Still got around to that epilogue I promised.

"Mom! Ina! Get up! You promised we'd start my magic training today!"

Well, that was certainly a rough way to wake up for Sucy and Akko, that's for sure. Especially on one of those quiet Saturday mornings in May.

Slightly over half a decade passed since the couple's rather odd decision. It was rather hard to judge, but one thing was for certain – their child was certainly taking after both her mothers. While it was quite obvious that Aiko inherited Akko's near-boundless energy – since the moment she learned to walk, it was quite hard to get her to sit still for even a few moments – and her enthusiasm in magic as well, if her willingness to wake her parents up at 6 AM was any indication of just how strong said enthusiasm was, what took some seeing to was also the same kind of mischievousness that Sucy had. In winter, it was homing-enchanted snowballs that were thrown in such a way as to not let the unfortunate victim to see where they were coming from, and in summer, it was scaring some random passerbies with snakes creeping up from where they would least expect it. No unhealthy love for mushrooms, though, yet she didn't mind any mushroom-made meals all that much either.

As Akko woke up to the constant noise, as well as the feeling of some weight pressing down on her, she was almost immediately met with Aiko's excited red and blue eyes. Well, that sure was something to get up to.

"Ugh… Sure, Aiko-chan, but can't we at least take care of the necessary morning things first? I mean, things like taking a shower, having some breakfast, all that?" – Akko drowsily remarked.

"Aw…" – The little girl almost immediately pouted after hearing this from the brunette. – "But I wanna get to the magic training now!"

"Aiko… I think your mom has a point here. I mean, even if I am an early bird, I myself am half-awake, and could certainly use an extra hour of sleep. Or two, just to make it perfect. I'm not used to waking up so dang early on weekends. " – While Sucy certainly wasn't the type of person to sleep her butt off till 1 PM, she really needed some extra sleep to recover after a particularly hectic work week.

"Well, since I don't think I'll be going back to sleep all that easily, I might as well. Just please, wait in your room for a bit while I take a shower, will you, Aiko-chan?" – As Akko asked that, she lightly brushed her hand through her daughter's brown hair, making the younger girl's pouty expression shift to a smile as she giggled a bit at the sensation.

"Yes, mom! "– And with that said, Aiko ran off back over to her bedroom.

"Gee. She sure is a handful, ain't she?" – Sucy sleepily remarked, still in her usual sleeping position.

"We did bring this little bundle of energy into the world ourselves after all." – The brunette replied, grinning guiltily and chuckling afterwards. – "Can't say I'm regretting anything, though. After all, the most difficult phase is already well past us. And if you ask me, I think it's all completely worth it."

Sucy couldn't help but chuckle at that notion, as she leaned in to give Akko a kiss and remarked: "Guess we better get off our lazy backsides for now. Can't have Aiko waiting forever for her breakfast, right?"

"Something's telling me she's more worried about having to wait more than necessary to get to her training rather than whatever preceeds it." – The asian witch joked, getting up from her bed and Sucy following after her as well.

"You don't have to swing your wand so wildly, Aiko! I mean, I sure know that from all the misfires I've had because of this."

With the usual morning routine having been taken care of, it wasn't long until the two witches decided to get right on with their daughter's magic training. Currently, while Akko was busy teaching her daughter how to properly cast spells as it is, Sucy often chimed in with some occasional advice or snarky remarks about Akko's former magic problems. Not that the brunette really minded – if anything, her less-than-stellar spellcasting in her student years has long become the butt of many jokes between her and her wife.

"I dunno, mom, it just doesn't feel like I'm doing anything if I don't swing it hard enough!" – Aiko replied, sounding a little unsure.

"It's not about how strongly you swing your wand, but about how well you concentrate on your spell. Now, let's go over it again…" – Akko slightly repositioned her daughter's hand as to have her aim right at the bored-looking hamster – honestly, Sucy had no idea where Akko got that little critter from, but it wasn't like it mattered, as the hamster barely left it's cage most of the time, only ever taken out for spell experiments. – and continued: "Okay, first you repeat the spell. Metamorphie Faciesse. Then you lightly swish and flick your wand, pointing it right at the intended target – in our case, this little guy." – The aforementioned "little guy" yawned yet again.

"Alright… First I say the spell, then I swish and flick the wand. Okay, mom, I'll try." – And after Aiko said that, she almost immediately shouted "Metamorphie Faciesse!" at the top of her lungs, then just attempted to "lightly" swish and flick her wand… Only to send it flying, and the spell firing off randomly after the wand landed… With it somehow hitting the hamster anyway and giving it pink fur. Needless to say, the critter took a good look at itself and passed out with a squeak.

"Oh dear. You just gave the hamster a heart attack. And… Did you intend to paint it's fur pink?" – Akko asked, looking over at the critter and poking it with her finger just to make sure.

"I wanted him to have the same fur color as my ina did… It's pretty close, is it? Is it?" – After seeing her mother's slightly worried look directed at the hamster, Aiko walked over to the little rodent lying on the table still and stared at it wide-eyed. – "Why did Bijou fall asleep?"

Sucy couldn't help but snicker at the situation as well, and fired off a quick silent spell. Not only did the hamster regain it's normal brown fur color, but it also jumped up and ran right back into it's cage… Even, amusingly enough, grabbing the door with it's paws and closing it behind itself.

"Ina, why did you have to scare him?" – Aiko asked, sounding a little puzzled.

"I was just checking if he really was sleeping, is all." – Sucy remarked, shrugging. – "In any case, you're pulling off some spectacular results, especially for your age."

"Really?" – There it was again, that excited glitter in Aiko's eyes and that same smile.

"Yeah, but you still need better control and aiming. Once again, don't swing your wand so wildly! Just a light swish and flick." – As Akko said that, she picked up the training wand – a pretty basic wooden one with a smallish crystal core, designed for small-scale spellcasting. – and demonstrated the spell on the now-caged hamster: "Metamorphie Faciesse!"

After the glitter resulting from the spell cleared up a bit, the hamster was gone, and in it's place was a white bunny, looking around confusedly, but luckily not scared to the point of having another heart attack.

"Wow! I wanna do that too sometime! Such a kawaii bunny!" – As Aiko approached the hamster cage, the former hamster immediately backed away into a corner. – "Aww… He's afraid of me."

"It will take a while of training before you can pull that off, and quite a bit of patience, Aiko. But don't worry, I know you'll be a great witch eventually!" – The older brunette gave her daughter a light hug as she said that. – "After all, remember what I always told you?"

"A believing heart is your magic!" – Aiko recited, smiling and earning a chuckle from her mother as well. As for her ina, Sucy figured she might as well not be left out and went in to give the duo a hug as well.

"Now, how about we go outside and continue our practice there? We'll continue on with some more basic spells, and then maybe take a walk around town for a bit. Maybe we'll even go over to your favorite playground later, Aiko-chan." – Akko said as she let go of her daughter and Sucy let go of them both.

"Oh! Yes, yes, I wanna go to the playground after we're done training!" – The little girl replied, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Alright, guess I have no other choice but to tag along, then. Let me know after you're done dressing her up, Akko." – And with that said, Sucy went on to her and Akko's bedroom to change into something a bit more comfortable for going outside.

Later on, at that one playground, while Aiko was busy playing with some other kids, both Sucy and Akko were quietly sitting over at a bench not too far away.

"It's a good thing we didn't give her a wand to go with – having every single parent here come to us to complain about their kid either being turned into a small animal or having lost some of their hair sure isn't something we'd need right now." – Sucy remarked, smiling as she looked over at Aiko playing catch with a few random girls.

"I'm pretty sure that if I were given a wand at preschool age, I'd probably be shooting sparkles left and right instead of any useful spells." – As Akko said that, her wife couldn't help but snicker at this, although she was quickly stopped by the brunette saying: "If my magic wasn't drained back then, that is."

"That's already well past you. As for Aiko – she's got nothing holding her back, and she already pulled off a successful Metamorphie spell, so I guess we know how well she'll do in practical magic. That being said, no one's to say that proper education won't be a tad too difficult for her." – Sucy remarked, still snickering at the recent memory of that pink-furred hamster fainting at the sight of it's own appearance.

"I don't know, Suce. Maybe it's a tad too early for us to be thinking about how well Aiko's going to fare when she ends up attending Luna Nova? After all, it'll be an almost full decade before that happens. " – The asian witch replied.

"Sure, but… We all know how quickly time flies, don't we?" – The alchemist remarked, looking off somewhere into the horizon. – "To think, all those years ago… All those years ago we met up on that random, insignificant bridge. Who would have thought that this meeting alone would lead all the way to us having a family now?"

"Well, you can't always predict everything. And we've always had pretty average Divination grades back in our academy years anyway."

"Even despite that, there's one thing we both can predict for sure…" – As Sucy said that, she gave her wife a light hug, and finished her trail of thought as she did:

"Aiko has a very bright future ahead of her."

And with that, the fic's done for reals!

Let me just say, it was way too fun to write! My only problem with this particular chapter is that writing Aiko was a tad too difficult, as it was practically my first attempt at writing a child character ever. Hope I didn't end up writing her as too unrealistic. I imagine Aiko would have high inherent magic potential to the point of being able to successfully pull off some "unconscious" magic at preschool age, but some serious difficulties controlling said magic and using it as she would intend to.

Darky Out!