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The air is comfortably warm in her lungs, yet cool on her face and exposed arms still. Her hands hold onto the small stone wall that she’s sitting on. The tree that offers her its shade is placed in the middle of the square patch of dirt that’s held within said wall. She takes another deep breath and opens her eyes to meet the pink-golden sky, the Sun slowly setting on the Solari temple. A few of her fellow acolytes are walking back to their chambers with books in their arms. Others are still enjoying the evening, seated under the different trees that form a circle around the large fountain which sits at the center of the small park. Truly a beautiful day.
“Here.”
Leona looks to her right, at Diana, who is trying to give her a fully peeled orange that’s in her hand. Leona takes it and smiles gratefully.
“Thank you, Diana. You are very kind.”
“I am not. I simply hate to see you struggle.” Diana tucks a stray strand of raven hair behind her ear, setting the orange’s skin aside with her other hand and then hugs herself, her arms wrapped around her stomach as her eyes are set forward, away from Leona. “You already squished one.”
Leona chuckles at the remark and then puts one of the small parts in her mouth. The sweetness hits the inside of her cheeks before the sourness takes over. She almost groans. She decides that such deliciousness must be shared.
Diana is surprised when Leona taps her shoulder to grab her attention. She is even more surprised when she realises that the other is offering her half of the orange she previously peeled.
“What is this?” She scoffs with the hint of a smirk, “Payment for my work?”
“No,” Leona smiles kindly and moves her hand closer to Diana to emphasise, “that’s because you haven’t eaten anything. And because this is delicious. You deserve it.”
Diana’s eyes twinkle at those three final words and the auburn-haired woman has to try her best not to let it show on her face - how much her heart breaks. Instead, when her friend accepts the food, she scoots closer so that their legs touch. Since Diana doesn’t seem to mind, Leona returns her attention to the fountain and the other acolytes around them. There’s a group of four, three boys and one girl, who are discussing the war games from earlier that week.
‘Pretty intense…’
Then there is a boy and a girl a little further away, they seem to be rather cozy under their tree, all over each other, smiling and laughing.
With a sigh, Leona glances at Diana, who seems to be picking apart the orange in her hand, separating each piece neatly, with precision. So focused she seems, that Leona braves moving her hand behind Diana’s back, so that her arm hovers just a tiny bit away from the raven-haired one’s body - so close that Leona can feel her warmth against her skin.
Her eyes roam Diana’s face, taking in the finer details. The sharpness of her jaw and nose, but also the dark circles under her eyes. She fights the urge she gets to attempt to wipe them away. Until a cool, yet sweet scent reaches her nose, Leona hadn’t realised how close she’d gotten to Diana, which is something that the other was definitely aware of, as those azure eyes met hers in an instant once she apparently got too close. Thankfully, in them Leona doesn’t find anything alarming. What she does find is amusement.
“If you want some more, you could just ask,” Diana explains and chuckles, “no need to watch over me like a hawk.”
“Like,” Leona tilts her head to the side, “a hawk…?”
With a mouthful of orange, the other nods. “Indeed.”
Then it clicks and Leona pulls away, mainly pulling away her face.
“I- I am sorry, I did not-”
“Oh, hush, you.” Diana waves her hand dismissively and laughs at her friend’s distress, “All is good, I am messing with you.”
A sigh of relief.
“You are rather good at that.” Leona muses, causing Diana’s eyebrow to rise in question. “Messing with me, I mean.”
“Well, you seem to be less bold around me,” she looks at Leona briefly, then back down at her hands, “for whatever reason. You allow me to take the lead, unlike what you usually do with your other friends or,” She glances at Leona again, “whatnot.”
“Could be that you inspire me.” Leona replies with a proud smile on her lips, but doesn’t dare lay eyes on Diana. Instead, she gazes at the sky. At the Sun that is setting and at the Moon that is rising. It doesn’t look all that scary, she decides.
“Please,” A scoff, “The only things I inspire are the jokes the others whisper behind my back. And the Elders when it comes to new forms of punishment, or otherwise torment.”
“Do you believe I am lying?”
They look at each other then. Leona is serious, so Diana’s self-deprecating smirk fades. She sighs.
“No. It is simply hard to remember that you actually always speak the truth sometimes.”
Before she can register her movement, Leona is on her feet, showing Diana her hand.
“Allow me to demonstrate?”
She can recognise the hesitation in Diana’s eyes. How they flicker left and right to take note of who is watching, who is around.
“May the Goddess be my witness,” Leona says in that soft voice of hers, “whoever looks at you the wrong way will feel my wrath in tomorrow's games. Come on.”
And so Diana trusted Leona and took her hand and they danced. Diana leaned into Leona and Leona held Diana in a soft yet firm grip. They ignored the looks they were getting. They looked at each other intensely in the eyes and they laughed and pushed and pulled and ultimately stumbled and fell into the fountain.
They laughed again then and hugged each other. Leona told Diana she was certain the Sun should’ve set after so long and Diana agreed.
Little did they know that the Sun was holding on just a bit longer so She could watch, and that the Moon allowed it. How could They not treasure the moment, knowing what the future beholds…