Smile (ch9)

1-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR MY HIGH-PLEDGING PATRONS!

It's been too long since I had the time for a little LWA! I have more fics coming in the future I promise.

But for now, I needed to put something out for my precious perfect princess Diana's birthday! She deserves everything.

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

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															Chapter 9.

Diana wakes and prepares herself for the day like any other. It's a brief moment of gathering her bearings as she sits up in bed, pulling her hair over one shoulder to smooth it, blinking slowly until her vision adjusts to the sunlight streaming in.

As always, she doesn't dwell too long in that early-morning daze, lest she be tempted to lie back down. She slips her legs over the edge and makes her bed immaculate, free of so much as a single wrinkle, before stepping into her slippers and making her way around the bookshelf.

The room is soft and quiet as usual, and she makes her way to the adjoint bathroom where her uniform is waiting for her. She dresses, freshens up, and exits a few minutes later brushing her hair.

"Hannah, Barbara. The bathroom is free."

But as she looks up to where the two beds are, she's shocked to find them vacant and already neatly-made. Usually those two are still asleep and Diana lets them rest until she's finished in the bathroom. She glances around the room and calls for them again, but they're nowhere to be found.

Puzzled, she crosses the room, seeking some kind of note. She doesn't find it by their beds, but rather glimpses it elsewhere.

A small envelop enchanted with a spell is floating by the door where she would have seen it upon her departure. Diana can see her own name written on the outside in red ink and rather sloppy handwriting.

She walks over to retrieve it, knowing already this isn't Hannah's or Barbara's work. When she accepts the letter the spell wears off. She carefully opens the envelop and unfolds the paper inside. It's a brief message written in Akko's unmistakable scribble:

Diana! Come to the kitchen! It's an emergency!

There's no signature, no explanation, nothing more than that. Diana sighs and tucks the letter back inside its envelope, then tucks that into her pocket.

"What is she up to this time...?"

Diana can't think of any kind of 'emergency' where the sender of the letter would have ample time to write said letter and then cast a spell to send it to her where it would wait patiently until she woke up and noticed it.

These reasons, and naturally because the letter is from Akko, cause Diana to believe this 'emergency' is nothing of the sort, at least by normal societal standards. By Akko Kagari standards, it could be something as trivial as not being able to boil a pot of water. Why she is in the kitchen at this hour and is requesting Diana to come there is beyond her, but she knows there's only one surefire way to solve the mystery.

She decides to search for Hannah and Barbara on the way and keeps her eyes open for any signs of them as she walks the hallways.

But to her confusion it isn't only those two she can't find, but she can't find anyone. It is still rather early, but she doesn't even glimpse a patrolman or a professor. Diana quickens her pace only a little.

The doors to the kitchen are soon in sight, closed as they should be. Diana can't fathom why Akko is in there at this hour but she draws in a deep breath to steel herself for the inevitable.

Diana pauses at the doors, listening for any sounds of shrieking or crashing or breaking glass from inside, but there's nothing of the sort. She lifts a hand and knocks softly.

"Akko? Are you there? This had better not be some elaborate prank."

When there's no response Diana heaves another sigh. She pushes her way in to find no lights on at all. Something is definitely amiss.

"Akko?" Diana takes a few steps inside, using her hands to guide herself to the nearest counter. "I swear..." She's about to reach for her wand when all of a sudden the lights turn on in a bright flash of color-

"Happy birthday, Dianaaa!"

There's a chant of her name from so many voices, confetti and streamers popping and filling the air, little animals and stars cast by wands dancing all around her.

Diana nearly stumbles back from the shock of it all. But in the light and from their words. she now understands.

Akko and her team, Hannah and Barbara, Amanda's team, Avery's, and several other students, along with the Head Chef troll are standing around a counter covered with decorative cupcakes, scones, and cookies. And in the center sits a beautiful light-blue cake with Diana's name on it, laced with icing and sprinkles and bits of fruits.

Everyone claps and giggles and smiles all except Diana herself, rendered speechless.

As the last bits of confetti flutter down, and the swirling magic animals prance away, Diana scours the room of familiar faces. They're all wearing aprons over their uniforms and have flour or badder smeared here and there. They're all quietly waiting for her reaction.

As her heart settles from the shock, she tries to find her voice.

"Everyone... Akko... Hannah and Barbara too... Just what exactly is going on here?"

"Haaaah?" Amanda blurts. "Ya can't tell? I thought we made it pretty darn obvious!"

"It's a birthday party!" Hannah claims. "For you, Diana!"

"Today's your birthday, remember?" Barbara prompts.

Diana looks back and forth between her teammates, then to the cake at the center of all the other treats. She... hadn't particularly taken much interest in her own birthday. So the fact that the rest of them had gone through all the trouble...

"This... is for me...?" She hears a few giggles, along with a mutter from Sucy of "not too quick on the uptake, is she?" Lotte hushes her and speaks up.

"Yes! We received special permission from the Headmaster and the Head Chef to do this. It was Akko's idea!"

"Akko...?" Diana looks to the beaming brunette for clarity. Akko licks at a bit of icing on her lip and chuckles.

"Well you know, 'cuz on the morning when I finally learned to fly a broom, you brought in all these delicious snacks! The Head Chef said you woke up suuuuper early and prepared them all by yourself. So I felt it was only fair to return the favor!"

The little troll is standing on a stool nodding.

"That's right. You girls are rather thoughtful, ain't'cha?"

"And!" Akko goes on. "Professor Finneran knows too! So she said it's fine if we're late to class today, just this once!"

Diana looks from Akko to every other person in the room in turn. A warm flutter ignites in her chest and spreads without stopping.

"All of you... did this for me...?"

"Of course!"

"It's your birthday Diana!"

"It only comes once a year!"

"We wanted to celebrate it with you!"

"You deserve it!"

As all of them begin proclaiming such things, Diana feels the warmth in her chest begin to creep up behind her eyes. She fights it back, she really does, but then Akko steps forward and takes her hand. With a grin to put the brightness of the sun to shame, she giggles.

"Happy birthday, Diana!"

And Diana can't stop the warmth from brimming over and dripping down her face.

Everyone gasps and falls silent for a moment. Ultimately it's Amanda who breaks it.

"Akko, w-what the hell! You made her cry!"

"I-I didn't-!"

But then Diana begins to laugh, and all falls silent once again. Everyone watches her lift her face to reveal a beautiful smile they'd never seen before. She opens her eyes, clear blue, the same color as her birthday cake, and sweeps her gaze around the room once more.

"Thank you, everyone. Truly."

And they all breathe a sigh of relief.

"You don't have to thank us, Diana!"

"It was our pleasure!"

Hannah and Barbara scurry forward to each of her sides, putting a hand on her back to guide her forward. Akko keeps ahold of her hands and pulls her from the front.

"Come on, come on! I'll cut the cake and give you the biggest piece!"

"Uh," Sucy grunts. "I don't think it's a good idea to let Akko hold the knife."

"Yeah," Lotte agrees. "We couldn't even put any candles on the cake because fire wouldn't be a very good idea..."

"Hey!" Akko yelps. "I can cut the cake!"

"Orrr I could," Avery says, stepping in.

Ultimately she is given the job of cutting the cake, and Akko's pout only lasts for a minute before she's beaming again. Everyone passes around plates and fills them with cake and cookies and treats. Diana is given a seat at the center of them all with her plate filled to capacity.

"To be eating this for breakfast..." she sighs.

"It's okay!" Akko declares. "It's only once a year after all! Treat yourself with treats!"

"I don't want to hear complaints about stomachaches later."

"Riiiight!"

They all take their seats around her and begin to dig in, humming and laughing and chatting happily all the while. Diana sits at the center of it all, allowing herself to indulge in the sugary tastes of the treats her friends had made for her.

It's the first time she's ever had a truly proper birthday party. Her parents had always been sick, and she could never invite many friends over. A part of her regrets the fact that she'd never been able to have any parties previously.

But another part of her is grateful, because the lack of past celebrations just makes this one all the more special.

So Diana enjoys her first ever birthday party, with all of her friends smiling and laughing around her.

She thanks them all again, and her heart is warm.

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A/N: We all know Diana probably never got much in the way of birthday parties/celebrations because of her mother's condition. I'm guessing she received a few gifts from the adults and maybe a cake, but never got to celebrate with friends. And of course after she started going to school she'd deem those things as 'childish', that is until she meets Akko and all of her new friends~