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Akko's eyes slid open as morning sunlight poured in through the window.
She sat up, slowly, and yawned. She'd not had the best sleep imaginable last night, and now she was more than a little tired. Her eyes were bleary and her limbs felt like lead. She could easily have sunk back under the covers and drifted off back to sleep, but it was a Thursday, which of course meant classes. And saviour of magic or not, she'd never hear the end of it from Finnelan if she was late to class again.
No, there was nothing for it, she had to get up. She didn't have the time to-
Wait a minute. Time. What time was it? It looked very bright outside, how long had she been asleep? She rolled over and inspected the clock by her bedside table- and practically leapt out of bed when she saw the time.
“7:34! Gah, how did I sleep in that long?!” she exclaimed as she tumbled out of bed. “Honestly, Lotte, Sucy, how could you let be sleep for-”
Then she noticed it. Lotte and Sucy were nowhere to be seen. Both of their beds were empty, covers neatly folded, and Lotte's spirit lantern was gone.
“...Lotte?” she mumbled. “Sucy? Where are you?”
She looked all around the room. Nope, no sign of them anywhere. Had they gone off without her?
This was very confusing. Sucy was the kind that might do something like that, but Lotte wasn't- she was usually the one reining in Sucy's more infuriating pranks. Surely they wouldn't have just up and left her without even trying to wake her up?
It was then that Akko noticed the trail of teeny-tiny mushrooms, faintly glowing orange, that seemed to be leading out of the door.
“Mushrooms...of course it's mushrooms.” she groaned, as she reached for her uniform. “OK Sucy, let's see what you've got in store for me this time...”
The trail was long, and seemed to be leading nowhere in particular. Where Sucy had managed to hide all these mushrooms Akko had no idea, though she didn't particularly want to know either. As good a friend as Sucy was, some of her habits were a bit unsettling, her fixation on fungus among them. Still, her curiosity beckoned her along the path of the glowing fungi, hoping that whatever ridiculous trap lay at the end wasn't too foul.
After what seemed like an age, having wound her way around most of the school, she found herself standing in the middle of the courtyard, where the trail abruptly stopped.
She looked around, seeing if she was missing something obvious. But no, this was definitely the end of the route; she couldn't see any other mushrooms anywhere.
She sighed, and turned back around, preparing to plod back to her room...
...And was confronted with a massive table of food and drink, including an incredibly impressive looking cake in the centre, festooned with balloons and, more importantly, surrounded by her friends.
“Happy birthday, Akko!” they cheered in unison- even the normally mute Constanze.
Akko practically fell over from the shock, and started laughing hysterically. “What the- where did you all come from!?” she spluttered. “I was standing right here, how did you DO that!?”
“Magic.” said Sucy, naughtily, a friendly grin on her face.
Lotte chuckled, pushing her glasses up on her nose. “Honestly, Akko, if you could have seen the look on your face! But, yeah, it certainly took some work to pull that off.”
“Worth it though.” said Amanda. “As Lotte said, that face was priceless.”
Akko breathed out deeply, having finally regained her composure somewhat. “Hoooo boy, you guys are gonna give me a heart attack one of these days!” she exclaimed. “But...it'll be the best heart attack anyone's ever had...Thank you so much!”
“You're quite welcome, Akko.” said Diana, warmly. “We all put a lot of work into this, so we're glad you like it.”
“You have no idea, this is amazing!” responded Akko. “But why? I don't deserve all this, I-”
“Don't be dumb, Akko.” interrupted Sucy. “You brought magic back from the brink, you saved the world...and you're a wonderful, wonderful friend to all of us. If anyone deserves this, it's you.”
“It's true!” piped up Jasminka. “If it weren't for you, who knows if Luna Nova would still be here?”
For possibly the first time in her life, Akko was speechless. Somehow, she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. The idea of going from being the school clown, the butt of a joke, to this...
“Hey, Akko, are you OK?” asked Lotte, breaking her out of her haze.
“O-Oh, yes, thanks!” she blurted. “I'm sorry, I just...I'm so lucky to have all you guys as friends. I...I don't have the words to tell you all how grateful I am for this. How can I ever repay you?”
“It's alright, Akko.” came a voice from behind her. “It's your birthday, after all.”
Startling slightly, Akko turned round and came face to face with Ursula, who along with a large part of the teaching faculty had somehow crept up behind her without her noticing.
“Ursula!” she exclaimed, hugging her without even thinking about it. “Oh, this is just brilliant! Thank you so much, I...I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this all is!”
Ursula just smiled, hugging her back. “Well, I can't take too much credit, this was your friends' idea.” she replied. “But I wasn't going to miss your birthday for anything.”
“And neither were we!” said Holbrooke, raising her walking stick. “Atsuko Kagari, I wanted you to know we're all extremely proud of you. You've come on leaps and bounds since you started here, and we all wanted to personally congratulate you on maturing so much in such a short space of time.”
Akko blushed as she slowly released her hold on Ursula. “Oh my, thank you, Principal! I'm honoured...” she mumbled. “Thank you for being such wonderful teachers...”
Finnelan grinned. “No, thank you for listening to us. I had my doubts about you, I'll be honest, but you've turned yourself around so well, I've never been happier to have been proven wrong.”
“Gee, thanks, prof...” Akko sighed. “I'm sorry I was such a pain for so long...”
Lukic chuckled. “I wouldn't beat myself up about it if I were you.” said the ancient witch, mischievously. “If you knew what she was like when she was a student, you'd probably be feeling quite smug right now. Why, I could tell you a few-”
“Lukic!” snapped Finnelan, whose face was slightly red. “You promised me you'd never tell her about that!”
“Oh, leave it, Anne.” said Badcock with a smile. “We'll get her back later, don't you worry.”
Akko stifled a giggle at the teachers bickering like teenagers. “Hee hee, thank you so much, all of you!” she laughed. “I'm so glad I came here...but, where's Nelson? Is she alright?”
Badcock nodded. “Oh, she's just fine.” she said slyly, looking at her watch. “In fact, I think I hear her coming now...”
For a second, Akko was moderately confused- she couldn't hear anything. Then, far off in the distance, she heard a slight rumbling noise, coming closer and closer until it was amplified into a deep, throaty roar.
“Is that-” she began, before the sound became deafeningly loud, and she jerked her head skywards to see the source of the noise. Soaring through the air, V12 engine throbbing, was Nelson in her Hawker Hurricane, at a relatively low altitude, almost buzzing the top of the main tower of the school. The sound of the engine reverberated in Akko's chest, such was the volume, but she was too awestruck to be bothered in the slightest.
“Wow!” she gasped, as the aircraft pulled away, speeding out of view. “That was incredible!”
“Wasn't it just?” said Finnelan, beaming. “Just don't tell the Civil Aviation Authority, they'd have a fit.”
“Heh, my lips are sealed!”
She sighed, happily. For everyone to do this for her, on her birthday, it made her feel special. She'd expected a card and a small present maybe- and she'd have been happy with that- but all this? This, fittingly enough, was magical.
“Yo, Akko, these presents aren't gonna open themselves!” called Amanda. “C'mon, we ain't got all day!”
Ursula laughed softly. “Go on, Akko, go and open your presents!” she said. “Best not to keep your friends waiting after all.”
As Akko strolled over to the table to join her friends, Ursula felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Finnelan, who was wearing possibly the nicest expression that Ursula had ever seen her with.
“Ursula...or Chariot, I should say...Thank you for standing up for her.” she said. “I'm so proud of her.”
“It's fine, Anne.” Ursula responded. “And thank you for believing in her.”
Finnelan nodded. “Well, it's like you always said- a believing heart is her magic.” she sighed. “I think we could all stand to learn a lot from her, ironically enough.”
“You're not wrong. I just...I just wish Croix could be here too. ”
Ursula stared at the ground, slightly downcast.
“We all do, believe me.” said the older professor. “But...maybe someday. Don't lose hope.”
Akko laid back in her bed, thinking over the events of the day.
It had been an absolutely perfect birthday. Everything about it had just been amazing; from the incredibly well executed surprise, to Nelson's flypast, to the hilarity of Diana with buttercream from the cake all over her mouth, to the multitude of lovely presents she'd been given (especially the pickled plums)...it had all been just brilliant. But above all? Seeing everyone so genuinely happy for her. That was the best present of them all.
Yes. Pickled plums, handmade wands and the like were all very well and good. But her friends...they were the real gifts. And she wouldn't swap them for the world.
She looked up at the Shiny Chariot poster on the wall, and smiled.