feet, a hand to his mouth.

“I’m going to go look for Satine.”

Cody looked at him with interest, “Alright mate, I’ll wait for you two here,” He was a little surprised Cody hadn’t jumped at the chance to go on a mission with him, but maybe he was less worried about Satine. He had seen her more recently.

Obi-Wan wasted no time going from compartment to compartment. He got a bunch of strange looks and the occasional rude comment about his breaching their privacy, but he just moved along. He eventually arrived in the less organized section of the train, no compartments just seats and rather loud chatter. He was getting a little more concerned with every place he checked. He hadn’t seen hair nor hide of Satine anywhere. He did however spot his Quidditch team looking rather melancholic. He paused, heading over to them. Stass and Aayla were both over there, perhaps they would have seen her.

“Kenobi?” Nahdar looked up at him in surprise, “You never come up here unless someone’s in trouble.”

“I’m looking for Satine,” He explained looking around at them. A few of them exchanged smirks, about what he wasn’t sure, “Has anyone seen her?”

“We haven’t,” Aayla frowned after checking with Stass, “You really haven’t seen her?”

“Why? Is something the matter?” His fingers twitched towards his wand.

“Did you hear about Bultar Swan?” Stass asked him and he furrowed his brow. She was one of their team’s starting beaters, but he certainly hadn’t heard from her since the last practice they’d had.

“She nearly missed the train,” He remembered, “Satine sent Qui-Gon to find her,” His team regained their forlorn look as Eeth looked up at Obi-Wan.

“I received a message about how she might miss some games,” He shook his head sadly, “Obviously, I penned her a letter right away asking if she was having trouble balancing school or if she was alright. Well, my owl didn’t reach her,” Obi-Wan brought a hand up to his chin, “Her parents wrote me back, said they appreciated the concern. She never made it home for the break,” Obi-Wan’s breath caught. She hadn’t made it home? But he and Satine had handed off the list to Qui-Gon personally and he would never let a student be left behind, “They found her in the Ravenclaw common room,” Eeth continued, “Completely frozen.”

“Is she-” It was hard to consider the possibility though.

“She’s not dead, but they don’t know what to do,” He shrugged, leaning back against the seat, “They’ve never seen anything like it before.”

A terrible fate then. Frozen, either awake or asleep, helpless, just as those around you, to do anything. His thoughts rather selfishly drifted to Satine. What if something had happened to her? Bultar had been found in Ravenclaw tower, one of the places he found most safe. He wasn’t sure what the freezing nonsense was about, it would definitely serve as something to investigate. What he did know was that Maul was still out there and Satine had been alone at her muggle household most of the break. She was rather unguarded besides her own wand and though he knew she could defend herself, could she really hold her own against Maul? And there was the matter of the disappearance of Shmi Skywalker. Another mystery he wasn’t sure who was behind. What if the person who had come for Anakin’s mother came for Satine too? He wondered if he looked as lightheaded as he felt.

“I’ve got to go,” He managed to nod in goodbye before hurrying through the train back to his compartment. He closed his eyes, desperately hoping she’d be in their compartment waiting for him with a scowl.

“There ya are mate,” It was just Cody. He felt his heart sink into the floor.

“I can’t find Satine.”

***

Satine was nowhere to be found. Obi-Wan and Cody ran up and down the corridors, double and triple checking each compartment and when they both came up empty handed, they practically burst their way into the teacher’s compartment. No one was really allowed in there, though Obi-Wan had looked through the window earlier to check for her, but it didn’t stop him from practically throwing the door from its hinges to get to Qui-Gon faster.

“Obi-Wan?” Many of the professors questioned his presence in their sanctuary, looking even more confused as Cody traipsed in behind him. Obi-Wan was focused entirely on Qui-Gon though and stopped in front of him, likely looking pretty severe given the concerned look on his former mentor’s face.

“Obi-Wan what’s wrong?” Qui-Gon straightened.

“We can’t find Satine,” He answered immediately, but was extremely displeased when a few of the other professor’s let out chuckles, relaxing back to what they were doing. Obi-Wan glared around the room as if it would alone cause them to be more serious. He thought they cared more about their students, but perhaps he was wrong.

“Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan!” Qui-Gon gained his attention again, “No need to worry, she wrote the Headmaster saying she’d be missing the train, but would be along shortly,” That didn’t make Obi-Wan feel much better.

“What’s she doing then?” Cody asked.

“What if something’s wrong?” Obi-Wan pushed, “We can’t just go to school without checking up on her. Maul’s still at large, Anakin’s mother’s been kidnapped, and now I hear Bultar has been frozen,” His little speech seemed to sober all the teachers in the car and he thought that was good. They shouldn’t be so quick to assume everything was as it seemed.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Qui-Gon stood, towering over him and Cody and placing one hand on their shoulders, “She contacted saying she had a family matter to attend too. It wasn’t anything bad,” Qui-Gon answered before he could ask, “This happens from time to time. Muggle-borns do have things they need to do in their own world to keep up appearances, or just because they want to.”

It wasn’t the explanation he wanted. He was still worried, but he felt himself nod and saw Cody do the same from the corner of his eye.

***

Ventress was surprised to find Hondo lingering in the Slytherin common room, a dazed look on his face as he leaned against the sofa. She frowned at how gone he looked, as though he weren’t tethered to this world in the slightest. It was none of her business what substances the students were taking so long as they didn’t make it apparent to her. She would much rather ignore him and walk away, but if Palpatine or another professor walked in, they would certainly have questions.

“Hey,” She snapped her fingers in front of his face. He flinched, blinking several times behind his tinted goggles before regarding her with renewed realism. She wasn’t buying it, which was a problem, but she was choosing to ignore that for now. “What are you doing? Besides collecting dust.”

“No! Hondo was just thinking is all!” He defended with raised hands. “My business has taken a large decline over the break and it is killing me!” The longer he spoke, the more he sounded like himself.

“And leering in the entryway to our common room was the place to do it?” She hissed, “You’re going to give someone a heart attack like that!”

“Do you think that’s possible?” He asked curiously.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Don’t be a fool.”

Too late, honestly, but she wanted him to leave more than anyone right now. They were to all get to the Great Hall for a series of announcements from Yoda. No doubt they were going to start tightening the rules around here after what apparently happened to the Ravenclaw girl.

“An Ohnaka is many things, but a fool, he is not.” He wagged a long finger at her that she debated on breaking for the hell of it. Deciding it was more trouble than what it was worth, she didn’t do this, but she did fix him with her best glare.

“Get to dinner, Ohnaka. Any thoughts that are stirring your brain to a halt can be done there.”

“Hm,” He paused, “I do think I need to meet with a professor first.”

“Which one?” She asked, “And since when do you care to learn anything?”

“Professor Jinn, of course! He is always so wise and insightful. Not rude like… Some people. Present company excluded…”

She growled.

“Maybe,” He winced, “Well, I should be off.”

“Don’t be stupid!” She turned to step in front of him, “Don’t you realize everyone’s in the Great Hall right now ready to listen to Yoda’s stupid speech about safety? They’ll strip points from you and our whole house will eat you alive.”

“No privacy?” He questioned.

“No, of course not.” She scowled, “Are you not listening to me, idiot?”

“Later?” It was like he was asking her.

“Yes, whatever!” She rolled her eyes, “It can wait. Now, go annoy someone else.”

“Sebulba did seem interested in purchasing my new-”

“-Don’t confuse me for someone who cares,” She pinched his lips with her nails, hard enough to hurt and careful not to draw blood, “Because I don’t.”

***

School was put back into session just as it always was, but in place of their usual fun grand feast was a list of rules that they were to listen to and abide by if they were to stay at the school at all. Obi-Wan wondered if Yoda had spent the entire break just thinking up more ways to keep the prefects loaded down, because try as they may to have more teachers patrol, he wasn’t naive enough to think they would take much of the strain off.

Students were to go nowhere without an escort. Even prefects were recommended to have another student go with them places. This, alone, would eat up precious time that they’d need to be in class, having to leave early to escort a different class from point A to point B. Professors were to help, but Ben could already see how that wouldn’t always be possible. There were stricter curfews, less areas to mingle, and they were to be prepared for a “sleepover” to happen at any time.

Obi-Wan had already run himself ragged and it was only a week into the new schedule. He’d been running halfway across the school as had the other prefects to escort different years. It didn’t help much either when some of the students thought it would be a good idea to sneak away while he was busy with the rest of their year. He’d volunteered to take over most of Satine’s shifts while she was away, he knew she would have done the same for him.

Still it was a lot of work and he barely had any time to study at all before dinner. Cody was waiting for him in the library, decidedly not studying, but he made no comment when Obi-Wan dropped down at his usual spot and immediately started racing through his homework assignments.

The essays would have to wait. He’d do them tonight after making sure everyone else was in bed for curfew. He’d skip his practical work since his wand work would be done either way. He did want to make sure to have time to copy his notes for Satine. Maybe he’d copy them over at dinner.

He started scribbling out labels for each bone on his sketch of the human skeleton. It was to see if they had completed the reading over break and as he had, he was sure it wouldn’t be hard. He’d finally slipped into a rhythm when a tapping noise broke his focus. He first turned his glare on Cody, but his friend had turned and was looking out the window. Obi-Wan followed his gaze and saw one of the school’s owls desperate to gain entry.

Cody stood and pushed the glass until it slid open and the bird wasted no time sitting itself down at their table and sticking a leg out. Obi-Wan untied it and the second it was free, the owl disappeared back towards the owlery.

“What is it?” Cody unnecessarily asked as he spread the parchment out on the table. It was in Qui-Gon’s handwriting which made him frown, but the message itself had him standing immediately.

“Satine’s here!” He answered much too loud, but even as other students glared towards them, no one was going to try and shush a prefect.

***

Satine stood in the entryway to the castle. Qui-Gon had disappeared to grab a few pieces of paperwork that she needed to sign and had told her to wait there for him. Although she was happy to do as she was requested, she had definitely been eager to get back into the swing of things. She hadn’t wanted to take the time off anyways, annoyed that she couldn’t have gotten everything done she needed to over the break.

Mostly, she was looking forward to seeing her friends, despite seeing Ben at Christmas and Cody on New Year’s, it was odd how accustomed she had gotten to seeing them almost every single day, at least for 10 months out of the year.

“Ow, watch it!” Speak of the devil.

Ben and Cody came barreling down the stone staircase. Ben seemed to have nearly toppled off one as it moved, knocking Cody right into him. Ben looked up at just the right time to meet her eyes and with a sudden burst of speed, he came rushing towards her. His arms raised slightly like he was preparing to throw them around her, but as if catching himself, they lowered to his side as he skidded to a stop right in front of her. She wished he’d gone through with it. She certainly wouldn’t have minded a hug.

“Where have you been?” He asked her breathlessly as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“I just had some things to do,” She dodged, she knew he’d be curious, but she had her reasons to keep secrets on occasion.

“I was worried sick when you weren’t on the train,” He looked quite like a kicked puppy and she felt her heart pang in guilt, “You should have penned me.”

“I’m fine,” She emphasized. She definitely made a mental note to let him know if anything like this happened again; she hated seeing that look on his face.

“Welcome back!” A heavy arm was dropped on her shoulder, and by the soft oof from Ben, his as well.

“Thank you Cody,” She smiled up at him, “It’s wonderful to return, though I fear how much I’ve missed already.”

“Kenobi will catch you up I’m sure, I don’t think we’ve really learned anything yet anyways,” Cody shrugged and Ben rolled his eyes.

“Those of us awake during class have,” He chided, but smiled at Satine, “We will certainly have you caught up in no time, it’s no problem!” From this angle she noticed the tired droop of his eyes and she frowned at him leaning a little closer to try and get a better look, but it really just made his eyes open wider in surprise.

“Why do you look tired already? Did you not rest at all during the break?” Satine was about to roll up her sleeves to start a lecture about the importance of proper sleep, again, but Ben just sighed heavily.

“New prefect duties,” He said with a warning in his voice, “And new rules. I’ll explain them all to you of course.”

“Don’t worry too much,” Cody said at her frown, “You should only be taking on your own workload so you won’t look as wretched as your knight in shining armor here.”

Ben turned a glare on Cody, “I look perfectly fine!”

“Sure you do,” Satine agreed, but she was looking pointedly at the piece of hair that had fallen into his face. As much as she wanted to reach over and fix it herself, she waited for him to realize and push it back into its proper place. It had been incredibly kind of him to pick up the slack for her while she was away. She’d have to find a way to sneak him a few chocolates as a thank you.

***

“Hey, guys!” Anakin tried as he walked by Ferus, Jax, and Tru, who were all sitting in their usually crowded section. He hadn’t planned on sitting with them, seeing as he’d already made plans with Rex to eat dinner. However, he didn’t see why he couldn’t be friends with everyone. They’d done everything to avoid him at Qui-Gon’s party and hadn’t talked to him since before break, so they didn’t seem as keen on the idea. The concept burned him a bit, because he felt like even more of a fool for the first semester.

“Did you hear something?” Ferus asked.

“No, probably just the wind.” Jax said.

Tru had the decency to look a little guilty, but didn’t speak up. They all looked away, pretending as though he wasn’t even there. He thought he heard someone whisper something about a curse, but he tried to pay it zero mind.

“Yeah, okay,” He rolled his eyes and kept walking before sitting at the end of the table. He was just going to tell them that the fish they were eating had given a few people food poisoning. Well, he guessed they didn’t need a reminder.

“I like this end of the table better anyway,” Anakin justified as he bit into his steak dinner. He was all but shunned from the central, more populated part of the table by his so-called “friends”. Even if he wasn’t, he didn’t want to eat with anyone who didn’t accept him or his other friends anyway.

“Yeah, more room,” Rex agreed and then frowned as the whispers down the table increased. Both heard Anakin’s name mentioned more times than one and it was becoming a bit obvious they were talking about him behind his back. “Let me know if you want me to say something to them, mate.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Anakin said, “They’re not worth your time.”

“They’re telling everyone you’re cursed,” Rex said, “That’s definitely worth my time to tell people to shut up.”

“They won’t listen,” Anakin shrugged, “I’d rather dedicate my time more seriously into finding my mum and defeating the person who took her.”

“Right,” Rex agreed, “Well, I’m with you.”

“I know,” Anakin smiled. “Besides, we’ve got dueling club tomorrow! I’ll get a few shots in towards them.”

***

While whispers had indeed spread through the entire school regarding the unfortunate mystery that was Anakin’s mother’s disappearance, such an occurrence had only increased the attendance of Kit Fisto’s dueling club. It seemed every student wanted to take whatever precautions they could to assuage any harm befalling themselves or their own loved ones. Obi-Wan, while a member of the club since the beginning, was quite miffed at this viewpoint, seeing as there was nothing Anakin could have possibly done to prevent the alleged attack.

“If it even was an attack.” He overheard Ventress muttering to Faro when they were standing outside waiting for Professor Fisto to begin today’s lesson. As expected of January weather, it was quite frigid outside. Though Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if that was just Ventress’ attitude rubbing off on the surrounding climate. He did once read that such a thing was possible.

“Yeah, maybe she saw that the kid was just more trouble than he was worth.” He snickered and Obi-Wan immediately glowered at them. For once, he was truly glad that Anakin and Rex were running late.

“Got something to say, Kenobi?” Ventress asked, as he’d not been discrete.

“Just curious if you ever had a heart to begin with or if you’ve always had a swirling black hole in its place.” Obi-Wan deadpanned and she scoffed with a heavy eye roll.

“Not a trace of blood was found on the scene nor proof of magical interference.” She crossed her arms, “Aren’t Ravenclaws supposed to be smart?”

“And Slytherins cunning?” Obi-Wan fired back, though he refused to sink entirely to her level, “There are multiple ways to commit a crime. Aside from that, need I remind you that as a prefect and an upperclassman, no less, that such speculative conspiracy theories should remain out of your mouth?”

“Typical of you to play superhero,” Faro huffed.

“The fact remains,” Ventress, to her credit, seemed as exhausted by Faro’s presence as he was and paid him little mind, “That Skywalker is a target. I would hardly blame her for running off and away to save herself.”

“Not everyone is selfish like that.” Obi-Wan said coldly and turned sharply to try and find Anakin and the Fett’s.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Ventress said, but her voice sounded less menacing and more doubtful above all else, like she’d learned something that he hadn’t the hard way. It didn’t matter to Obi-Wan. His main priority was ensuring Anakin’s and the rest of the school’s safety. If not every prefect was going to do that job to the number, he would have to do it for them.

He was pleased to see Satine, who despised the concept of the club as much as she did, sat on the sidelines along with Padmé and some of her friends. Obi-Wan felt guilty at mixing up their names. To his credit, many of them resembled one another. Either way, they were never too far behind Padmé.

He was relieved when he finally noticed Qui-Gon escorting the small hoard of boys down the front lawn and over to where they had all assembled. Anakin was bundled up like he was planning on going toe-to-toe with an ice dragon, himself. Knowing his usual zest for adventure, this wouldn’t have been all that surprising had Anakin not been significantly more reserved lately.

“There you all are! What took you so long?” Obi-Wan asked as he approached them.

“Took us a little longer to get out the door today,” Qui-Gon said warily and whether he intended to or not, flickered his gaze down to Anakin, “Fresh air, as we know, can offer a great deal of clarity as well as peace.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t so sure about that, but after Qui-Gon stepped away to take a seat beside Satine on the sidelines, Anakin sighed, “I guess it’s for the best anyway.”

“What’s that?” Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin gave him a curious look through his blond fringe, “I need to gear up for my big fight against Dooku. Or Maul. Or whoever took my mother.”

His hand tightened into a small fist at his side and Obi-Wan rested his on Anakin’s shoulder, “I hope that no such fight comes anytime soon.”

“Me too,” He said darkly, “For their sake.”

“Your mother would want you to take care of yourself.” He said.

“Yeah, well, that’s why I’m here.” Anakin said.

“Everyone break into pairs!” Professor Fisto announced as he arrived on the scene.

As instructed, Anakin and Rex went off on their own while Cody and Obi-Wan did the same.

It irritated Obi-Wan to no end that he couldn’t seem to find the proper sentiment to display his support for Anakin. It felt like nothing he said was quite right, at least not in comparison to what Anakin surely must be feeling.

“Now, now, guys, I’m always seeing the same pairings.” Professor Fisto said disapprovingly, “You’re getting to know each other’s tells and moves, which is great from the perspective of learning to fight with someone. However, if you want to learn how to assess an opponent, you have to realize that your opponent could very well be ever-changing.”

“Professor Fisto, do you believe it possible that Dooku and Maul could try to strike the school?” Bant Eerin raised her amphibious orange hand.

Chatter erupted amongst nearly the rest of the club and Obi-Wan glanced over towards Anakin, who looked like he dared anyone to try and ask him any questions on the matter. It was a stark difference from the boy that welcomed attention last term. It seemed everyone had the same line of thinking as Bant, and he doubted this newfound lack of privacy had much to do with it.

It also didn’t help that the Dementors seemed to be drifting closer than promised.

“Truthfully, Bant, anything is possible with the enemy.” Fisto said and everyone, particularly the girls, held onto his every breath as a life force, “And they might try, but trying and doing are much different things.”

It almost sounded like the sort of indirect answer Qui-Gon might give to a very direct question. It wasn’t the answer that anyone wanted, but it was the one they were getting and it didn’t change much about the present. Everyone needed to prepare themselves for the worst possible scenario, and if a student army would hopefully be the worst case scenario.

So, that was how Obi-Wan got stuck pitted against Hondo Ohnaka, who Obi-Wan honestly forgot was even in the club to begin with. Hondo had been a bit dodgier than usual this year, even by Hondo’s standards. While managing to avoid detention or the wrath of the prefects, he’d been mostly centered on selling his cheap chosen one merchandise.

“What’s the matter, Kenobi? Afraid of the great Hondo Ohnaka?” He pounded on his chest with the sort of pride that Obi-Wan was positive resembled a caveman discovering fire.

“Sure, that’s what I dislike about this arrangement,” Obi-Wan sighed and took pose, taking care to bow as they were properly taught. Most villains would not, but he distinctly recalled it being a part of Dooku’s “civilized” form. He glanced over to where Cody and Ventress were tensely taking a similar form.

He supposed it could be worse then.

Anakin had fancied himself fit enough to face Ferus Olin, who he was no longer nearly as chummy with anymore. The older boy did not look like he wanted any business with Anakin, but didn’t oppose a duel, likely because of the possible teasing that would ensue for refusing a duel with a younger student. As far as Obi-Wan was concerned, it was a lose-lose for Olin either way, even if everyone was always curious what Anakin could do.

“Now remember that a duel is more than striking first or even last,” Fisto said as he paced around them, fixing postures here and there as he went, before he was finally right over Obi-Wan’s shoulder, “It’s a great deal more than just pointing and shooting, as some might believe. There’s strategy involved.”

That was possibly Obi-Wan’s favorite part of the intricacy of dueling. It was like fencing with magic, in a sense. He’d always yearned to learn properly as an art form first, which was what it had been intended for when it was created. Now, of course, it potentially served a greater purpose than that.

“Picking the right spell is everything, as is understanding that the very same spell might backfire if something goes awry.” He said and circled back to where Anakin was, “Which is one of the many reasons that killing curses are illegal, even in defense. Should the curse reverberate back to you, it would kill you as opposed to your opponent.”

“Which do you recommend, Professor?” Obi-Wan asked, though he had done a great deal of his own research and had already settled on a few different options depending on the situation. He knew by now when a professor was trying to bait his students into asking questions and figured he would end the stretch of silence that would otherwise follow.

“I’m not saying that you should be using a tickling charm if you were to go head-to-head with a dark wizard of Maul’s caliber.” Fisto laughed a little, “But you’re all students still. Sometimes, attempting a complicated spell in the heat of the moment can be more dangerous than using something simpler. So, disarming would always be a first choice of mine. As I’ve said, you’re all students. I don’t expect any of you to be taking the initiative to try and take grown wizards down yourself.”

Anakin visibly deflated at that.

“But as Miss Eerin brought to our attention earlier, you might encounter someone who wants to hurt you. Anyone. And the best thing you can do is have an out for yourself. That is to say, defend, strike, and run. Repeat that process as many times as necessary.”

While that did sound like the best odds strategy for Obi-Wan, some, mostly Gryffindor house, did not seem to have the same confidence in that being a plausible tactic. Nobody raised any verbal qualms at the moment, even if they wanted to. For a new Professor, Fisto sure had the respect and attention of his students.

Most of them, because he could hear Ventress boasting about her own strengths even over the howling wind that blasted a mist of ice in his face.

“So, we’re going to have a snowball fight today.” Fisto smirked as he clapped his hands together, “A gentleman’s and lady's version, of course.”

It was only a couple weeks ago that they were all duking it out in Qui-Gon’s yard with balls of ice. In fact, Obi-Wan swore he was still recovering from the amount of wet snow he found down his clothes later that evening.

“And everyone will be involved.” Fisto turned to the bench of onlookers.

Obi-Wan immediately made eye contact with an unsuspecting Satine, who would certainly not be pleased about being forced into the activities. She smiled at him and he faltered in his stance.

The snowball fight wasn’t the only thing he was still recovering from.

***

Anakin may have been disappointed that they weren’t learning more scathing hexes and curses today, but he did have to admit that he received a great deal of joy when being able to blast a blinding beam of ice straight into Ferus Olin’s stupid face. The older kid didn’t even have the chance to retaliate with the shield charm that had been taught to them prior before Anakin chose to douse him again with another onslaught. Even if his form might have needed a little work, he knew that the true measure of a well-won duel was knocking the other party flat on their arse. In Ferus’ case, this meant tumbling and rolling down the hill.

Anakin smiled smugly as he turned to his professor, “Perhaps, I need to be advanced further up the ranks.”

Thwap!

As though he were firmly backhanded, a heavy ball of ice knocked his head to the side, leaving a red mark surely in its wake. He roughly swiped the snow out of his eyes and glared back at Olin.

“No fair, you were down and out!”

“And you took your eyes off of your mark.” Professor Fisto said appraisingly, “Which you should never underestimate your enemy. In a real fight, playing dead might be a tactic.”

Anakin grimaced and took position again. He would argue that this was a lot different than any real fight would be like. He’d never engaged in one himself, but he’d been as close as one could get last year in the Ministry of Magic. If Professor Fisto wanted him to make Ferus Olin swallow snow for days, so be it.

“Kid looks kinda mad, Olin.” Jax Pavan said from behind Ferus.

“Yeah, well, I’ll just put him in time out.” It didn’t sound nearly as intimidating as he’d wanted it to, especially when he looked like a powdered donut after his fall in the snow.

“We’ll see about that.” Anakin said and met Olin’s beam of snow with his own, showcasing a stream of sharp ice colliding and ricocheting off each other in the middle. From deep within him, he could practically feel the influx of power surge and course through the tip of his wand. It was as simple as breathing and for a moment, there was nothing else but this moment. He’d achieved true focus, thinking about his mother, where she was, and how he would stop at nothing to get her back. Sparkling crystals sprinkled down like fresh snowfall as the jets of white light met for a prolonged period of time.

“Careful!” Fisto called loudly, “If you hold for too long without wavering you might-”

Anakin’s wand began to shake uncontrollably, like it was trying to fight free from his hand and take flight. He panicked as he could feel himself losing control and as he locked eyes with Olin, it seemed he was experiencing the same unsettling sensation. A bright ember of gold culminated at the center point of their connection, growing brighter like the sun and reflecting what Anakin imagined grew inside him whenever he did magic.

The sounds of Fisto and quite possibly others yelling for him to let go drowned into the background and Anakin would have yelled if he could help it. He couldn’t drop it, not physically and not mentally, as it felt like they were locked in place.

Instead, a blast sent both of them flying backwards so rapidly that Anakin wondered if this was happening at his own accord. He was at peace for the most of it, enjoying the speed that he traveled and the cold wind in his hair- until he knocked into an impenetrable force so hard that it stopped him dead in his tracks and sent him down to the fluffy snow.

He coughed and shivered, realizing he was covered head to toe in snow. He looked around him as the vertigo began to dissolve and he had his wits about him enough to breathe fluidly again. He flexed his fingers and his toes and realized that he didn’t explode into a million pieces.

“I think I’m alright!” He cheered triumphantly.

“And I think you’re crushing my lungs.” A gasp from beneath him weakly uttered.

In a flash, Qui-Gon was hoisting Anakin to his feet and revealed a shell-shocked Obi-Wan Kenobi, who sat up once the weight of Anakin was off of him. Satine and Cody were there in a flash, the former of whom dusted snow from Obi-Wan’s hair. He looked okay enough, just that he had the wind taken out of him.

“A keeper through and through.” Cody said proudly, “Because that was a mighty fine catch.”

It was true, because had he gone farther, Anakin surely would have slammed into the gates. It didn’t seem like his former mentor cared too much about his own heroics, though, because his befuddlement seemed fixated on Anakin.

“What was that, Anakin?” Obi-Wan finally asked.

“The cores of their wands connected.” Qui-Gon answered for him, which was good, because Anakin surely would have proposed possible possession otherwise. “Seeing as Olin suffered worse for wear, I’d say it generated from Anakin’s wand.”

“How could he be worse off?” Anakin complained, “I nearly took off Obi-Wan’s head! I- Oh.”

True as that might have been, Anakin felt guilt creep up on him when he glanced over Fisto’s shoulder and noticed that Madame Nema had appeared onto the scene with what looked like a floating stretcher. On it, Professor Fisto gently placed a whimpering Ferus Olin. Jax Pavan, who stood at his side along with a few other of Anakin’s ex friends, gave him a terrified look. It didn’t give Anakin the satisfaction for using him this entire time. All he felt was shame.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Or at least, he didn’t think he did.

“Of course not,” Qui-Gon said kindly and knelt down to his level, “I just think we need to work on you understanding your own strength. With great power, comes great responsibility.”

“What philosopher said that?” Obi-Wan asked after a long pause.

Anakin smiled knowingly at Qui-Gon, who’d clearly taken some of Anakin’s reading recommendations based on the glint in his eyes, “Spider-Man.”

***

If she thought that was going to put a stop to the lesson for the day, Satine was sorely mistaken. To her chagrin, two children being launched at the speed of light and nearly taking out another student in their wake was not enough for delay. Sure, she was not a member of the Dueling Club (though she was one of the very few at this rate), but considering the anxious state everyone was in, it would be irresponsible of her not to supervise in case her help was needed.

When Professor Fisto approached the bench that she and Padmé were situated on, she had not expected that her assistance would be in need of assisting a glorified game of manhunt.

“Manhunt?” Obi-Wan asked like something foreign was on his tongue, “I believe it’s called witch-hunt.”

She rolled her eyes. Semantics aside, that was exactly what she’d been driven into. Fisto had given them the option of playing hostage or participating and she really didn’t want to set the example of damsel in distress for Padmé, so she reluctantly agreed.

That was what led her and Obi-Wan back-to-back as they retaliated incoming younger students with snowballs of their own. She was relieved that they were able to use their wands, because she’d forgotten gloves today, but she still didn’t see why her involvement was necessary. Professor Fisto claimed that they were only going to get pelted on the sidelines anyway, so it was only good practice that everyone be able to defend themselves.

Now, Satine was never above defense. She felt it was an intrinsic aspect of magic for each and every one of them to know, even more so now than ever. On some level she even understood that Professor Fisto was merely trying to give them an example of an unpredictable setting to practice what they’ve learned. However, she couldn’t help but feel that the attack portion was being too heavily emphasized. Snowball fights were fun and she enjoyed her fair share over the years. She didn’t know how on a psychological level, equating fun with a potentially dangerous situation was going to do anyone any favors.

Then again, anytime she brought something like this up to Headmaster Yoda (for example: an unsigned, extremely detailed petition) it looked like his head was going to spin right off his neck and helicopter away. Clearly, he had more pressing matters at hand.

“What’s our plan here?” She asked.

Naturally, Fisto had divided them up by house, which meant that the Gryffindors were unsurprisingly going full offensive and Cody was spearheading a full onslaught. The Slytherins seemed intent on dividing and conquering individually, leaving many stunned students behind as they went. Hufflepuff house seemed keen on just trying to survive at this point and had built a pretty impressive snow fort.

Ravenclaw wished they had time for a tactical battle strategy and to weigh in on their best odds. As it were, they were all scattered in hopes to rescue some of their own from “Azkaban”, as it was called in this rendition of the game- one of whom was Luminara Unduli and the other being Aayla Secura. Aayla, for her part, did not seem disappointed that she got to stand closer to Professor Fisto.

Satine dove for cover behind a pine tree, shooting off streams of snow until it rolled into a larger boulder-sized ball and sent Sebulba and his friends off running like the chickens they were. She yanked Obi-Wan just in the knick of time to join her so they were now shoulder-to-shoulder. More accurately, with his growth spurt, shoulder to arm.

“You seem at least a little invested in this.” Obi-Wan smirked as he threw up a shield to deflect the weak efforts of some stray Hufflepuffs, immediately sending their own snowballs back at them and marking them for time in Azkaban.

“I clearly have no say in the matter.” She said.

“Professor Fisto just wants to prepare everyone.” He recited.

“You can feed me back his reasoning all you want. It still seems like a distraction to make us all feel safe versus actually being safe.”

“Well, what do you want from them, Satine?” He gritted as he pulled her by the wrist and away from the tree, which had begun shaking on its own to release some of the snow that had previously blanketed the pine needles. She wasn’t sure if that necessarily fit the rules and criteria of the game, but it certainly would have trapped them enough to at least confuse them.

“Answers would be nice.” She sighed.

“We all want that.” He said and looked over towards Anakin, who was still firing off snowballs quite triumphantly against Ventress, even with his previous accident. “Some even more than others.”

“I don’t think we’re very far from another lockdown.” She admitted.

“Yeah,” He said, “I know, but the worst thing they could do is send us all home. We might be a target here, but having more powerful wizards and protective charms in place is better than none.”

“Especially Yoda’s.” She said.

“Exactly.” He nodded succinctly, “Regardless of what my parents might think.”

They managed to create some distance between themselves and the Fett’s, which was a win in itself, but bumped nearly straight into Hondo. As though this were a real attack, Obi-Wan stepped in front of Satine and squared his shoulders. He and Hondo had dueled earlier and while it hadn’t gone well for the Weequay, he appeared to mean business behind his tinted goggles.

“No sudden movements, Hondo.” Obi-Wan said warily, “We’re just trying to pass.”

Hondo didn’t say anything for a long moment, eyes fixated long and hard at Obi-Wan as they slowly danced around one another in an attempt to gain passage. Hondo was clearly heading to where Slytherin’s would be held captive, over near Qui-Gon, but Satine frowned when she noticed no one was over there. In fact, Slytherin appeared to be countering Gryffindor’s full offensive attack with their own all the way across the field, clearly trying to capture the “captain”, which like catching the snitch, would end the game quickly. Cody, unsurprisingly, was the captain.

“I don’t know what you’re up to, Hondo, but if you’re trying to sneak off to Hogsmeade in hopes of smuggling in sweets, you better think again.” Satine said with her own wand drawn. It may have been just a game, but she felt sweat gather at her temples and her heartbeat stutter dramatically. This was surely how Cody felt when playing Quidditch.

Hondo looked them both up and down and then beyond them, where there was a clear opening and getaway. So, he raised his wand at the same time Obi-Wan did like it was a shoot-out, and while Obi-Wan was quicker and managed to jet Hondo’s wand out of his hand before he could stun them, magic still spurred from Hondo’s fingers and blasted the ground directly beneath Obi-Wan and Satine, sending them plummeting through the earth and into darkness.

***

Qui-Gon didn’t know what to make of Anakin’s earlier display of power. Of course, he knew the boy was capable of great things and that younger children tend to seem more powerful because of how unpredictable and uncontrolled they can be, but Ferus Olin couldn’t even move a single bone in his body as a result. He didn’t believe it was Anakin’s full intention to cause such pain to the older boy, but it had clearly derived from a place of hurt.

He needed to ensure that such a thing never became a precedent. From anger, great power could come, but once passion drove how a man behaved, it could lead him down a dark path of his own destruction. That wasn’t to say one couldn’t want or need for themselves, or to even experience these feelings, but to act purely on them was never wise. Such ways were how the Sith operated in ancient times.

It was one of the reasons that Dooku’s betrayal still shocked him. Over the years, he’d rarely expressed any emotions at all, let alone a predisposition to give himself over to insidious forces.

Maul, on the other hand, was fueled entirely by his own passion. He had a zest for killing and was quite good at it too. He remembered the day that student died. He was fortunate enough not to discover her bleeding out in the prefect bathroom, but someone had. It had been near Christmas and everyone was singing carols and wrapping presents for one another before the winter holiday began.

Maul, as usual, was not a part of the festivities. Students often tried to pretend he wasn’t there. He usually holed himself up in the Shrieking Shack instead of in the Slytherin common room with his classmates.

Qui-Gon remembered with clarity the funeral that followed after. Christmas was cancelled and like now, the school was in a lockdown sort of state, terrified that Maul was somewhere in the shadows. He stayed hidden for a long time after that, perhaps because he knew he needed to do better to stay out of sight.

Perhaps, because there was greater purpose for him yet.

Qui-Gon shook his head. No, there had never been any official confirmation that Maul was Sith. He’d never admitted to it and he likely never would, because doing so would mean that he had a master to obey. However, Maul’s eventual imprisonment would mean either two things: Dooku was the new apprentice or he was the former master.

After all, Sith always traveled in two’s: no more, no less.

So, was that the angle here? Maul would allow his looming presence to haunt the community and terrify everyone into taking grand measures of their own while Dooku operated from the shadows? It was what he was good at, after all. He’d proved that enough thus far.

Something did not ring true about that assessment, though. It was chaos and the Sith usually loved chaos, but it did not line up like two allies working together. It almost felt a bit like a competition that Dooku was losing by Maul’s mere presence. A raging lunatic was scarier to most than the calculative thinker.

Qui-Gon wasn’t so sure about that either.

Some might grow tired of drawing from legends, but Qui-Gon always felt there was much that could be learned from the past. In the past, the Sith age brought about a time of darkness for the magical and muggle community. Freedoms were stripped and towns were ravished. It meant great suffering.

Luckily, the knights of old had subdued and eventually defeated the great Sith known as Bane. Since him, there was only one other known to pledge to such beliefs: a man named Plaguesis.

Well, that problem sorted itself out when Plaguesis drank himself to death, quite literally drowning in his woes.

History had a tendency to repeat itself, unfortunately, so it was no surprise to Qui-Gon that while dead for a long time, the Sith were attempting to make their comeback. It was easier to do in a world full of distractions- where no one seemed to see such a possibility through their stained visions of prosperity.

Shmi’s disappearance was but another sign of approaching dark times and likely meant that Qui-Gon would not have as much time to prepare Anakin as he would have liked. The boy would be tested, far before he was ever ready, which could be the truest tragedy of it all.

He turned around, trying to force himself to remain in the present. Allowing himself to get distracted, even if his worry for Shmi and Anakin allowed that to be a simple task, only weakened him to the dark side.

Hondo Ohnaka sauntered towards him and for a moment, Qui-Gon had to mentally prepare himself back into Head of House mode. Usually, Hondo’s presence brought about great mischief and this would surely be no different.

“What is it, Hondo?” He asked, “Are you hurt?”

Hondo’s eyes were difficult to see behind snow-covered goggles and he seemed to have a chill rack through his entire body as he stood before him. There was something off about him. Maybe it was the lack of swagger in his step or the jolly voice that usually spoke before you knew he was there. Instead, he looked like a shell of the person Qui-Gon had come to know.

He raised his wand, the tip glowing a sickly green. Finally, the illumination of the wordless spell allowed for glowing blue eyes to reflect beneath his goggles.

***

Kill the guardian. The voice says.

“No!”

Free yourself of this pain. The voice reasons.

“I can’t.”

End the battle and win the boy’s soul. The voice demands.

He screams and everything goes black.

***

“Immobulus!” Obi-Wan shouted just centimeters before he would have crashed to a splintered hardwood floor after his tumble through the ground. Before he could even breathe in relief, the blunt force of Satine’s body slamming against his and breaking his focus crashed them down in a jumbled pile of limbs.

His back ached in protest for being slammed against the ground for the second time today as his front seemed to have the same objections but in regards to being sacked. This time, however, from a much higher standing point. Light still pooled above them from the crevice at which they entered as dust and snowflakes fluttered around in distress at their intrusion.

“Dammit,” He grimaced,

“I’m going to kill Hondo.” She groaned and leaned up to rub her head, which had slammed quite hard against his chest in the fall. If she didn’t essentially have him pinned down at the moment, he would have reached up to survey if she was okay.

“And I’ll help,” He spat out blonde hair that fell into his mouth, “Satine, as lovely as your hair smells, may I please make the suggestion that you remove your knee from my groin?”

In her frenzied attempt to scramble off of him, she accidentally jerked her knee forward instead of backwards and he grunted rather unceremoniously in pain.

“Sorry!” She winced as he instinctually curled into a ball on his side. He flinched as she placed a hand on his shoulder, which she immediately retracted. He really did not need her overanalyzing this moment.

“No, no trouble,” His voice cracked, “Just give me a second.”

To both overcome the embarrassment and to remember how to breathe again.

“Right.” She backed away from him and slowly rose to investigate with a glowing wand. Even in his briefly debilitated state, he could see the gears turning in her head. She stretched and dusted herself off as she waved her wand over the walls. Her steps echoed against the broken wood floor panels, which ran vertical in the direction they led to.

“Where are we?” She asked, voice echoing.

“A tunnel?” He answered when he finally deemed himself fit to stand. She offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet, though he did note that she wasn’t quite looking him in the eyes yet and that her cheeks were dusted pink. At least it seemed neither would be bringing it up again if they had anything to say about it.

“A blocked tunnel.” She raised her wand against the three sides behind them. Each was lined with clay and stone that didn’t appear nearly as old as the rest of the structure did. “But what for?”

“From the castle.” He said in astonishment, “The tunnel is blocked from the castle.”

“But where does it lead?” She turned to face the darkness that lay ahead of them.

“Nowhere good if the professors saw it fit to block us from it this year.” He said, but he didn’t see any other options at the present moment. They hadn’t conquered apparition yet and it wasn’t like they had a portkey lying around. He supposed they could send a distress signal, but the odds of any of the enthusiastic witch-hunters noticing in the midst of their game would be slim to none.

Satine seemed to have the same mindset as him as she began to move forward. He extended his wand out and was appreciative for the darkness when Satine slipped her hand into his. It was a good move, really, because the last thing they needed was to be separated at this point.

“I’d heard of there being old bunkers established beneath the school during World War 2.” Obi-Wan said quietly, “Wizards were as involved with the war as muggles, obviously, because it affected us just as much at the end of the day.”

“I’d never considered that.” Satine hummed and waved her own wand along as they walked, “But it makes sense judging by how old and torn this place looks. I do wonder why wizards would be afraid of nuclear weapons when protective charms would surely work against them.”

“It still would do us no good for a surprise attack.” Obi-Wan said, “And for the long term.”

“That’s true, besides, wizards need the muggle world in a sense.” She said, “For the purpose of the market. Amongst other things, of course.”

Cracked vintage bottles of firewhiskey crumbled beneath their boots as they descended further, only illuminated by the warm glow of their wands. Obi-Wan felt a creeping sense of dread wash over him, like they were not going to find a measly bunker at the end. He hoped that would be the case, but even if it were, it wouldn’t do them much good nor would it explain in full why these tunnels would be blocked.

“I wonder if Anakin ever found this one.” He whispered. It was against his better judgment to keep talking, because if for some reason there was someone or something hiding beneath the surface with them, the last thing they wanted to do was draw them out, but it seemed to be the only thing that calmed him.

Plus, hearing her voice was an affirmation that she was still with him.

“Do you remember seeing it on the map?” She asked.

“No.” He said, “They must have gotten rid of this tunnel before Anakin acquired it then.”

Her grip on his hand tightened and they came to an immediate halt. He swore for a moment that he heard footsteps scratching above them. It sounded like a small pitter and scratching against wood.

It was an animal of some sort.

Finally, they encountered a dirt covered door and when he pushed on it, he was greeted with the foul stench of dried blood and rotting corpses.

***

Yoda crouched down into the snow, not caring how the ice felt on his exposed feet as he gently placed a hand on Hondo Ohnaka’s trembling back. The child was practically convulsing as he clutched his knees to his chest and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. His fingers were twitching through fingerless gloves and his wand was confiscated by Qui-Gon, who stood back with sad eyes as he considered Hondo.

“Hondo didn’t want to do it.” He cried, “Hondo tried to fight it.”

He drew in another heavy breath before crying. The other students had been dismissed and sent back to the castle with Professor Fisto taking the lead in keeping them from seeing what was happening in the alcove near the forest.

“Hondo, it’s alright. You didn’t do anything.” Qui-Gon said soothingly, but Hondo flinched when he drew closer and Yoda stretched out a hand for Qui-Gon to stop where he stood. A necklace, which lay split at the clasp not far off from them, glimmered and vibrated when he drew nearer.

The gems that had previously been strewn about it were scattered as well, as though they’d been ripped apart in a vast outburst of will and determination. Judging by the lacerations on Hondo’s fingers and knuckles, this was confirmed. It would leave a scar, but perhaps more importantly, a memory of his own bravery.

“Belong to you, this necklace does not.” Yoda said quietly.

He didn’t answer directly, just continued to sob, which was all the confirmation that Yoda needed. The boy was known for getting into thievery of prized possessions and it seemed he finally pawned off the wrong artifact. He’d seen Hondo in and out of detention many times through the years.

That being said… “A murderer, you are not, Hondo.”

Hondo looked up from his hands with watery dark eyes that expressed a pain that had been silently endured for months. It was as though he was really seeing for the first time.

“Broke the curse, you did.” He said sagely, “Take strength to resist the dark magic, it does.”

“And I can hold no malice towards someone who ultimately saved me.” Qui-Gon sat flat in the snow and gently encouraged Hondo to hold his gaze, “And you did. You saved me, Hondo. Had it been someone else under that spell, someone less pure of heart, it might not have gone the same way.”

Hondo seemed to look a bit more like himself at that, straightening his back and shaking his head, “I am a pirate. I’m not good.”

Qui-Gon chuckled, “The concept of being good is not a black and white model. Anyone can be good if they choose to be and ultimately, that is what you chose today.”

Yoda knew the same could be said of evil.

He hoped that offered him the solace he deserved. Yoda did not know what sort of powerful forces instilled the curse into this necklace, just that it was clearly absconded from Dooku’s old office. It certainly matched the general description that Deena Riss and later Qui-Gon would give. It would need to be examined further.

Hondo swallowed and nodded at that, trying to gather some composure over himself.

“Remember, do you?” Yoda asked. “The curse.”

“Just the sound of her voice.” Hondo shivered.

“Do you remember why you were supposed to come after me?” Qui-Gon asked, but not because he appeared worried. If anything, he was surely trying to figure out where this fit into the big picture of the prophecy.

“Just that you were referred to as the Guardian.” Hondo said. “The last I remember, I was skipping Potions and snuck into the prefect girls’ room.”

Yoda knew they had to focus on the bigger picture here for the sake of tracking down how this was obtained, but he still felt the need to give him an appraising stare.

“There’s got to be a statute of limitations on that.” Hondo said, “Seeing as it’s… What month is it?”

“January.” Qui-Gon said.

“By stars! It was October!” He scowled, “I lost months of business while under this stupid spell! Why, if I ever find who did this to me I’m going to-”

“-Choose your words carefully, you should.” Yoda reminded him and Hondo nodded.

“Everything was blank after that. It was all very strange. Like a hazy dream. And I… Experienced pain every time I failed.”

Yoda nodded, “Rest, you must. Missed a lot, you have.””

Yoda and Qui-Gon looked at one another. It was getting late and surely it would be unwise to dawdle any more so close to the Forbidden Forest. All that mattered was because of Hondo’s own insistence, which somehow fought through the barriers of the curse to save Qui-Gon, another crisis was averted.

It did raise the question of who gave it to him, of course, seeing as the events between the original attack in September and Hondo’s story of being in the restroom in October, clearly meant that it had been intentional.

And why Qui-Gon?

***

“Dead rats.” Obi-Wan scowled as he and Satine hesitantly stepped into an old cellar, if he had to judge. He helped Satine through the once-boarded up opening and they squinted through the dim lighting offered by a singular lantern at the center of the room. As he was so kind to point out, there were rats in various forms of decay scattered around the floor.

Satine gagged and covered her mouth with the back of her hand, “I’m going to be sick.”

While she was relieved that it wasn’t any human remains, her nose was disgusted that it was anything rotting. Some were frozen solid, some had recently passed, and others were broken apart and decomposing. Surely, if it weren’t cold enough to cause frostbite, flies and maggots would have a field day down here.

To their right was a workbench and on it was a strange block of concrete. The make of the bench did not look like it could even support the block as it was splintering at the center. Beside it, was a book that was already open.

“Someone’s been here recently,” He voiced his thoughts as he carefully stepped around the minefield of rodents. “That lantern is freshly lit by spell.”

She looked above them and could confirm the same conclusion. The candle had hardly burned in the slightest. Even while typically transfixed to last longer than a normal candle would, eventually, it would burn out otherwise.

“Any theories on where we are?” She asked.

“I’ve got a couple, but you aren’t going to like them.” He murmured, “What I’m hoping is we’re alone.”

Yeah, she shared that sentiment too.

Across the room, there was a set of stairs that would lead to the answers of where they were, but neither made to rush. There was still the matter of the curious scratching they’d heard and while Satine desperately wanted to be back on their way to Hogwarts again, she also didn’t want to walk right into a trap- provided they already hadn’t done so.

Unlike Obi-Wan, she didn't explore the rest of the room and went straight for the desk. The concrete was solid and thick- a perfect cube that was completely untainted. She ran her finger over it and looked to the book next to her.

The pages were finger-worn and stained yellow, with little droplets of what she hoped to be red ink scattered along the corners. There was no cover and it was written entirely by hand and in long and slanted cursive, like an old relic of the past. She didn’t recognize the dialect of English, but if she was forced to guess would say it dated back to the eighteenth century at the latest.

“Ipsumo Glacio.” She whispered as she used the light from her wand to run across the page that the person had been reading. “Carbon freeze, commonly known as “carbonite”, is a liquid substance that was made from carbon gas and could change into a solid through rapid freezing.”

Why someone would be dedicating time to perfect this in a bunker, was beyond her.

She placed a hand on the solid structure and continued reading, “Witches and wizards who learn how to utilize the carbon remnants in the air are able to transform it into a solid substance from seemingly nothing at all, trapping goods or services inside.”

Written in the margins in a rather messy and unmatching script said: “Does it kill?”

She frowned deeply and flipped through the book to get to the beginning page.. It was fragile and fading from years of use or neglect- Satine could not tell, but what she could tell was who it belonged to based on the log on the title page, which was composed of symbols she’d never seen before in her life.

There was who could only be the author’s name, since it matched the cursive that the rest of the book was written in.

Talzin.

This name held no meaning to her, but the second one beneath it, surely did.

Maul.

“Ben!” She dropped it like it was hot and backed away from the desk, nearly tripping over a dead rat or two. She knew who was here, after all, and more importantly, that they needed to leave immediately.

He appeared from around the railing with cold dread staining his own handsome features, “We’ve got a problem.”

“You don’t say!” She fired back. “I know who was here.”

“I think I do too,” He led her to the other side of the room, “Lumos Maxima!”

The whole room became ensconced in light and with it, a stack of various blocks of gray concrete- or carbonite- were opposite of the room. Except these blocks were not empty or necessarily small.

They contained animals ranging from rats to deer- frozen in the terror of being caught and likely maimed.

“This is where he’s getting his practice.” She gulped, thinking back to poor Bultar Swan and the rumors that she’d been frozen solid. That occurred in the school… There was no way… Unless, he’d already found a way inside.

“Let’s not be the next test dummies.” Her fingers dug deep into Obi-Wan’s arm as he led her up the creaking stairs and through the door. On the other side, a dementor no less, regarded them with a faceless depth of obscurity. For a moment, time slowed and she could not be bothered to focus on anything else except the endless void before her. She was only tugged back into reality by Obi-Wan’s clammy hand in hers and when her eyes shot over to his, he looked just as lost as she’d felt.

So, she pulled him away, determined that if the dementor would follow, they would give it a decent chase.

***

When Obi-wan and Satine finally arrived at dinner, red-faced and breathing heavily as they leaned very close to each other for support, it was to no surprise that plenty of whistles and chants followed at their grand entrance. After all, it wasn’t every day that they teamed up and disappeared during a game of witch-hunt and returned flustered and clinging onto each other.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Cody raised his eyebrows at them as Echo and Fives leaned over and made kissy noises.

While the two were already quite flushed and clearly exhausted from the extracurricular activities that they’d engaged in, neither were above having the decency to appear shocked by the accusations.

“Excuse me?” Satine hissed and gave Aayla and Stass, who were no better in their flagrant teasing, a lethal glare.

“Yeah, where’d the two of you get off to?” And surely, Stass’s word choice was not chosen by accident.

Even Anakin seemed keen on joining in on the fun, “And did you bring lip balm?”

“What- We- No!” Obi-Wan snapped, shaking his head, “It was not like that.”

“Can’t believe our esteemed prefects snuck off together.” Fives sighed, “For hours no less.”

“You are all morons.” Satine glowered, “When did we ever give off the indication that that’s something we would ever do?”

“Do you really want us to answer that question right now?” Aayla snorted, which earned her an elbow in the ribs.

“That would be a major abuse of power.” Obi-Wan said.

“And foolish for our legitimate situation.” Satine pointed out, “If you recall, there is a murderer on the loose.”

“Yeah, I’m a bit insulted that none of you were worried.”

“Just that you might pass out from lack of oxygen,” Stass smirked.

“Ease up on them, guys,” Bail Organa said from further down the table.

“Thank you, Bail.” Obi-Wan nodded.

“Yeah, if you’re too mean they might not share their secret make out spot for those who’d like to know.” Breha winked.

“Oh, come off of it!” Satine groaned. “Idiots, the whole lot of you.”

Fives and Echo made more kissy noises, which made everyone but the embarrassed centers of attention laugh.

“You picked a good time to play hooky, I must say.” Cody said teasingly, “With the Hondo thing that happened, the professors were rightfully distracted.”

“We didn’t sneak off!” Satine practically squeaked. It seemed she was annoyed enough by the strong implications that she didn’t think to stop and ask what happened. At this rate, Cody believed them, but it was always a bit fun to pull their (usually very serious) leg.

“Sure you didn’t.” The twins chanted.

“This is ridiculous!” Obi-Wan huffed, “And where is Hondo? I would like to exchange a few words for blasting us into next century.”

“What?” Cody frowned, the act dropping instantly.

“Yeah, while all of you lot thought we were�� Conspiring… We were actually quite busy running for our lives, thank you.” He said.

“Hondo ended up being the one who was possessed.” Anakin said grimly.

Satine and Obi-Wan looked at each other in shock and then back at Anakin, “What?”

“Everyone’s alright.” Bail confirmed. “But it turns out he was going for Qui-Gon instead of Anakin.”

“Yeah, no one got hurt.” Aayla said. “But Hondo was pretty upset.”

“I’m sure.” Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, “Does he know who possessed him?”

“That would literally be the first thing out of our mouths.” Cody rolled his eyes, “All teasing aside, of course.”

“Right, because that was such important use of our time.” Satine said, “I am glad no one was injured.”

“Well, no one else.” Anakin winced, “You know, but I heard Ferus Olin should be able to move his arms and legs by tomorrow morning.”

“He’s already gained back his taste.” Rex added thoughtfully, “Miracle worker, that Madame Nema.”

Satine seemed to go off somewhere into deep space as she got that contemplative look on her serious face, “Do you think that’s why-”

“-It’s certainly possible.” Obi-Wan, clearly following her same line of rapid fire thinking immediately answered.

“So maybe-”

“-Maybe? Definitely. Which means Dooku-”

“-Right.” She nodded.

“Okay tweedle dee and tweedle dumb, please don’t start communicating on a different line of speaking. I can only understand words.” Cody intervened.

Satine leaned forward and everyone around them leaned close, “Hondo was acting quite weird and cast a spell that sent us spiraling to a path that led to the Shrieking Shack.”

“And we are of course curious if that was intentional, given the history of that place.” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin dropped his fork, “No way! Did you see the sword?”

“The- No?” Obi-Wan frowned.

Anakin sagged forward, “Dang it, I really like that sword.”

“It was a bit hard to notice anything beyond the animal carcasses that were encased in solid carbonite.” Satine said pointedly.

“The… What?” Anakin and Rex were now exchanging confused looks.

“Hey, some of us are eating.” Stass said.

“I might have held my tongue on that front if you’d held yours on the cheeky comments.” She raised an eyebrow at her friend.

“I’m guessing there wasn’t anything like that when you two were there before.” Obi-Wan said to Anakin and Rex.

“They were where before?” Satine gritted.

“I gave them detention, relax.” Obi-Wan dismissed, though if Cody knew Satine like he did, it would be brought up later.

“And took points from Gryffindor.” Cody muttered.

“Speaking of, do the two of you get detention for going there to snog?” Anakin asked.

“WE DID NOT GO THERE TO SNOG!” Satine and Obi-Wan thundered in perfect unison, just loud enough to draw attention from the entire Great Hall.

“Alright, people, go about your business!” Cody ordered and for some reason that worked at derailing any lingering chatter. He sighed wearily as he sat back down to look at his friends with concern, “So, what does this mean?”

“That all of you have us wildly mischaracterized.” Satine scowled, though her face was redder than the tomato sauce on Cody’s pasta.

“It also means that Maul has been a lot closer than we thought.” Obi-Wan said, “Even possibly, in the school at some point.”

***

“Information, do you have, Mr. Trebor?” Yoda asked as he appeared in the fireplace of the auror’s office. Like many of the higher ranked aurors, Coleman Trebor’s was an absolute mess and likely wasn’t occupied for longer than a few minutes a day. Before, they used to have more time to sit around and do their paperwork, but ever since Dooku’s return they weren’t allowed to rest much either.

He imagined that tripled at Maul’s escape.

“Oh, Yoda, I’m glad you could meet me.” He said, though there were dark purple bags under his small eyes at opposite ends of his long head. “As you know, we finished our sweep of the Skywalker residence. It’s taken more time that usual since we needed to work with muggle forces on this one.”

Yes, the two forms of law enforcement were always hesitant to work together and when they did it was often disjointed.

“And?” He pressed.

“The disarray in the flat seems to be more for show than for a specific reason,” He frowned deeply as he showed Yoda some still images that were likely taken from the local authorities. “I would have suggested maybe Anakin made a mess looking for his mother rather than it be the work of an attacker or even Shmi. And it’s only in the bedroom.”

“Leave that room by foot, she did not.” Yoda mused.

“Right,” He said, “We were able to run some spells to see if we could possibly ID a wand by the trace, but it’s either been a significant amount of time or it wasn’t done by a wand at all.”

“No magic?” Yoda theorized. They couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that it was a muggle.

“Not exactly,” He said, “We did find a small trace of magic, a hex that we’ve only recently started to familiarize ourselves with in relation to another case.”

Yoda frowned and then looked closer at the pictures, noting that there was a faint dusting of gray speckles wedged in the lower corner of the carpet. They didn’t appear to be food matter, though, but almost like small broken stones. It was something that Yoda wouldn’t have previously guessed until this year as well.

“Carbonite.” He grimaced.

“Indeed,” He sighed, “We’ve swabbed the residue of what you see and can confirm that it’s the same substance as what Bultar Swan is presently trapped in.”

“Meaning, same person, you think it is.” Yoda had to admit it was looking to be true.

“Meaning, you’ve got a bigger problem on your hands that you deemed previously possible, Yoda.” Mr. Kenobi waltzed in without knocking, his long snake-topped staff clicking as he approached.

He stuck his nose up to Yoda, which wasn’t difficult to do with their varying height difference, but he would barely grace him a glance with his eyes that reminded Yoda of a shark’s: callous and soulless at the core. He looked permanently like he’d tasted something bad his entire life and the lines that burrowed in his face memorialized the expression.

“And what are you going to do about it?” He added, his lips curling into a snarl.

“I don’t believe you have jurisdictional rights of being here right now, Kenobi.” Trebor said placatingly, “With the trial-”

“-If you like that pretty little badge, I highly recommend you keep that large snout shut and go back to dusting for fingerprints or whatever pseudo practices your diminishing department has resorted to.”

Trebor, despite being an auror and having seen a decent amount of foul wizards, did take a step back in concession. Yoda wasn’t bothered. It was the bureaucratic authoritarians such as the Kenobi’s that wielded enough power and reputation to get anyone fired. Even Minister Valorum was obviously swayed by their opinion. Should they get enough people on their side, it wasn’t hard to have control.

“Protect our students, I will continue to do.” He said evenly.

“That would imply you’ve protected them at all thus far,” He scoffed and leaned his long torso against the doorframe, “Don’t think I haven’t already heard about the incident with Ohnaka. His family might not be held to the highest regards, but I assure you, this continued attack on the pureblood community is becoming a bit too convenient.”

“Think this has to do with blood, do you?” Yoda questioned, “Half-blood, Anakin Skywalker is.”

He said it if only to make the bitter man twitch. It seemed he’d been making a strong point of overlooking that fact lately.

“His mother wasn’t.” He said, “And that boy is without a mother because you refuse to take any real stance.”

“Suggestions, you have?” Yoda countered.

“Hogwarts has gotten too soft,” He only scowled, “Back in my day, they would have locked down the entire castle and had everyone armed and prepared to enact the strongest of curses should someone set a toe out of line.”

“Sorry you feel that way, I do,” Yoda said, “But strong, our team is. Prevail over this evil, we will.”

“As if you are the equivalent of an army,” He shook his head, “You won’t see the last of me, Yoda. This is your last warning. Deploy the dementors to the school and have them invade every space, face every student, regardless of consequence. That is the only way to catch an animal like Maul.”

He didn’t wait for Yoda to respond, casting another scathing glare towards Trebor and turning on his pointed heels back where he’d come from- likely to ruin someone else’s private conversation.

“Next time, lock the door you should.” Yoda nodded.

Coleman Trebor snorted, “That wouldn’t keep the likes of him out. Their entire posse of purists have been getting on my last nerve with their paranoia. Hogwarts is still a school. If you make those kids feel like prisoners, they’re not going to do well with that.”

Yoda didn’t always know what the answer was, but he knew Maul would not be breaking through the charms he’d set up.

“Believe Maul is responsible, you do?”

“It’s… Tricky. I don’t fully feel comfortable making that kind of assessment right now.” He explained, “It’s not really up to snuff with what he usually does, even if this sort of magic is absurd and he has been known to be experimental with ancient magic in the past.”

Yes, experimental was certainly one word for it. Yoda would have been quicker to use the word perverse or immoral when he thought of the strange concoctions that a younger Maul used to dream up in his spare time.

“The lack of a mess to the rest of the house is strange,” He said, “And even by the way the bedding is destroyed but there’s no DNA whatsoever left behind brings us to the conclusion that it was done after she was taken.”

“For show, it was.” Yoda pondered this information, “Consider this more, I shall. Speak with Qui-Gon, I will.”

Coleman sighed, his shoulders dropping, “I know he cared greatly for her and the boy. Please give him my thoughts.”

“Do this, I will.” Yoda smiled weakly.

***

Word traveled fast about Hondo’s possession and subsequent betrayal of said curse, but his emotional reaction to the event did not. Though Anakin did suspect Hondo to be reasonably upset by the ordeal, the self-proclaimed pirate did as he did best and somehow made a lucrative killing off of it with his cheap knock-off necklaces that were practically identical to the original model.

Even with that in mind, the pirate was one of the few students that didn’t treat or look at Anakin strangely after what happened to Ferus Olin. If people were freaked out to be around him after his mother was snatched, they were even more terrified now that rumors of him bursting with power circulated through the halls.

So, it was pleasant to be around someone who treated him just like he did before. It might have helped that Hondo had no memory of the last couple of months, but Anakin wasn’t going to say anything to make him think differently.

“Why didn’t you make them talk?” Anakin asked.

“Huh?” Hondo asked. While he would normally take up a makeshift stall of some kind, this was strictly forbidden as students still required supervision from prefects or professors. Hondo, himself, had subverted the initial struggle by paying off Zeb to walk with him everywhere. Zeb, who likely realized this was an easy job, didn’t seem to mind.

“Make them talk.” Anakin nodded towards the necklaces that were lined inside Hondo’s cloak, of which he’d fastened a bunch of pockets beneath for this very scenario. “Like you did with my pumpkin.”

Hondo arched a brow, “Is that supposed to be a euphemism, Skywalker?”

Anakin didn’t really want to know how it could be. Or what a euphemism even was.

“Skywalker’s carved jack-o-lantern spoke because of a charm you presumably taught him.” Zeb clarified gruffly, “Doubt you remember it though.”

Hondo blinked in surprise before due diligence to appear confident, “Well, Hondo is quite brilliant.”

“Just hope you remember that you promised me 30% of your profits from the merchandise you’re selling with my face all over it!” Anakin said, “Or else I’d have no choice but to tell the Headmaster that you did it without approval.”

Hondo shook his head, “Now, now, while under the influence of evil curses that simultaneously made me stronger and more susceptible to foolish deals, I’m sure we can work something out. You seem like an understanding boy, Skywalker. ”

“I can be.” Anakin said, “But I have also been going through a lot.”

Hondo coughed, “Right- Yes! So, why don’t we make it 25% and call it a day? Sounds like quite the deal to me still.”

“Well,” Anakin sighed, “I suppose I can afford the loss. Only if you hand me one of those necklaces free of charge.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal!” He showed both rows of yellow teeth in a broad smile before aggressively shaking Anakin’s hand, smoothly transferring the necklace. Anakin did overhear as they walked away Hondo (not so quietly) whispering that he was a sucker. However, Anakin didn’t really think so, considering he managed to squeak an extra 10% out of Hondo with minimal effort.

That, and he got a necklace, which he already had plans in the making for the moment he laid eyes on them. Since no one was kidding around when they said you needed to be with a professor or prefect, Anakin immediately dodged into Professor Palpatine’s classroom before Lyra, who was monitoring this particular hall, could make a comment.

He found Palpatine in his usual setting- standing behind a desk that was covered entirely by test tubes, beakers, and lab flasks of various unknown liquids. There was of course a bubbling black cauldron at the center of the madness that Palpatine appeared particularly transfixed on stirring.

It wasn’t until Anakin tried to make his presence known by shutting the door did the older man look up at him with the kind and welcoming smile he’d come to know.

“Anakin, my boy! Just in time to try my newest concoction.”

“What is it?” He asked and immediately rounded on the other side of Palpatine.

“As you may have noticed, we professors and prefects have been pulling rather tight hours.” Palpatine said with a sigh, “No sleep for the weary and all that, but if I’ve managed the correct brew, this should have an anti-drowsy effect strong enough to keep us awake when necessary. I don’t know about them, but coffee is merely not doing the trick anymore.”

Anakin leaned over the cauldron and took a big whiff, allowing the warm aroma of the steam that emanated off the green surface to fill his nostrils. He leaned back on the balls of his feet and paused, knowing he recognized the smell from somewhere.

“That smells like Monster!” He snapped his fingers when it finally came to him.

“Drat,” Palpatine frowned, “Which one? Because I’m not sure they’ll readily try it if it smells like troll or ogre-”

“-No!” Anakin giggled, “Monster is an energy drink in the muggle world. I wasn’t ever allowed to have any of that stuff, because my mum says I’ve got enough energy to be made into my own beverage, but I’ve snuck a can or two before.”

He really tried not to visibly appear saddened by the mere mention of his mother and the reminder that she was nowhere to be found. Really, he did, but Palpatine was a wise professor and knew a sad student when he saw one.

“I see,” He placed the ladle down, “And how are you doing, Anakin?”

Anakin took a seat at the pedestal near the corner of the desk and leaned on his elbow. Countless professors and prefects had asked him this very question with the same sullen eyes that Anakin knew meant they felt sorry for him. It was almost worse than the kids that ran scared from him. He didn’t want their pity. He just wanted his mum back.

It wasn’t Palpatine’s fault, of course, so he knew better than to lash out and act on his frustrations again. He didn’t want to see him wind up like Ferus Olin in the hospital wing.

“I could be better.” He said quietly.

“I assure you that Headmaster Yoda and the Ministry of Magic is doing everything within their power to find out what happened to your dear mother.” Palpatine placed a hand on his shoulder.

That was the problem though. Everyone was doing “everything” they could, but it never quite filled Anakin with the confidence that it would be enough.

“The Ministry is too concerned about what Maul’s going to do to care.” He said.

“Why do you say that?” Palpatine asked, “I imagine they’re used to having a good deal going on. I’m no expert on politics, but there are many departments to my understanding.”

“They’ve hardly moved a centimeter on the possession thing and Hondo’s selling trinkets!” Anakin waved around the prize he’d been given not long ago and Palpatine’s eyes briefly followed it like it was a hypnotic pendulum. “Dooku is still out there!”

“Yes, I know.” Palpatine pinched his chin and moved around the room to open a drawer. In it, he retrieved sprigs of a pointy plant that Anakin hadn’t yet been shown in herbology. When broken, it created a puff of dust that seemed to go straight up his nose and made him sneeze. Embarrassingly enough, Anakin knocked a whole vial of “Z” fluid, whatever that was, into the cauldron in his erratic sneeze.

“Bless you,” Luckily, it seemed Palpatine didn’t notice as he was kneeling by the cupboards and Anakin shifted to appear casual and unafflicted.

“I just wish they would tell us something.”

“You and me both.” Palpatine sighed, “While a wonderful man, that Valorum, I reckon he tries a bit too hard to appease everyone.”

“And that’s bad?” Anakin asked.

“Not bad just… Not ideal for a leader of the whole wizarding world.” Palpatine said, “Though it seems the Ministry cannot get much out of Hondo as he is still a minor and appears to have zero recollection of his time under the curse. We have been keeping him under close protective watch as we have everyone.”

“Sure.” Anakin shrugged, “But none of that brings back my mother.”

Palpatine took a seat on a storage chest off to the side, bringing himself to Anakin’s level, “Oh, Anakin, I know this must be an impossibly difficult time for you, and you are handling it much better than anyone I’ve ever seen handle great sadness. But I can soundly promise you this: your mother… Is never really that far, not when it counts.”

“I know,” He sniffed and pointed to his chest.

Palpatine’s gray eyes twinkled and he nodded, “She would want you to be brave.”

He steeled his posture straight, “And I will! I’ll find who took her and make them pay! I don’t care if it’s Dooku, Maul, or anyone else! They’ll wish they never messed with my family.”

“Some might say that anger is a dangerous emotion, Anakin, one that can consume you, but like anything, it’s got its purposes. Often, it gives us a reason.” Palpatine suddenly got a far off expression in his eyes and turned back to his potion as though he were mentally deconstructing what he should add to it.

“What are you angry about, Professor?” He asked.

Palpatine tilted his head, “Like everyone else, Anakin, I’m angry that a man like Maul is free. And like you, I intend to stop him.”

***

“Have you found anything?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Did I have anything five minutes ago when you asked me?” Satine responded rather sharply, or it would have been if her face wasn’t smushed against the parchment she was supposed to be reading.

He placed his book down and gently shook her shoulder until she stirred enough to glare at him through bloodshot eyes and heavy lids, “Hey, we’ve got to patrol in an hour. If you want to go back to the common room and take a nap-”

“-And leave you alone?” She raised her head, “I don’t think so.”

“While I do appreciate your help on this-”

“-It’s not help.” This time her tone was biting, “Need I remind you that it was I who discovered the spell book in the first place?”

He decided not to mention that she should have taken it with her in that case, but while he was usually primed for one of their classic debates, he knew now was not the time to pick such battles. She looked as exhausted as he felt and really, it wasn’t her fault that she was spooked by the realization that they’d stumbled upon Maul’s hiding spot.

“Sorry, sorry.” He yawned, “I just think it’s fair that at least one of us be rested.”

“And why can’t it be you?” She countered.

“Because some, not necessarily I, would say that you can be a bit… Cranky when you don’t get enough sleep.”

“Oh really?” She riposted with almost enough flair to be convincingly virile, “Then what would you say?”

“You know I always find you to be a treat to be around.” He teased.

She scoffed, “I’m sure.”

“But as your dearest friend-”

“-Somebody thinks highly of himself.” She cut off with a tired smile that made Obi-Wan acknowledge the softness that this borderline delirium brought to her features. Perhaps, he wasn’t entirely jesting in his previous statement.

“As one of your dearest friends,” He amended and continued when she didn’t object, “I believe I am certified in caring about your wellbeing.”

“That is true, but I would propose that you offer the same courtesy to yourself every now and then.” She said.

“I will when you will.” He said, “You know, by the time we’re done this little debate, neither of us will have time to nap.”

“It’s called deliberations, my dear Obi-Wan.” She said.

“Actually, I believe it’s called “stupid”. Right, Ryder?” Cody turned to Ryder Azadi, Hufflepuff House’s sixth year chaser.

“Cody, tell Satine to go to bed.” Obi-Wan would argue that it was acceptable for his voice to sound a little whiny, especially since he was too tired to hold up many walls of decorum. As such, he knew he really didn’t have to amongst friends. Though, he didn’t know Ryder much beyond Quidditch.

“Satine, go to bed.” Cody said.

“Ha!” Obi-Wan pointed at her, but kept his finger at a safe distance, because with the look she gave him, he briefly feared she might bite him.

“You too, brainiac.” Cody swatted him upside the head, “You’re both no good to the school if you go blind reading too much.”

“That’s physically impossible.” Satine said.

“You’re sure to be the first case then.” Cody said, “I hate it when I’ve got to be the responsible one.”

Obi-Wan considered his other best friend, who was dressed in surprisingly a Keeper’s uniform, with doubt at that statement. It seemed from across the table, Satine was making that same assessment. Ryder, he noticed, was also wearing the Hufflepuff rendition of this uniform.

“Is that how a responsible person dresses now?” Satine asked, “Because I’m starting to feel a bit left out then.”

“Headmaster Yoda noticed that there isn’t enough coverage for the underclassmen.” He said, “And the fifth and seventh years have standardized testing at the end of term. So, he recruited some strong-willed sixth years to help out with patrols.”

“Really?” Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair, which started to fall in his face. That didn’t exactly put him and Satine in a better spot since they were still sixth year prefects, but he was glad that the other students would be getting a much-needed break, “Did they train you?”

“Basic stuff.” Ryder, who was growing in a blond chinstrap, said and clenched a fist, “Figured we would dress for success.”

“I’m still missing something.” Satine deadpanned, “You know you aren’t allowed to play on the Quidditch pitches while patrolling them, right?”

“We know that, thank you,” Cody sneered, though Obi-Wan didn’t doubt that he had asked when he was chosen, “We’re the honorary prefects, so to speak, and we wanted to be ready to handle any situation at any time.”

“I see.” Satine nodded tiredly, “I suppose if Maul is armed with bludgers, you will be set.”

“Anything could happen with that creep.” Cody said, “Did you two find anything?”

It seemed Satine didn’t like hearing that question from Cody either and Ryder gave Obi-Wan a concerned look when she groaned dramatically. He just shrugged.

“I think we’ve searched just about every charms and transfiguration book in the library and nothing on a Talzin or the process of carbon freeze.” Satine rubbed her eyes and rested her head down on her forearms. Even the ponytail that usually hung high on her head seemed to droop from the weight of sleep deprivation.

“Well, outside of the restricted section.” Obi-Wan said, “I suspected as much, honestly. Leaving that sort of thing on display would be quite dangerous.”

“As opposed to the multitude of curses and hexes they teach us about?” She muttered, “Wizards are so strange with what they prohibit.”

“Usually, it has to do with what they don’t understand.” Cody said, “But look, you can sit around reading or you can both pass out on the Ravenclaw couch for a bit. We’ll cover for you.”

“Are you sure? You have to be sure to check every nook and cranny! It can be quite boring, but sometimes students try to play tricks on you. You’ve got to do the rotation perfectly-” Obi-Wan started, but was practically yanked out of his seat by Cody. Satine, to her luck, merely had her seat pulled out by Ryder at Cody’s silent instruction. He felt a bit like he was being kicked out of a club.

“-You only talk about it all the time.” Cody said, “While I usually do not listen to that dribble, it eventually does stick to a guy’s head.”

“Well… Alright, but only for an hour.” Satine finally gave in, likely because they were being forced out. As they passed the reception desk and looked at a relieved Madame Nu, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was called on by her.

“Good, then stop by Palpatine’s office. He’s got some energy potion for all of us to keep us awake.” Cody said, “Rex told me it’s made of monster brains!”

“Ah yes, more delectable wizard cuisine.” Satine grimaced and while he would normally argue that they shared many excellent dishes over the years, Obi-Wan couldn’t help but agree on that front. He was never too fond of the flavor of brain- regardless of the creature- despite what his parents might insist about the value.

***

“Hello, Anakin! Isn’t it nearly curfew?” Qui-Gon checked his watch, which was unfortunately misplaced somewhere. Instead, he looked to the large clock in the far corner of the room, an antique from a muggle household in the 1800s, and confirmed that it was getting late.

“I only came by for a request.” Anakin said.

“Alone?” Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow at him, “Where’s Obi-Wan? You know you’re not supposed to be traveling about without supervision.”

“I was careful.” Anakin promised.

“Your definition of careful and mine tend to differ at times.” He placed some books down on the coffee table, “It makes little difference now, of course. How can I be of service?”

He appreciated Qui-Gon taking him in, but he wasn’t looking for a father or another parental figure. He already had one. He just needed to get her back. Palpatine was right about how slow the Ministry was moving. He had tried to be nice about it, but Anakin knew they were dragging their feet from their own fears.

“I didn’t quite know where I could find paint at this hour and I figured, well, you have a whole lot of junk.” He cringed, “No offense.”

Qui-Gon laughed, “I wouldn’t exactly call all of it junk, but perhaps our definitions of that also diverge in meaning.”

However, the tall professor, whose hair was uncharacteristically pulled back into a full ponytail vs the half-up style, moved to a cabinet at the far side of the room. After crouching down and rummaging through what sounded like various glass items, he emerged with a few jars of colored paint.

Anakin lit up, “Brilliant! Thank you, Qui-Gon. I also came to give you some of the energy potion that Palpatine brewed for tonight. He wanted it distributed so none of you passed out with all the long hours you guys are pulling to keep the school safe.”

“Always thinking, that Sheev.” His smile flickered a bit as he considered the drink and smelled it, “Is it supposed to smell of fruity battery acid?”

“That’s what gives it the kick.” Anakin offered, “I tried it. It’s not so bad.”

“I suppose I can trust your judgment.” He said and threw down the little cup of energy drink. He twisted his face into a sour expression before shaking his head, “Actually, never again.”

“Yeah, the students are liking it a lot better than the professors.” Anakin shrugged, “Go figure.”

“You only gave it to the prefects, right?”

That hadn’t been his specific instruction, even if he figured that’s what Palpatine meant. No one wanted a bunch of crazy children bouncing off the walls, except maybe the children, themselves. However, Anakin was quite good at sharing and didn’t want anyone to feel left out. They hadn’t taken it from him, but Rex had a better reputation with the other underclassmen than he did.

“Yeah, of course.” He lied, “Though I couldn’t find Obi-Wan and Satine.”

“I haven’t seen them since the Shrieking Shack incident took place,” Qui-Gon admitted, “I think Obi-Wan is definitely going against my wishes and pursuing other investigative fronts.”

“You really should have seen that one coming.” Anakin snorted, “Though I am still surprised they didn’t get in trouble at all! I went there earlier this year and got detention!”

“To be fair, theirs had been an accident, Anakin.” Qui-Gon regarded him sternly as he finished his energy drink, “You really do need to be more cautious of your predicament. Maul is not someone to dangle yourself in front of like low-hanging fruit, not when the entire school is locking down for protection.”

“I know.” He slouched his shoulders, “I won’t be making it easy for him, I promise. I do appreciate everything everyone is doing for me too.”

He smiled gently, “Something tells me you would do it for anyone else.”

“I would.” He nodded, “Do you really think Maul is as close as they say he is?”

“It’s hard to tell.” Qui-Gon said, “He’s been silent for a little while. Usually, someone of his unique characteristics is spotted by now. If he is, he won’t get far with the dementors and Yoda here.”

“Why’s he so afraid of Yoda?” Anakin finally asked.

“Yoda possesses the elder wand.” Qui-Gon said, “Which is the most powerful wand in the entire world and can only be utilized by the most powerful wizards. Even more so, it’s because Maul understands he’s no match for Yoda.”

“I see.” He sighed in relief at that, “I’m just glad we have Headmaster Yoda.”

“Yes,” Qui-Gon’s smile seemed to go a bit rigid as he nodded, “We are. Speaking of, I do need to meet with the Headmaster in a bit to implement the nightly security spells.”

“Okay, can I have the paint?” He asked.

Before handing the paint over to him, Qui-Gon pulled back with the jars and eyed him carefully, “You aren’t going to use this to paint the girls’ bathroom or anything, are you? Tell me now, because I will not be an accomplice.”

“Who do I look like, Hondo?” Anakin emphasized, “I’ve got more going on than pranks this year.”

Qui-Gon’s eyes softened and he handed over the jars, “I know, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to keep saying that.” Anakin said, “You sound like Obi-Wan. He doesn’t seem like he quite knows how to act around me.”

“I meant for my accusations, but yes, I am also quite sorry for your predicament.” Qui-Gon said, “Though your mother would-”

“-Want me to be brave, I know.” Anakin tried hard to seem like he was, too. He squared his shoulders back and kept bold eye contact whenever speaking. His voice didn’t waver and hadn’t fully cried in a while.

“I was going to say she would want you to still be a kid. You are being brave every single day you wake up and choose to face the day. I knew your mother quite well and can say with full confidence that she would be so proud of you.” He knelt down and placed two hands on Anakin’s shoulders, steadying him in a way he almost wanted to reject, because for as heartbroken as he was, his anger was at the tenfold. However, Qui-Gon was so unassumingly caring that he couldn’t bring himself to be so cold or callous, not even right now.

“How can I be the chosen one and feel so powerless?” He finally confessed and doing so felt like a weight was being removed from his shoulders.

“Chosen one or not, no one is in complete control.” He answered honestly, “The only thing we’ve got control over is ourselves. And even that has its limits. People get sick and hurt which they cannot always control.”

“So, what can I do?” He asked, “I want to help! I want to get her back!”

“In due time.” Qui-Gon sighed, “One of the hardest things we can do in this life is let go, Anakin. To look in the mirror and acknowledge our limitations and from there, hope with everything in us that it all works out.”

“One day I’ll be strong enough.” Anakin said in a low voice that he almost didn’t recognize. Qui-Gon also seemed surprised by it.

“Revenge does not ease the broken heart.” He said, “It only puts further poison in our veins. You might think that causing pain to those that have hurt us will fill the void that loss leaves us, but it doesn’t. If anything, it only infects that hole with malice and darkness. You do not want that.”

Anakin swiped an aggressive arm against his eyes, trying and failing to keep it together as he had for the past few weeks, “I just hate feeling so weak.”

“You are not weak, Anakin.” Qui-Gon gently pulled him in for a hug that Anakin was far too bleary-eyed to refute, “You are everything you need to be just as you are.”

“It doesn’t feel that way.” He cried, “It feels like I’m the only person who cares what happens to her!”

“I swear to you that you’re not.” He patted his back firmly with his large hand, “We’ll find who did this and we’ll make it right. I promised you that and I intend to hold up on my promises.”

“What about until then?” Anakin asked quietly, collecting himself a little bit and feeling quite awful about smearing snot on Qui-Gon’s robes. Then again, they were so old that he really shouldn’t feel such a way.

“Until then, we find what we can and we make the best of our time. It’s what she would have wanted for you.” He said.

“And Maul?” He yawned. Energy drink or not, he was emotionally exhausted.

“He won’t get you.” Qui-Gon assured him and hugged him again, “This, I solemnly swear.”

***

Obi-Wan hadn’t really understood how tired he was until he had to be physically shaken by a frantic Satine, who was quite different from the dream version that had intruded on his psyche that evening. The real version, for instance, looked a lot less pleased to be in his presence and quite annoyed that he wasn’t immediately rousing at her request.

“Ben!” She hissed with another shove, “Get up!”

As the fogginess of much-needed sleep faded from his eyes and he settled on the sight of his best friend hovering over him- her navy tie tickling his neck as she did so- with a terrified look in her crystalline eyes.

“Wha-” He suddenly really hoped he hadn’t been drooling.

“Don’t just lay there slobbering all over yourself! There’s a situation going on!” She said.

He swiped a hand across his mouth self-consciously, but did have enough critical thinking to shoot her a glare at her haste. He’d be more embarrassed if he had the time, but instead, she practically yanked him to his feet. Judging from the sleep lines on her face and the rumpled state of her uniform, it was clear she had also just risen from her slumber.

He grimaced, “Did we miss our shift?”

“No, but everyone else did!” She gestured to the still bodies that were strewn all over the Ravenclaw common room. Some appeared to have curled up there themselves while others were laying in all sorts of wonky and unpredictable positions.

Obi-Wan threw his legs over the edge of the couch and looked around him more closely. Stass Allie, who was having trouble sleeping after what happened to her cousin, was laying in a starfish position with her wand not far from her stretched out hand.

“What happened to them? Are they alright?” He panicked.

“They’re asleep!” She lifted Aayla’s floppy arm before dropping it. The Twi’lek did little more in response than just clap her lips together and roll over in the opposite direction of them. Satine’s eyes were bulged in panic that reflected the tightness of Obi-Wan’s chest.

“Why weren’t we affected?” He asked. What he really wanted to ask was what this could possibly mean.

“Probably because you can’t make people who are already asleep fall asleep.” She said, “Come on, we’ve got to see if it’s just limited to our house.”

He tugged his shoes on and followed her with his wand at the ready. He knew everyone was on edge with Maul on the loose and that could be quite draining, but like Satine, he had a bad feeling about this.

As it turned out, unfortunately, it was not just limited to the Ravenclaw common room, but to seemingly every student in the school- at least those that were found slumped in precarious positions such as the hallway or classrooms. They’d even braved the blistering wind to find Cody and Ryder passed out against each other’s backs near the pitches.

They’d levitated them back inside, of course.

“Well, this feels like a very specific psychological nightmare.” Satine said after they’d ensured that no one else was at risk of freezing to death outside.

Obi-Wan certainly didn’t disagree. Even the professors were afflicted by whatever strange spell had been put over everyone, “Clearly, it’s not something put on the school itself, because we wouldn’t have woken up.”

“That is true.” She said, “Plus, it would take someone insanely powerful to conjure a spell that grand for the entire school.”

“Hogwarts’ defense spells would completely disregard something of that nature anyway.” He pinched his chin, “It has to be internally done.”

“Please, please, please don’t tell me we’re on another hunt for an inside-man.” Satine groaned and tilted her head back.

“I really wish I wasn’t.” He sighed heavily, “I’ve also had enough double crossing, even if unintentional.” He was referring to Hondo, of course, because while a bit slimy, didn’t have an evil bone in his body.

“Glad that this isn’t happening while we’re the only conscious people in the entire building.” She muttered.

“We haven’t explored all the other common rooms yet, we don’t know that.” Obi-Wan said, “But seeing as those would be younger children, I’d say it’s best if we count our blessings that we’ve at least got each other.”

Her eyes softened, “Yes, well, I suppose there are worse people to be stuck awake with. We’re Ravenclaws. We can think our way out of this one.”

He matched her small smile with his own, “Indeed.”

On their long walk they performed their routine rounds, ensuring that everyone who was passed out was okay and hadn’t suffered any falls. During which, they found that while the younger students in most of the common rooms were either legitimately in bed or awake, none of the older students or professors were moving in the slightest. This included Madame Nema and Nu, as well as Yoda. The little Headmaster was leaned back fully in his chair, snoozing like there wasn’t a care in the world.

Obi-Wan had been relieved that Anakin was tucked away in bed. The boy needed his rest now more than ever. He’d taken care to pull the covers a bit higher so that he didn’t get a chill. When he turned back to Satine, he noticed that she’d averted her eyes purposefully.

Still, they kept moving. At the very least, it didn’t appear that anything inherently dastardly was going on. They did come across Ventress, who was the only other prefect that was awake and couldn’t seem less bothered by the ongoing plight.

“Clearly, you’ve never heard of beauty sleep.” Ventress eyed Satine when she said it, “Let them all sleep off whatever stupor they’ve fallen into and get over it.”

“The extra protective measures might not have been placed, Ventress.” Obi-Wan said sardonically, “And who’s going to protect everyone when Maul turns up? You?”

“Do you really believe that if Maul wanted to storm the school that he’d simply lull everyone to sleep with a lullaby?” She purred, painting her nails an obsidian black that made her fingers look even more like skinless bones. “I thought you were supposed to be smart, Kenobi.”

“What’s smart is trying to account for any situation.” Satine insisted, “And I might add that’s quite suspicious that you’re the only other upperclassmen awake right now.”

Obi-Wan looked to Ventress, who merely laughed at the underlying accusations, “While I don’t normally entertain fairytales, I suppose I’ll bite. So, what did I do, Duchess? Put the whole school under my seductive spell? Make them all have bad dreams? And for what? So I could have some peace and quiet?”

“See, you say all of that like it isn’t right in line with your selfish history of indiscretions.” Satine fired back.

“Believe it or not, some of us grow up.” She said with a shrug and winked at Obi-Wan, “And I would like to continue doing so, which cannot happen if that idiot Maul destroys all of us. Besides, I have an alibi.”

“And just what would that be?” Satine asked.

“I was asleep.” Ventress said, “I’ve also been working around the clock to inspect this stupid school. Kenobi can vouch for me. We did run into one another earlier and I went to take a snooze before patrol.”

“You weren’t scheduled for tonight.” He said carefully.

“I was enlisted for extra eyes just as your lunkhead of a Quidditch jockstrap was.” She spat.

“And you didn’t find it strange that everyone started dropping like flies around you?” Satine asked, still maintaining an accusatory tone.

“I figured Yoda’s paranoia was exhausting them as much as it was exhausting me.” She shrugged. “I can’t be the only one tired of it.”

“You could at the very least seem a bit more concerned, Ventress.” Obi-Wan retorted, “Instead of posting yourself up in the dungeons while you have a spa day.”

“I will let you know if I see anything,” She said with a shrug, “Though everyone is blowing everything so far out of the water.”

“Anakin’s life was threatened! His mother was taken!” Obi-Wan argued, “Children are being frozen solid! What exactly should they be doing? Welcoming Maul inside?”

“Hunting him down. Use the kid as bait and nab the overzealous idiot.” She kicked her feet off the desk they’d been resting on and folded her hands, “It’s what he deserves, after all. Is it not?”

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to answer, but caught Satine’s curious eye. Clearly, she was interested in his answer and this was only Ventress’s way of trying to throw the two of them into a scathing argument. Well, they had much bigger issues at large right now and he couldn’t be bothered to play into her games.

“What’s the matter, Kenobi? Muggle-born got your tongue?” Her eyes flashed in mock concern, “I figured you’ve never had a cat as a pet, so that was much more of an appropriate expression.”

“If anyone is acting like the animal it’s-” Satine started.

“-When everyone awakes, we’ll ensure they know just what your role was here.” Obi-Wan cut off whatever scathing speech Satine had been ready to embark on. He began to pull her out of the room, realizing not for the first time how relieved he was not to live in the cold dungeons.

“Do you truly believe she’s innocent?” Satine asked.

“I don’t think she’s guilty of this.” Obi-Wan said, “Like she said, what does she stand to gain from this?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Ventress is perfectly fine with being cruel for no apparent reason,” She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I have noticed.” He said gently, “Buying into her stupid go-around is the worst thing we can do right now.”

“I know.” She said, “But just once I wish she could taste how bitter she is.”

He nodded, “At the very least, we’ll keep an eye on her. It is rather strange that she wasn’t affected.”

As they exited Slytherin’s common rooms, Satine’s eyes lit up, “The potion!”

“What potion?” Obi-Wan asked. Satine wasn’t even in potions this year.

“The one that Cody mentioned. Palpatine was supposed to brew something to keep us awake. You know, because coffee or tea simply isn’t enough for anyone here. I wonder if that could assist in waking everyone up!”

He nodded, “Even if not, he certainly has enough ingredients for us to hopefully figure something out.”

“And if not, we’ll have no choice but to pen the Ministry.” Satine said.

Obi-Wan stiffened at that, “We might not need to write them at all. I do know my father’s exact office has a fireplace.”

She looked at him warily and he nodded, “Let’s do a bit of investigating first.”

“It’s what we’re good at.” He said.

Any theory of utilizing Palpatine’s potion to liven everyone up was completely tossed out the window when they arrived at the professor’s office, where he was found slumped over in his chair, snoring softly with his head down and unreadable against the desk. Near his hand was a spilled silver chalice that held a pea-green liquid.

“Smells foul.” Satine grimaced as she moved back to look around at the disarray of supplies, “You would think Palpatine would have taken his own potion.”

“It’s some firewhiskey brew.” Obi-Wan commented, “A very old and expensive bottle by the looks of it.”

It was quite popular with Obi-Wan’s father and many other men in their circle of acquaintances. He’d been told he, too, would grow a taste for it someday, but he wasn’t so sure. Like Satine, he recoiled at the smell of it.

Obi-Wan leaned over into the cauldron that had long since cooled from brewing. Like many of the professor’s cauldrons, it was charmed to never run out of whatever substance it was meant to carry. This certainly made teaching easier.

Inside, was a thick, purple liquid that when he smelled it, seemed to soothe him immensely, transporting him to a place of serenity that was reminiscent of walking on clouds. So much so, that his eyes grew heavy with just a whiff.

Satine frowned at this strange behavior and instinctually pulled him back by the arm when he wobbled forward a bit too much, seeming to lose his balance.

“Are you alright?” She asked as he blinked a few times to come to his senses.

“Yes I…” He stared back at the potion, “I think I might have figured out why everyone’s falling asleep. That is a very potent drowsiness draught.”

“But why would he make something like that?” She asked and picked up the deadweight of Palpatine’s wrist before letting it fall, observing no reaction from the snoring man.

“Perhaps, he didn’t.”

***

Despite the hazy nature of the scene, Anakin could recognize it immediately. The chairs were no longer strewn on the ground and there wasn’t a feather in sight. It was his home where, up until recently, he had lived with his mother.

Anakin was reading the newspaper, but although he tried to focus on the words or the date he could not. It didn’t seem to matter because the paper was soon tucked away and he stood. Anakin tried to move his body towards his mother’s room, desperate to search for her again, even though something inside himself told him it would be of no use. It seemed Anakin was not the one in control. Although he felt himself walk down the hallway, he felt much taller than he should be, and instead of his mum’s room, a gloved hand twisted the knob of his own bedroom.

Everything looked to be how he left it, not exactly the cleanest room, but his mother tended to only clean up enough that it was manageable. He still had parts of an old radio he’d been tinkering with left on his desk and next to his bed was a stack of comics. He simply stood, looking around for a moment, feeling nothing but anger for a moment, but knowing that such a feeling wasn’t his own. A deadly sense of calm washed over him. The gloved hand reached towards the top of Anakin’s dresser where he remembered he had a few letters placed. The one on top was from Professor Palpatine, one of his more interesting letters he’d received from over summer break.

The gloved hand seemed to reach for them first, glancing at the letter before letting it fall. Anakin felt a horrible sense of foreboding as he recalled having picked up the letter when he’d gone to pack his bag before heading to Qui-Gon’s. His mouth twisted into a snarl as it hit the ground, a boot stepping on it for good measure before the hand picked up one of the framed photos from on top of his dresser.

It was a picture of him and his mother smiling brightly at the camera. It had been one of the few outings they could afford a few summers back, before Hogwarts. He stared at his mother’s face longing to see her again when the glass frame was tipped just slightly to the side. Glowing yellow eyes reflected in the picture, appearing right over his mother’s smile, showcasing the face he was wearing.

Maul had been inside the apartment.

***

Satine supposed she was relieved that one of them continued to take potions on the NEWT’s level, because it made the process of breaking down the elements of the potion all the easier with someone who had continuous advanced practice. Satine was never bad at the subject, but it certainly didn’t interest her the way Charms of History of Magic always seemed to. Besides, her wariness of Palpatine didn’t help.

“This would be a lot easier if I could taste the thing.” Obi-Wan sighed as he arranged the various ingredients he recalled on sight (or smell, for that matter) in little tubes. “Or even smell it without passing out.”

Satine nodded as she extracted another sample, “Well, it’s a good thing you’ve got a perfect memory or else we would truly be in trouble.”

They looked like quite the pair of hardworking chemists with sleeves rolled up, protective eyewear on, and an array of various vials of substances around them. Some were labeled with question marks while others were definitive enough to be labeled, such as the crushed monkshood.

“It’s odd, some of these ingredients really don’t match up with any Vitamix potion we’ve studied in class.” Obi-Wan sighed as he pushed his goggles up his eyes, causing his hair to stick up a bit. He scrubbed a hand over his face, likely from actual drowsiness as opposed to the manufactured kind, and took a seat on the stool.

“I would assume Palpatine was making his own brew.” Satine said, “Especially if it was meant to keep the whole school on alert.”

The Vitamix potion gave the user a kick of energy that could have negative side effects if handled improperly or given too high of a dose. Both toyed with the possibility that everyone was given too much of it and this resulted in utter exhaustion. However, Satine concluded that a panic attack or heart troubles were much more likely rather than sleepiness.

He checked his watch, “It’s not long before sunrise.”

“The younger students will be waking soon.” She groaned, “And we’ve been at this for hours without any reversible properties taking place. There’s no reason this potion should be causing people to fall asleep.”

“Well, whatever that reason is, it’s in here.” Obi-Wan shook the vile around. “I believe it’s giving it this purple color too. It would be a lot easier to reverse whatever it is if we knew. However, I don’t want to fall into the same mistake and create a sleeping potion. That would be counterproductive.”

“Maybe not,” She said.

“Pardon? I know you’re tired too but-”

“-Listen,” She interjected and he shut up immediately, “In potions you learn to deconstruct a brew by its basic properties and ingredients, correct?”

“That is what I’ve been trying to do.” Obi-Wan drawled.

She ignored his sarcasm and continued, “But what if that’s what Palpatine was trying to do all along? Break down an existing potion and simply create the inverse effect. What if it’s easier to produce a drowsiness draught and use that as a control group or substance to compare the effects?”

Obi-Wan considered that, “It would certainly make for a stronger brew, something specific vs. just giving someone a burst of energy. You would want that energy to last like a good night’s sleep would from a strong enough draught.”

“So this,” She raised the little beaker and waved it between them, “Is merely a fully composed sleeping brew, which on its own would make someone quite tired.”

“But the properties of the Vitamix potion are recessive in nature, meaning the domineering drowsiness draught would cancel it out.” He stood up again, gaining some of his fervor like he’d actually taken a Vitamix potion, “In fact, Vitamix potions and sleeping draughts contain one matching property known as the powdered root of asphodel, which is extremely strong regardless of how it’s being used.”

“So, if that’s the case, this isn’t just any draught, but-” Satine, while no longer studying potions, did enjoy the feeling of sliding so easily back into a system of logic. It was good to get practice in all fields for future reference. Plus, she did have a little practice when she worked with Madame Nema on those first aid classes.

“-Draught of Living Death.” Obi-Wan finished with horror, “Just like in the fairytales.”

“I’m guessing that one didn’t have a happy ending for you either?” Satine couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know, Kenobi, I always felt it had a certain spice to it.” Ventress’ cool voice echoed through the classroom and Satine didn’t even have the patience or energy to deal with more of the witch’s snide comments and casual carelessness. If she didn’t want to help, that was fine, but she didn’t need to rub her callous nature in their faces all the time. Moreover, it would not be unlike her to claim some of the credit for appearing in the final hour.

“What’s wrong? All out of nails to paint?” Obi-Wan deadpanned, “Or did you realize with everyone asleep for all of eternity, there’s no one for you to show your wrath?”

“Always a charmer.” She barbed and sauntered into the room, swaying her hips back and forth as she did so.

Satine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She did realize no one was around to care and stare at her rear, right? It wasn’t like Obi-Wan had any interest in the Slytherin. Instead, he looked quite irritated that she decided to turn up.

“Why would this be in the potion, anyway?” Satine asked.

“There was a vial turned over on its side.” Obi-Wan observed, noting the little remnants of glass still sprinkled on the surface of the desk, “Perhaps it was nothing more than a simple accident.”

“Are you always so naive?” Ventress tapped her fingernails on the desk, “Or do you do it just to seem cute?”

“What do you know of the story, Ventress?” While she would never be fond of the girl, she’d do anything to wake everyone else up. A school only made up of the three of them and all the younger children didn’t sound like a very harmonious place to her.

“I know that the muggle princess dies in the proper rendition.” She said.

“She’s never confirmed to be a muggle.” Obi-Wan said. “And she doesn’t die.”

“Oh, wishful thinking perhaps,” She shrugged innocently, “Creative license and all that.”

“I’m sure,” Satine crossed her arms, “But she lives?”

“A prince comes along and kisses her to wake her up.” Obi-Wan said, “He smears a Wiggenweld potion on his lips and the girl awakes, believing it to be true love’s first kiss. It’s quite dishonest of him not to tell her.”

“And he ends up leading two lives- one with a witch and one with the princess.” Ventress walked around the desk to look at Palpatine, feeling for a pulse most likely.

“We need a Wiggenweld potion then.” Satine said and then cringed, “I don’t need to snog anyone, right?”

“No!” Obi-Wan ardently said and scowled when Ventress said “Yes” at the same exact time.

“Though there is one issue,” Ventress said, “We don’t have the ingredients for one.”

“Well, the good news is while the rest of you were trying to bash each other’s noggins in during dueling club, I was putting my mind to greater uses.” Satine said matter-of-factly, though she knew she was bragging. It was a bit satisfactory to do so while Ventress stared at her in disbelief. “Madame Nema has them in the hospital wing.”

“Have I ever told you how brilliant you are?” Obi-Wan asked in awe.

She blushed, though turned on her heels to move onwards. They didn’t have much time to discuss, after all. The day needed to start and it would do very little good to anyone if the professors weren’t awake to do so.

“Some things bear repeating.” She said coyly.

“You’re brilliant,” He said again and no, not even hearing it a second time made it grow old coming from his lips.

“Save it for the Shrieking Shack, will you?” Ventress jeered as she aggressively shoved past the two of them, “Let’s get on with this.”

***

“Greetings, Maul.” Tyranus acknowledged the former Sith with his back facing the fireplace at the far end of his quarters. His new living space was more suitable to his royal bloodline- steeped with history and the luxuries of upper class living. The presence of even just Maul’s face was a disturbance in and of itself to this atmosphere.

“Dooku…” Maul drew out his name, “It’s been a long time.”

“Since I failed you in class? Yes, quite some time indeed.”

He didn’t need to turn to know that Maul’s fiery coated face was turned down in a scowl. He could practically feel the anger burning him up inside- the very same anger that kept him alive and sane. Tyranus struggled from no such instability.

“Let us cut any unnecessary formalities, shall we? It’s not as though either of us care much for how the other is doing.” He spat.

“Indeed.” Tyranus supplied shortly, still not biting at what the brute was trying to lead him into.

“Surely, you’re working for him. For the same reasons I once did.” That didn’t stop Maul from talking. It was almost funny, because it was the most he’d ever heard him speak in person. He was certainly known for his actions as opposed to his verbal eloquence. Apparently, his time in Azkaban had restructured his communication skills.

“And if I am?”

Maul snickered, “You’ll never appease him, old man. He sees a vision beyond what either of us will ever fully understand.”

Tyranus turned, just a little bit, “You’ve got a funny way of swaying someone to your beliefs.”

“Who’s swaying?” He challenged, his face just as horrifying to regard through Floo communication as it was in person. Tyranus hadn’t been involved with the Sith when Maul was at Hogwarts, but he had seen and recognized the boy’s power at the time. “I speak the truth: your pursuit for this boy will be your undoing.”

“Is that so?” Tyranus chuckled and moved to take a seat by the fire. He would enjoy a cup of tea for this show, “Because the way I see it, you are the one being hunted for slaughter. I should thank you, actually. Your existence has made my life a bit easier to move around.”

“You’re a coward, Dooku.” Maul would never acknowledge Tyranus by his Sith name. Though, he briefly wondered if Maul had a different name that wasn’t Sith. He’d been bred as the ultimate apprentice and likely knew no other way. “And your pompousness will lead to your own failure. If you would take a step back and see that your role is truly meaningless as I had-”

“-I’d be in Azkaban, rotting away to nothing.” Tyranus scoffed and sipped his tea, “I’ve no desire to become anything like you, Maul. I’d like to at least preserve some of my dignity.”

He grinned slowly, “Very well then. Considering this the only warning you shall receive. And when it is I who rises above you, I will not be offering my hand again.”

“Is that what this lovely little conversation was? You extending your hand out to me? How flattering, but I must decline. You see, I’m not foolish enough to believe I can defeat our mutual friend. Not with you, not with my own minions, not with anyone. I am patient. Only time will destroy Sidious and when it does, I will be there.”

“Only time, huh?” Maul chuckled before it broke out into a hysterical bout of laughter, “That is a good one, Dooku. If time is but the only force that Sidious cannot beat, then I suppose its name is Anakin Skywalker.”

“Oh, please. That boy stands no chance.”

“No, he won’t.” Maul said. “I will ensure that doesn’t happen.”

“You will?” Tyranus rolled his eyes, “To what? Rejoin his efforts and outdo me? I promise, you were never more than just a feral hunting dog to him.”

“No, because it’s the one thing he wants. And I won’t let him have it.” Maul said. “So long as I live.”

***

The last thing Yoda recalled was mulling over the direction of the new protection spells with Qui-Gon when everything went dark. It was not the kind of dark that the ominous dementors brought with their very presence or the fear that lived in their hearts. It was the kind that was warm and soothing, without expectations or danger. It was just as much nothing as it was everything and Yoda felt at peace in that sanctum.

It made him miss meditating, because it seemed Yoda couldn’t get a night in without a ravenous dream tearing up his hopes of true rest into little pieces. While he chose to always remain alert and involved, he was beginning to think that even he was spreading himself a little too thin with the concerns that ravaged the school.

So, the rest, while unexpected, was most welcome. It centered him back to his priorities and it felt like everything was all the clearer when his eyelids slowly parted to reveal a bright orange hue of sunshine dancing through the stained glass window of the founders, creating a rainbow over Qui-Gon’s rousing form.

It took him a moment to realize his mouth was wet with some sort of drink and he flickered his hazy eyes up to meet the kind and expectant gaze of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who held the little bowl in front of him patiently as he drank. Slowly, he felt the tides of sleep wash off of him as the warm elixir slid down his throat and settled into his old bones.

He sat up slowly, hearing a pop and crack or two as he did. No one spoke, not immediately. Obi-Wan looked like he was just relieved to see them breathing and was kneeling in front of Qui-Gon to ensure he was also coming to his wits. As he looked closer at the boy, he looked quite uncharacteristically rumpled and there were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a mess and had goggles on his head.

Clearly, it had been a long night.

“Sleeping draught, we were given.” Yoda concluded.

Qui-Gon wiped the remainder of sleep from his eyes and nodded, “It would seem as so.”

“Not just any potion, but the Draught of Living Dead.” Obi-Wan filled in, “Satine and I believe it’s what was given to each of you last night in an effort to keep you all awake.”

“Affected, who was?” Yoda asked.

“All upperclassmen, professors, and many younger students too. Though some were actually in bed so it was hard to tell.” He said, looking to Qui-Gon for obviously some affirmation of this, but the professor looked distracted and worried.

Stumbling as he rose to his feet, being caught by Obi-Wan before he could fully teeter over, Qui-Gon suddenly had panic swell over him that was written all over his features.

“Was there a break-in? Were the spells secured?”

“Nothing that we’d noticed.” Obi-Wan grunted.

Yoda glanced out the window, noting that the dementors didn’t appear particularly agitated, instead billowing out in the distance as they usually did these days. They looked like blanketed shadows in the early morning light, on the prowl for their desired prey. Should Maul have planned this, he would have been stopped. Though it was far too unpredictable to be a planned affair. No one could guarantee that the draught would be consumed. Dooku wouldn’t be so careless and surely would have taken advantage of the victory.

“Accident, was it?” He asked.

“Evidence says yes, sir.” Obi-Wan confirmed.

“Did you do rounds?” Qui-Gon asked, “Is Anakin-”

“-He’s fine.” Obi-Wan cut him off and retracted his hold once he felt Qui-Gon was steady, “We were a bit busy trying to figure out how to cure you all.”

Yoda couldn’t help but feel pride in the boy. He was going to make a mighty fine auror with such deductive reasoning. His humility would probably reveal that it was not just he who tirelessly worked all night to bring them back to consciousness.

“Owe you a great debt, we do.” He said with a nod, “Kept the school running, you did.”

“I didn’t do it alone.” Obi-Wan admitted just as Satine Kryze burst through the door, red-faced and waving a piece of parchment in hand.

“And the students?” Qui-Gon asked.

“They should be all awake. Ventress and I just finished giving the last of the draught to Cody and Ryder, who were still sleepy even after the effects wore off entirely. Palpatine doesn’t seem to know how it happened.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. Why would he do such a thing and then take the potion?” Obi-Wan shrugged, “It could have been a prank.”

“That sounds like wishful thinking.” Qui-Gon stroked his beard, “We can only expect the worst and hope for the best at this point.”

“Brilliant, both of you were, earned 50 points for Ravenclaw, you have.” Yoda smiled, “As for Slytherin, earned 25 points, they have.”

Obi-Wan and Satine exchanged a look that was likely readable only to them, though if Yoda had to guess, it would be that Ventress was not as helpful as she could have been. While he didn’t have proof, Yoda didn’t become Headmaster for being a dummy.

“Oh, this is for you!” Satine sighed as she handed Yoda the letter, “It’s from the Ministry of Magic. Odd that it came through the Great Hall.”

“Unless it already tried the window.” Qui-Gon looked up to see that the tallest window was large enough only for an owl. The only other time one of his letters came through the Great Hall was when Valorum sent an owl that was too pudgy to fit through the small opening. However, Yoda didn’t want to take any risks these days and had the window closed at night.

Still, he opened it up, sure that this was going to be just another set of rules and regulations that parents would laud him for and students would exhaust themselves over. It was a pity, really, because he could see in Obi-Wan and Satine’s eyes that they needed a break, not more stress. The weight of the world seemed to rest on their shoulders and that was not the way it was supposed to be. They signed up to protect the young, not salvage the entire school.

Maybe he hadn’t been kind enough when he’d settled on giving them 50 points.

As he was considering another reward in addition to that, his heart stopped as his eyes roved over the text on the quickly scrawled page over and over again. It was written late at night, just as the letter said, and the concern dripped through the loose loops and the spotted ink at the corner. Valorum hadn’t even bothered to sign, although his personalized letterhead gave away enough.

“What is it, Headmaster?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Murdered, someone was, at Diagon Alley.” Yoda said slowly, “By Maul.”

#anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #obitine #anidala #the clone wars #tcw #star wars #magical forces au #hpau

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