All The Days To Come (ch3)

For Antiqua! A little reminiscing on Sucy's part!

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

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							Chapter 3.

Several years after they'd graduated Luna Nova and moved in together, Sucy, Akko, and Diana have fallen into a comfortable everyday routine.

Even when schedules suddenly change at the last moment, and Akko has to stay away a few days longer for a performance, or Diana has to stay overnight at the clinic to care for a patient, things always somehow settle back to how they're supposed to be.

If there ever comes a time when one of their trio must stay away, the other two keep each other company and end up sending magical messengers to whomever can't make it home that night. And on the very rare occasion that two of the trio are away on the same night, whomever stays home alone often tidies the place up for her girlfriends' return. The magic spells and handwritten notes transported by familiars are delivered between all three of them, so there is never for a second a doubt that they aren't thinking of each other.

Thankfully, tonight wasn't a night where Akko or Diana would be unexpectedly staying elsewhere, but Sucy is aware that they are both going to be late coming home. Due to the nature of their individual works, Sucy is often the first one home, so this doesn't come as anything new to her.

She is always eager to be the one to prepare dinner, however. Initially, her cooking conceptions would often turn out purple and bubbly and rancid-smelling, even if they did taste much better than they appeared. But after learning a few tips from Diana, Sucy had been able to improve the overall quality, appearance, and nutritional value of her meals.

Presently, she's just finished up in the kitchen, and all that's left to do is let the food heat up for when her partners arrive home.

In the meantime, Sucy entertains herself with a few spells to clean up the house a bit, then goes to her various plants she keeps around the rooms and communicates with them, harvesting whatever buds or leaves necessary.

But even after she's finished all of these smaller tasks, she still has plenty of time before either Akko or Diana are set to come home tonight.

When Akko was home alone, Sucy knows she must talk out loud to herself about everything and anything, whereas Diana might opt to sing softly now and then. But for Sucy, silence is ideal in this kind of situation.

After completing all of the necessary chores, she finds herself in an odd state of melancholy without either of her girlfriends here to keep her entertained in some way or another.

As she begins aimlessly wandering the house, she ultimately retreats to their bedroom. Stubborn as she is, she refuses to verbally admit or even mentally acknowledge the fact that she misses them, therefore Sucy indulges in her denial by pacing the room nonchalantly.

There are three dressers around the room, one for each witch, though Sucy only ever bothered with her own. But tonight, in being alone in the house and feeling strangely reminiscent, she opts to slink over to her girlfriends' dressers.

Diana's is as neat and pristine as possible, with a few of her most precious treasures displayed on top, such as a small stuffed teddy bear she'd kept since childhood, a gift from her late parents. There's also a white jewelry box, which contains her most prized Chariot card. Even though she had offered it to Akko many years ago, once they'd become partners, Akko had happily returned it to her, claiming they would have the full card collection combined since they now lived together.

On the far wall of the bedroom hangs the unicorn tapestry that belonged to Diana's mother, the intricate, historical artwork all to do with Lady Beatrice.

Simply looking at all of it now when she's alone in the house fills Sucy with an odd sort of emotion she hasn't experienced frequently enough to name. After a moment of feeling the slight prickles in her chest, she moves on to Akko's dresser.

Unlike Diana's, here most of the drawers aren't closed properly and there are clothes spilling out of the corners here or there. As Sucy rolls her eyes and fixes things up, her gaze travels across the little knick-knacks on top of the dresser.

One of Akko's greatest treasure had always been the Shiny Rod, but after that had returned to the night sky, the next best thing had been the history and textbooks about Luna Nova that held information about the magical locations significant to Chariot. Those books now sit in a somewhat-neat pile on top fo Akko's dresser, still with little sticky notes and markers popping out here and there.

And while most of their Luna Nova plaques and achievements and photographs of them alongside their friends and teammates are on display in a glass case downstairs, Akko still has a few random little photos scattered about on her dresser. One is of her and Chariot, one is of her with Diana and Amanda, and one is of her with Lotte and Sucy.

Sucy doesn't entirely realize it herself, but her lips curve up into a little grin when she glances over the old pictures. She'd just seen Lotte a few days ago, being that her old teammate is actually one of her suppliers for certain plants, and on top of that Sucy would often go to visit her to borrow a faery every now and then, either one to help with plant growth or to purify cursed flowers.

It's been a bit longer since she'd seen Amanda, being she was broom racing in America at the moment, but she should be back around Brytonberry within the month. Jasminka had opened a very successful restaurant, one Sucy and her girlfriends visited at least once a month. As for Constanze, she was busy at her own workshop doing repairs for various magical items and vehicles, but Sucy crossed paths with her often.

Without fully realizing it, Sucy reaches out to pick up one of Akko's books. Sucy cradles its weight carefully in her hands, and the cover naturally opens to one of the most-visited pages.

The page on the Fountain of Polaris is marked with several pink and yellow and green notes hand-scribbled by Akko herself during her time as a student. The scent of the familiar old books takes Sucy back to her three-person dorm room as a student, to a space filled with books and plants and memories.

Even the text and how the older book was written reveals its age and how much time had elapsed since then. The hand-drawn sketches of Luna Nova's campus are outdated due to newer renovations in recent years, however the inked drawings hold a certain humble antiquity that's both refreshing and quaint.

And there's just… something about it all…

Something about looking back on old books and photos on a weekday evening, when she's home alone and still waiting, when the sun is just beginning to set and she doesn't feel like speaking…

Something about it all causes a rush of emotions all at once to rise up Sucy's chest.

The nostalgia hits hard, out of nowhere. It's the feeling not of having lost those times necessarily, but of having moved on. In spite of the fact that she is very much content with how far she's come and where she is today, it still stings to look back on times that are undoubtedly gone. And being alone makes it all the easier to express herself as she might be hesitant to around the others.

Sucy has to turn her head quickly, so the falling teardrops don't end up seeping into the precious book's pages. And it's then when she hears the tune of familiar voices coming close. She must've gotten so wrapped up in the past that she'd lost her place in the present for a moment. They're both calling for her.

"Suuuuucy! Hey, Su, where are you?"

"Akko, not so loud. What if she's resting?"

"Sucy? Resting? Like taking a nap? I don't think I've ever seen her take a nap. She might hang by her feet like a bat!"

In spite of her emotional moment alone, Sucy snorts and quickly wipes her face just as her two girlfriends appear in the bedroom doorway.

"Aha! There she is!" Akko exclaims, as if she'd achieved some great accomplishment by finding a person in their own house. "Sucy, we're hooooome! Diana and I met up in town and came back together~!" As energetic as ever, Akko sprints across the room in order to throw her arms around Sucy and begin showering her with kisses and affection. Sucy doesn't even have the chance to put the book back.

"Hey, Akko-"

"Didja miss us? Oh! Were you reading that book? Good times, huh? I think that's one of the only books I've memorized by heart!" When Akko pulls back enough to finally glimpse her girlfriend's face, she suddenly gasps. "Hey, Sucy! Are you crying?"

"In your dreams." Sucy shoves the book at her and Akko scrambles to grab onto it so she can put it back.

"Awwww, Su, it's okay! I think it's cute you were crying to look back on this stuff!"

"I wasn't."

"Now, Akko," Diana says as she makes her way over. "There's no need for that." She casts Sucy an inquisitive look, a silent one that Sucy can read perfectly. Without words, Diana asks her if she's all right, not wanting to fluster Akko or invade Sucy's privacy if there really was something upsetting her.

Sucy answers by looking away and giving a shrug, though she can't stop the slight blush from coming into her cheeks. Diana smiles, relieved to know she's fine, and really was just reminiscing as Akko had suggested. Nonetheless, she too moves in to give Sucy a soft kiss. Sucy huffs, but accepts. But their gentler moment doesn't last long.

"Aw, you guys are so cuuuute! I'm so luckyyyy!" In a split second, Akko is throwing her arms around both of them in a fierce hug that bowls them all over onto the bed. The three witches crash on top of each other and bounce on the mattress in a tangle of robes and hats and hair.

Akko peppers kisses over Sucy and Diana relentlessly before they can recover, nuzzling up against them and giggling all the while.

"Akko!" Diana chuckles. "Please!"

"Quit it, you dork."

"Nuh-uh! Diana, help me out here!"

"Pardon?"

"Diana, don't you dare."

But as Akko lets Diana sit up, the white-haired witch gets a cute gleam in her eye as she looks down at Sucy.

"Very well, then. Just this once."

Sucy huffs up at her.

"Traitor."

And so Diana joins Akko in pampering and hugging Sucy, who fruitlessly tries to paw them both off. They laugh and tickle and kiss one another. With Akko and Diana now teaming up against her, Sucy can only hold out for so long before she bursts into snorts of laughter. She doesn't even consider using magic to give herself an advantage, but simply enjoys their touch and presence for everything they are.

But by the end of it all, Sucy reaches up and wraps an arm around each of her girlfriends, then pulls them both down to her sides in a messy embrace. Both Akko and Diana are breathless with laughter as well as they snuggle up to her, filling Sucy with a wonderful warmth she'd never known before she'd met them.

For a few minutes, they're all quiet together, until at last Diana rouses them.

"Come now. Sucy prepared us supper. We can't let it go to waste."

"Right!" Akko pops up like a gopher and then helps both of the others up as well.

Once they're on their feet, Akko and Diana fall into step on each of Sucy's sides as they all begin the walk back downstairs to the kitchen.

And as Sucy falls into step with them, feeling the gentle touches of their hands on each of hers, she smiles.

Because, for all of the things that had ended up changing, there were some things that never would.

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A/N: Not often we get to see an emotional Sucy!