Smile (ch26)

The next wintery-themed OT3 installment for Antiqua!

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

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								Chapter 26.

"It's snowing, it's snowing~!"

Akko's exuberant squeal fills the hallway as she rushes to the exit doors in a burst of merriment. Behind her are none other than Diana and Sucy, who had of course been very enthusiastically dragged along by their girlfriend to go outside and enjoy the first real snowfall of the season.

Sucy hadn't bee particularly keen on the idea, but once Diana had tactfully mentioned that certain species of mushrooms may be flourishing beneath the layer of cold snow, Sucy had agreed to come along.

It had taken Diana several instances of stopping Akko before she ran off and reminding her to put on a coat and gloves and boots and a scarf before they'd all managed to get to this point together.

Diana is dressed in a warm blue trench coat with a scarf and gloves to match, and Sucy is wearing what almost resembles a straight-jacket with her hands and arms hidden in the pockets as per usual. Akko twirls circles as she waits for them at the exit doors, bouncing in place and humming to herself.

"Sheesh," Sucy mumbles. "It's like releasing a little kid out into the snow to run rampant."

As they reach her, Diana takes Akko's hand to still her, then promptly fixes her scarf where it had come loose, tucking it in to keep Akko warm.

"Honestly. With the way you're acting, I would assume you've never seen snow before, Akko."

"I haven't! At least not since last year!"

"That is not what I meant."

"Awww, c'mon you guys!" Akko takes one of each of their hands and pulls them toward the doors. "You can't tell me you aren't even a little bit excited about snow! It's so much fun! And it's so pretty!"

"Really?" Sucy says. "It's just white and cold."

"I'll show you!" Akko grins. "Snow's great!" With this declaration she kicks open the door, which causes Diana to sigh in exasperation.

A blast of freezing cold air rushes in to buffet them. Diana and Sucy wrinkle up their faces and turn away while Akko takes the brunt of the breeze without even flinching.

"See? It's great! Come on!" She takes off into the snow, pulling the other two behind her.

"A-Akko, please slow down!"

"Yeah, I gotta look for my mushrooms."

"Nope!" Akko denies them. "We're gonna have fun in the snow today! All three of us together!"

Diana and Sucy share a look of mutual understanding; they've got to humor Akko on this today.

"Very well."

"Fine."

"Yeay~!"

Akko brings them out halfway across the courtyard before releasing them. A bunch of other witches are already outside as well, either using magic to build snowmen or flying around to admire the campus. Akko marvels at their very typical winter activities as if they're doing things that are particularly impressive.

"Woooow~! Okay, let's start with that! Snowman-building!"

"Heh. Easy." Sucy draws her wand from her coat pocket in one swift motion and casts a spell. Immediately the snow right in front of Akko starts to move around and configure itself. Akko scrambles back to watch a giant snow-mushroom twice her height sprout up.

At the same time, Diana casts the same spell, and the snow begins climbing up and molding itself to her will. Within seconds Diana creates a beautiful snow-unicorn, which she hardens with an ice spell to make it shine.

Dozens of nearby witches applaud and coo.

Akko stares up at her girlfriends' creations with her jaw agape for a second before snapping out of it.

"Wait a second! That's now what I meant!"

"Eh?"

"We built stuff outta snow."

Akko turns to Diana and Sucy in turn.

"I didn't mean with magic! We gotta do it with our own six hands!"

"Hah?" Sucy makes a face. "Sounds tedious. And cold."

"I would have to agree," Diana says.

"Aww, c'mon! Diana, aren't you a fan of tradition? Well, the tradition of building snowmen is to do it with your hands! And Sucy, didn't you wanna look for mushrooms? You can look as you're building!"

Diana and Sucy share yet another look and sigh.

"Very well."

"Fine."

"Yeay~!"

It's the same interaction they had before. Akko grabs both their hands and pulls them to an open area of snow to begin demonstrating how to build a snowman.

"Okay! So you gotta start with the bottom which has to be the biggest! Here, help me pack it in!"

Sucy resigns herself to her fate and starts pawing through the snow as Akko instructs, peeking at the soil underneath for any signs of mushrooms. Diana kneels on Akko's other side and helps as well.

With Akko's eager instructions, they eventually compile somewhat of a snowman, though it's very lopsided and the wood chips keep falling off its face to skew its smile. While Diana and Sucy grimace at the sight of it, Akko puts her hands on her hips triumphantly.

"Woow~ It looks great, you guys!"

"Really?"

Diana gives Sucy a pointed nudge.

"Ahem. If I may," she says. "Akko, with this activity, you've sparked an inspiration within me."

"Huh? Inspiration for what?"

Diana smiles and draws her wand. She motions for the two of them to follow her to a yet-untouched area of the field, which is still level with snow. Diana raises her wand, and everyone on campus pauses to watch.

"Hernna!"

First, Diana casts a heating spell on the expanse of snow, instantly turning it all into a pond of water. Akko's jaw drops, and she's about to wail, but Sucy holds her back. Diana continues with another spell.

"Shuryural, muyurell!"

With this spell she begins to control the water and spread it out thinly across a wide expanse of the field. And then Diana freezes it to firm blue ice, sparkling in the snowfall to create a rink. Squeals of excitement rise up from the other students. Akko's dropped jaw turns into a huge grin.

"Woah, it's an ice-skating rink! That's amazing, Diana!"

Diana sheathes her wand.

"As I said, you inspired me to get into the winter spirit."

"One sec." Now Sucy slinks forward and draws her wand as well. She summons dozens of bushels of colorful mushrooms around the rink to make it look somewhat festive.

Akko claps in delight.

"Kyaaa, you guys, this is great! Come on, come on! I haven't skated in a while but I think I'll still be good at it! Probably!"

Once again she takes them by the hands and starts hauling them forward as dozens of other witches begin to skate as well. Diana and Sucy share one last helpless smile with one another as they follow Akko onto the rink.

Their boots slide easily across the smooth ice, and it would've been easy even for a first-timer to handle.

But of course, their trio isn't on their feet for longer than a few seconds before Akko is throwing her arms around Diana and Sucy, effectively unbalancing all of them. Diana and Sucy think quickly enough to cast a cushioning flower and mushroom respectively for them all to land on before they hit the ice.

And they can't even consider scolding her, because Akko is just laughing far too happily all the while.

Once Diana and Sucy help her back up, they each keep ahold of one of her hands as they begin sliding across the ice.

They skate there together with the other witches for the afternoon, laughing and chatting and humming. At one point someone throws a snowball, and then all of the witches are caught up in a magical snowball fight.

All the best winter fun unfolds on Luna Nova's campus that afternoon, all while a snow sculpture unicorn, mushroom, and a lopsided snowman look on.

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A/N: I just rewatched LWA and writing this made me realize how much I missed it...