Взаперти (Locked Out)

The next morning, Luz was up way before Amity was. She was pretty exhausted, but she forced herself out of bed to get dressed and get ready for school anyway, deactivating her alarm clock before it could also wake Amity—who Luz was pretty sure had slept even less than her, so she really wanted to let her friend sleep in at least a little longer. She was up too early anyway. The only good thing about the fact that they’d both barely slept was that they’d been able to change Amity’s bandage twice—once before they’d first laid down to sleep, and the second time about an hour ago. Both times, Luz had been able to apply new glyphs to her friend’s back without risking her mom possibly seeing it. The wound wasn’t healing as fast as Luz had hoped it would, but at least the magic eased Amity’s pain a little and made it easier for her to move. That was already worth a lot. When Luz got downstairs, her mom was already in the kitchen, emptying the dishwasher and packing her daughter’s lunch for school. “I let Amity sleep a bit longer, I hope that’s okay. I wasn’t sure when you were planning to leave with her, but she didn’t sleep very well, so I thought-” Camila chuckled a bit at the rambled-information-greeting that was so very Luz and that she’d missed so dearly over the summer. She ruffled her daughter’s hair when she got out of the kitchen, then handed Luz her Azura-lunchbox. “It’s perfectly fine. Good morning, mija.” “Gracias, mami.” Luz put the lunchbox into her school bag. She’d completely forgotten to prepare any food to bring to school the day before, because, well, school had kind of seemed like the least of her concerns. It still felt surreal that she was just... supposed to go back to normal school today, despite everything that had happened over the summer—and everything that was currently happening. “And good morning to you, too.” Luz got herself some apple juice and a piece of bread with jam from the kitchen that she could eat before she left for school. Her mom sat down to eat beside her. “Can you tell me a bit about Amity?” Camila asked somewhat hesitantly after they’d finished breakfast. “Nothing she wouldn’t be comfortable with me knowing, of course, but... anything that could help me connect with her a bit would already help. She needs support right now, and since you have to go to school, that will have to be me.” Luz nodded. She didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of leaving Amity’s side after how bad the previous night had been, but she didn’t have much clue about the things her mom and Amity now had to take care of, so she was more likely to get in the way rather than be helpful, and considering how little some of her teachers and the principal already liked her, skipping the first day of school probably wasn’t the greatest idea. Telling her mom a bit about her friend so that Camila could support her properly was the least she could do. Luz thought for a moment, contemplating what Amity would be comfortable with her mom knowing before she decided what she should start with. “So, first of all, and that’s probably the most important thing to remember... Amity doesn’t open up to others easily. Whatever you do, please don’t take that personally. She’s just been hurt, and has a hard time forming relationships with others because of it. She needs time to learn to trust someone before she can really let them in. She’s probably not going to tell you a lot about herself anytime soon. That’s how she is with everyone.” That was important, and also something she could tell her mom without really giving her any additional information about Amity. Camila nodded. “Okay. Understood.” She ruffled her daughter’s hair, and couldn’t help but think about her own relationship with Luz. It had been a long time since she’d last felt like her daughter was open with her about how she was feeling. When asked how her day had been, Luz’s reply never went far beyond an ‘alright’ and a shrug before she changed the topic, so the longer texts and letters had been a real surprise. Sometimes, Camila was able to see through her daughter like no one else could... but most of the time, this girl she loved more than anything in the entire universe was like the world’s most complicated riddle to her. She tried her best to understand her daughter, but Luz was often so wrapped up in her stories that her mother couldn’t seem to reach her amidst them. Camila would’ve done anything to be closer to her daughter once more, but no matter what she tried, they kept slipping further and further apart from each other the older Luz grew. She’d reassured her daughter so many times that they could talk about anything and everything, that Camila would be there for her and listen to her, but despite Luz telling her she knew that, the adult knew there were a lot of things her daughter kept from her. Not that she thought she needed to know everything that was going on in her daughter’s life—of course not—but she hadn’t even known Luz had wanted to participate in the cheer tryouts or audition for the school play before the principal’s office had called her because of the incidents. She felt like she was missing out on so much of her daughter’s life, and knowing that hurt because of how important Luz was to her. Because she wanted to support her daughter when she was trying new things. Camila didn’t know a lot about cheer, but she would’ve been willing to look some things up if she’d known how important that was to Luz. And while she was pretty sure her daughter didn’t know that, Camila had actually been a theater kid back in her own high school days. She’d even played the lead in one year. It had been a long time since, sure, but she was still certain that if Luz had told her about the audition, she would have been able to help her practice. But she couldn’t do that if her daughter didn’t talk to her about anything. ...it wasn’t entirely Luz’s fault, of course. Camila knew that if anything, it was her own fault – it had a lot to do with how much she worked. A lot of days, she got home late or had to sleep during the day because of her night shifts. And while she loved the work at the hospital and knew that what she was doing was extremely important, there were days when she almost hated her job. She regretted working so much overtime because of how little time she got to spend with Luz as a result, and she often felt like she was unable to be there for her daughter the way she should have been... the way Luz deserved. At times like this, the glaring hole that Luz’s father had left in their life was really hard to ignore. He’d always connected to their daughter much easier than Camila could. But she couldn’t change that he was gone... all she could do was try her best to make a life for herself and Luz without him. Camila’s daughter tapped her arm gently, interrupting her thoughts. “...mom, are you okay?” Luz was looking up at her worriedly. “Did- did I say something wrong?” Camila was startled by her daughter’s expression. ...then the adult realized she’d started crying. No wonder Luz was so freaked out. “No, of course not, cariño.” The adult hugged her daughter to emphasize she wasn’t mad, then wiped the tears off her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I just got really lost in my thoughts for a moment.” “It’s okay. I mean, we both know I do that a lot, so I’m not sure why you’d think you need to apologize about that to me of all people.” Luz chuckled a bit, still a little worried, but mostly just relieved her mom wasn’t mad at her. She didn’t like fighting with her. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Amity?” Camila changed the topic back to the previous one before her daughter could dig deeper into why she’d been upset. She really needed to talk to her about all of those things—and soon—but not when they only had about half an hour before Luz had to get to school. Luz nodded and continued where she’d left off. “Well, school is really important to her, and she puts a lot of pressure on herself, in addition to the pressure that her parents already put on her, or maybe because of it, so... maybe don’t talk to her about school more than you absolutely have to right now.” That was the topic that was most likely to make Amity break down at the moment, so it was important for Camila to know to avoid it. Then, Luz started telling her mom the same kinds of things she had told her about her other friends. “She likes reading – she even read to kids at the library where she’s from, and loves doing voices. I swear, it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. She’s into Azura like I am – I don’t know for sure, but that might even be the reason she dyed her hair. She likes sweet food way more than any other type, although she’d die before admitting that out loud – but the way her eyes light up speak volumes. She can dance really well. We danced together at some point during camp, and we both had so much fun that I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. Oh, and she really likes flowers, but she’s a bit embarrassed about that, and weirdly enough she likes them way more when they’re from me than when they’re from Willow, despite the fact that Willow is way better with plant-” She was able to stop herself just in time before the word ‘magic’ slipped out. “-s.” Luz continued on like that for a couple more minutes, talking about the most casual things like they made Amity the most amazing person on the planet. Camila’s smile widened with every word, and she couldn’t help but think this was one of the very rare occasions where she actually did understand her daughter and the reason her eyes were sparkling. “You like Amity, don’t you?” Camila asked after her daughter had finished her quick rundown on everything she liked about the girl she was currently sharing a room with. Luz beamed. “Of course I do! Amity is amazing. She’s smart and funny and kind and brave and beautiful... what’s there not to like about her? I still can’t believe someone like her would want to be my friend.” Camila smiled, her suspicions confirmed despite Luz not actually answering the question she’d asked. “Luz... that’s not what I meant.” It took a bit for the realization of what she was asking to dawn on her daughter’s face. ‘You’re too much like your father sometimes,’ Camila mused, trying her hardest to swallow the pain that followed the thought right on its tail. “Oh.” Luz started chuckling nervously when she finally realized what her mother meant. “Oh, no, I don’t- I don’t think-” She paused, struggling to find the right words... and actually not quite sure how to answer that. In all honesty, she hadn’t spent a lot of time reflecting on her feelings for the green-haired witch while they’d been in the Boiling Isles—among all the magic and the exciting dangers of the other realm, the way Amity made her heart flutter when she was with her had been a bit of an afterthought. But now that Luz thought about it... everything she’d just told her mom, the time she and Amity had spent together, the way she got protective around her, how nervous Amity made her, and the way she always wanted to be Amity’s hero, her ‘fearless champion’—all of these things added up into a single picture. Sometimes, when Luz closed her eyes, all she could see was Amity’s face, all she could hear was Amity’s laughter, and all she could think of was wanting to make her smile, over and over and over again, for the rest of forever. And she had thought about kissing her for a second two days before. ...that meant something, didn’t it? ‘Uh oh.’ Luz could feel the color draining from her face. The thought made her heart stop. This was bad. This was really, really, really bad. She couldn’t be in love with Amity. Truth be told, Luz had never thought much about being in a relationship before. It wasn’t like she’d never wanted to go on a date before—the stories she read always made them seem super fun and exciting, after all—but someone liking her? Romantically? That thought had always seemed ridiculous to her. People in her realm didn’t like her. They thought she was a weirdo. And while Luz herself knew that wasn’t a bad thing—being different was what made people special, had they all been the same, the world would have been a really boring place—being treated like an outsider pretty much all your life did something to your confidence. The summer in the Boiling Isles had helped, she had real friends now that liked her for who she was... but that didn’t mean Luz suddenly thought she’d be the Hecate to someone’s Azura anytime soon. ...especially not to Amity’s. “Luz?” Her mother’s voice stopped Luz’s racing train of thoughts abruptly. She took a deep breath and got a hold of herself. “I don’t know, mami.” The teen sighed audibly. “I like Amity—a lot, as you may have realized from my excited rambling about her. There’s so many things I like about her, and she never fails to make me smile, and the thought of her hurting makes my heart ache, too. But I’ve never really liked anyone like that before, and even if I did know how that feels and was sure that’s what I’m feeling... Amity already has a lot on her mind right now. With everything she’s going through at the moment, what I do or don’t feel for her doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that I’m there for her, that I support her and help her through this no matter what. Confessing to her and making things awkward between us is the absolute last thing this situation needs in addition to everything else she already has going on.” Amity would be staying with them for weeks. Messing their relationship up now was the absolute worst thing Luz could have done. The good news was, she would have plenty of time to maybe, hopefully sort out whatever these confusing feelings meant that she might or might not be experiencing whenever she looked at the green-haired witch. She’d put more thought into how she acted around Amity, and would pay closer attention to her friend’s reactions... then maybe she’d be able to sort out the chaos in her head. Once that was done—once she was sure—she could still figure out if she should tell Amity or not. “Oh cariño...“ Camila pulled her daughter into a hug. When had she become so responsible? ‘You’ve really changed a lot over the summer, haven’t you?’ Camila felt pride and guilt rise in her chest when she thought about that. It was wonderful that her daughter stood up for what was right and did everything she could to help her friend—but Luz was just fourteen. Camila hadn’t meant for her daughter to grow up that fast. But she didn’t have time to dwell on that, because a moment later, they heard movement on the stairs. “Amity,” Luz whispered. When she saw her friend standing at the bottom of the staircase, looking really upset and probably the most exhausted Luz had ever seen her, everything else was forgotten in an instant. She immediately rushed to Amity’s side and gently pulled her into a hug. “Hi Luz.” Amity buried her head in her friend’s shoulder. “How are you feeling?” “I- I don’t know.” The green-haired witch bit her lip. “Still not great, I think.” She’d left her hair down, and after struggling to get herself out of bed, had put on the long-sleeved purple top and jeans that Luz had picked out for her. She’d also put the beanie back on... even if she didn’t need it to hide her ears anymore, it just made her feel comfortable. “Are you hungry? You should eat something,” Luz mumbled, trying not to sound pushy, but still immensely worried. Amity just shook her head. She didn’t feel much like eating right now—she’d barely eaten the evening before, either. Her appetite was all but gone entirely now. “I won’t let you leave the house without having breakfast.” Camila looked a bit stern, but it was obvious that she was mostly just concerned. Amity was kind of touched by that—and that realization hurt at the same time, because she knew her own parents wouldn’t have cared. The good news was, Camila was definitely convinced they were telling the truth now. The bad news was, Amity was actually the broken mess she pretended to be—just for a very different reason. “I really don’t think I can eat right now, Ms. Noceda. I’m not feeling very well.” Her head was still spinning from everything that had happened the day before, so much that she almost felt sick because of it. Everything was just too much. She was really surprised she’d managed to get out of bed at all, especially because she’d barely slept, instead waking up screaming from some stupid nightmare about grades or her parents or Lilith yelling at her... and each time, she’d woken Luz in the process, who instead of getting mad at her had just turned the lights on and held her until she’d calmed down a bit, the same way she was right now. “I’m so sorry,” Luz whispered, gently stroking her friend’s hair. She felt so incredibly guilty about this whole situation. All of this because of a stupid hair clip. ‘I wish this never happened.’ And even if the reason had been something else, nothing would ever be worth seeing Amity this shattered. Had there been any way to undo this, Luz would have taken it without hesitation. ...even if it had meant never seeing Amity again. ‘There are very few things I wouldn’t be willing to do for her, aren’t there?’ “Don’t apologize. It isn’t your fault,” Amity mumbled through her sobs, snuggling against Luz’s chest. “I’m so thankful for everything you’ve done for me in the last couple of days.” And in the last couple of months, if she was being honest. Luz had turned her entire life upside down in the best possible way. She wouldn’t trade that for the world. This whole mess was no one’s fault but Amity’s own, least of all Luz’s. There was no reason for her to feel guilty. That was the last thing Amity wanted. They remained cuddled up on the couch like that for a couple more minutes, until Camila reminded them that Luz had to get to school. Luz tensed a little at that, hoped nobody noticed and got up. Camila decided to take her to school by car, since she wanted to talk to the principal about Amity in person anyway. Amity was... not very excited at the prospect of getting into one of the things that had made Luz so freaked out when they first got into this realm—despite the fact that her crush seemed perfectly calm now. “Is this going to eat me now because I caused your mom so much trouble?” the green-haired witch whispered when they got closer to the car, visibly freaked out. Luz shook her head. “Of course not. It’s not... mom would never hurt you. And cars don’t eat people, I promise.“ Her friend was still unconvinced. “Do you know for sure they also don’t eat elves?” “I do.” ...well, technically she didn’t, since she was pretty sure no elf had ever stepped inside a car before, but since cars couldn’t actually eat anything, Luz considered it a pretty safe bet. She opened the door and climbed onto the backseat first, gesturing for Amity to follow, which, after another moment of hesitation, she did. “Huh, I guess this isn’t so ba-” Amity mumbled after a while of sitting there peacefully, suppressing a shriek when the car suddenly started vibrating. She barely managed to keep her voice down. “It’s going to eat us...” Luz reached for her friend’s hand and squeezed it soothingly. “It’s not going to eat us. This is perfectly normal.” But despite the reassurance, and despite the fact that nothing was actually happening aside from them moving, Amity didn’t let go of Luz’s hand until they stopped in front of the school. For Amity, the rest of the day passed by in a blur. They talked to a lot of different people and went to a bunch of different buildings, almost all of which, except the school, she didn’t even recognize the name of. She was very confused by most of them, letting Camila do almost all the talking unless she was asked about something directly. The less she said, the less she could say that would sound weird to anyone from this world, after all. Throughout the entire day, she was pretty lost in her thoughts, still not entirely able to grasp what had happened and what it meant for her and her future that she wasn’t able to attend her school now. Just how lost in her thoughts she was didn’t go unnoticed by the woman she was with, who couldn’t help but offer the girl to talk to her about what was on her mind if she wanted to. Even if Amity didn’t end up telling her anything, it was important to at least try—to let the girl know that the possibility was there, even if she wasn’t ready yet. “Penny for your thoughts?” Amity gave Camila a startled look and shook her head. “...they’re not for sale.” Selling one’s thoughts was a highly illegal practice in the Boiling Isles because it was extremely dangerous—it could permanently tear apart a being’s mind. ‘Is that different here?’ The adult wasn’t sure if the reply was supposed to be a joke or not—it was hard to tell from the girl’s expression—but she decided to just word what she meant a little differently in case it hadn’t been. Amity’s English was perfectly fine otherwise, but this wasn’t the first time Camila had noticed a reaction like this to a relatively common saying. “I just meant... you probably have a lot on your mind right now. I know I’m not Luz, but if there’s anything you want to get off your chest, you can talk to me, okay?” “Oh.” Amity bit her lip. “That’s sweet, Ms. Noceda, but I really don’t think... I mean...” The more she told her, the more likely it was that she let something slip that made Luz’s mom suspicious, so she wasn’t sure how smart it was to talk to her in a situation where Luz wasn’t around to save her from saying something wrong at the last second. “If you’re not ready, that’s okay. Just... know that I’m there for you whenever you are, alright?” Amity felt tears welling up in her eyes again. “Thank you,” she mumbled, her voice cracking. “Of course.” The adult smiled softly at her, then couldn’t help but notice Amity staring at one of the food stands. “Come on, let’s go get lunch somewhere, okay? I’m getting hungry, too.” Amity hesitated, a bit embarrassed that Camila had realized what she was looking at, but her grumbling stomach was very persistent, so eventually, to the adult’s relief, she gave in. Luz spent about half an hour crying in bed after she got home from school. Over the summer, she’d almost forgotten how bad school in the human realm was, and now that she knew what it was like to attend a school where she actually had friends and where she fit in, it seemed even worse. Eventually, she forced herself to get up and do the homework she’d been given, hoping—and surprisingly actually succeeding—to finish it before her mom and Amity got home. When the two of them finally got home, Camila was visibly extremely annoyed while the green-haired witch just looked exhausted and guilty. She felt horrible for causing Luz’s mom so much trouble, especially because they weren’t even being honest with her. “Everything okay?” Luz asked when walked down the stairs, hugging both of them to greet them. “It’s going to be fine.” Camila hugged her back. “Just a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense that I’m hoping we’ll be able to take care of soon enough. Hopefully at least some of it tomorrow. I swear, half the people we talked to today gave me the impression they had no idea what their job was.” She sighed. “But oh well.” It wasn’t like she’d expected this to be easy... but she was more than willing to make an effort, even if that meant sacrificing both of her days off for it. Hopefully she could take a couple days of vacation sometime soon to spend some time with the girls and get more of this sorted out. While Camila was busy warming up the leftovers from the day before, the girls snuck upstairs to change Amity’s bandages again. During dinner, although Amity was still taking it a bit slow, she was eating properly again. That was a huge relief to both Luz and her mom. Once they’d finished eating, Amity and Luz spent the rest of the evening watching Little Witch Academia, cuddled up on the couch with a woolen blanket and some tea. Camila let them have the TV for the entire evening while she made a couple more phone calls, and then sat down at the table to finish reading the book she’d started about a week before, occasionally glancing over at her daughter and Amity. It was good to see them having fun together despite everything that was happening, and despite the fact that Camila didn’t really see the appeal of the show... she didn’t have to. Since Luz was already done with her homework, her mom didn’t have any issues with them watching it—and since Amity needed a distraction right now, Camila would probably have gone easy on her daughter anyway. In the middle of all this, a couple of notes from teachers about forgotten homework were the least of her concerns. Luz was very happy that her friend seemed to enjoy the show they’d picked. Although the topic was, ironically, not just some faraway fantasy world but instead at least somewhat close to their reality, watching it still seemed to help Amity take her mind off of everything and relax a little – once she’d understood what a TV was, at least. And, while never quite laughing, Luz could see Amity break into a small smile every now and again, which was a huge step in the right direction. Luz herself was also having a pretty good time—it felt like ages since she’d last seen the show, and seeing the reactions of someone who had never seen it before was always pretty fun. Eventually, the green-haired witch nodded off with her head on Luz‘s shoulder, and when Luz woke her up again—after being hesitant to do that for a while because Amity looked so adorable and also Amity sleeping on her shoulder felt weirdly nice—they decided it was time to call it a night. The next day went pretty similar to the previous one, up to the point when Luz started her homework, but couldn’t finish it because the ringing phone on the nightstand behind her interrupted her in the middle of it. It didn’t take long for her to realize that it wasn’t her own phone but her friend’s. Luz wasn’t sure if Amity had left it there on purpose or if she’d just forgotten it because of how upset and distracted she’d been, but it was sitting there on the bedside table now, ringing, and Luz was contemplating what to do. She knew she probably should have left it alone, but when she looked at the contact and saw it was Edric, a surge of anger got a hold of her, and she picked up. “Amity, listen, we-” She didn’t let him finish. “Amity isn’t here right now.” She surprised herself with how cold her voice sounded. It took a lot for Luz to get mad at someone, but when she did, she got really mad. She’d threatened to unfriend them if they ever hurt Amity with their actions for a reason. And they had—Emira especially. Amity whispering ‘I asked them to do it’ at the back of her mind did nothing to soothe Luz when all she could think of was her friend falling to pieces in her arms. The screen slowly faded from black into a picture of both of the Blight twins sitting on one of the Owl House’s couches. “Oh, hi Luz.” Emira sounded completely deflated, with just the tiniest hint of relief in her voice about not having to face Amity right now. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to face her sister again after everything she’d said to her. “If she’s not with you right now... can you at least tell us how she’s doing?” The human girl crossed her arms and stared her down. “How do you think she’s doing after what you did to her?!” Luz growled. “What is wrong with you?! You know exactly how much school means to Amity! How could you do this to her?!” The older, much taller teen seemed very small all of a sudden. She eyed the floor. Her brother gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, then turned back to Luz. “You think she doesn’t know that?! You think we haven’t spent the last two days beating ourselves up about it?!” He looked Luz directly in the eyes, sounding more desperate than mad, and for the first time since they’d started talking, Luz realized how exhausted he looked. And Emira looked even worse. She was on the brink of tears. “Listen... it’s not that we don’t appreciate you looking out for Mittens—we really do—but yelling at Em isn’t helpful right now, okay?” Luz’s anger melted away. “I’m sorry, I...” She hadn’t meant to make anyone cry. Emira shook her head. “Don’t apologize. You were just protecting Amity. I... I’m glad she has someone in her life that cares as much about her as you do. And you’re right, after all. I deserve to be yelled at for what I said to her.” “Maybe. Probably. But Edric’s right. It doesn’t solve anything.” Luz faced the floor, clenching her hands around the phone in her hand just a little too hard. “I- I’m just scared. I’ve never seen her this shattered before...” Edric gulped. “I-it’s that bad, huh?” “It’s like Amity said,” Emira mumbled. “We know how to make her hurt like no one else can.” It went really quiet for a moment, neither of them facing the other until eventually, Edric looked up at Luz again. “Luz, listen to me, okay? Something... happened. We really need to talk to Amity.” There was something so haunted in his expression and the way he spoke that it took Luz’s breath away. “It’s not the kind of thing I could just tell her if you told me, is it?” The twins shook their heads. “She can’t hear it from anyone else. It’s something she needs to hear from us.” Emira’s voice was quiet and still extremely deflated. “But not right now. Not... not when she’s still reeling from what I did to her.” “Em...” Edric’s voice was kind and understanding, but there was also something stern in his tone. Emira shook her head, then turned to look up at Luz. “Just... just promise me you’ll be there with her when we tell her, okay?” Luz nodded. “Okay. I promise,” she said without hesitation. She was scared. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but whatever it was, it sounded terrible—especially since the twins were this serious about it. As long as Luz had known them, the twins had never been serious about anything. Emira gave her a small, grateful smile. “Thank you.” Finishing her homework with whatever that call had been in mind turned out to be difficult for Luz. Her mind kept wandering to all kinds of horror scenarios about what it was that the twins had to tell Amity that was this bad, and she was pretty sure she took three times as long to finish her homework as it would have taken her otherwise, and also that half of it was probably wrong because of how unfocused she’d been, but she didn’t care much. At least she was done by the time she heard the front door open, even if just barely. She spent the next half an hour cooking dinner with her mom, who again seemed pretty stressed, while Amity was occupied with reading a book Luz had lent her. “Are you done with your homework?” Camila asked suddenly when she was done chopping the vegetables. Luz nodded. “Yeah, why?” “Amity is still really down, and today was extremely stressful for her. The guy we talked to at the city hall basically probed her like she was some criminal and not just a fourteen-year-old.” Camila shook her head, still in complete disbelief about that. “So I was thinking... maybe you could take her out somewhere, to take her mind off of everything?” “I’d love to, if she feels up for it.” Luz cocked her head. “Why do you look like you have something in mind already?” “Well... remember how there’s a new Azura movie playing in the cinema right now? I was thinking maybe you could go see it when it’s playing in two hours?” Camila had noticed one of the promotional posters in the city earlier, and since she knew that both her daughter and her daughter’s friend were into the franchise, she had looked up when the movie was playing next as soon as she’d gotten home. “Really?! Can we?” Luz had completely forgotten about the movie release because of everything that was going on, but the thought of seeing it with Amity made her super excited – and she was pretty sure that could actually work. “That’s a great idea! That might be just the thing to cheer her up!” Of course it wouldn’t magically poof all their problems away, and Luz couldn’t imagine Amity would ever completely stop being scared for her grades and her future until she was back in the Boiling Isles – which was perfectly understandable... but if Luz could at least cheer her friend up a little, that would be amazing. Camila smiled a bit. “I can drive you to the cinema after dinner, but I probably won’t be able to pick you up again afterwards because I still have some more calls to make.” After this whole ordeal, she would be happy to not even look at a phone again for at least a whole week. Not that that was realistic... but a woman could dream. “Are you okay with taking the bus back home?” “Sure!” Luz was way too excited about being allowed to go to the cinema with Amity to care. And she was used to taking the bus a lot anyway, so it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Luz threw her arms around her mom. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” When she suggested it to Amity during dinner, the green-haired witch immediately agreed, still really stressed out from situation she was in, but also at least a bit excited to get to do something like that with Luz. The cinema hall wasn’t exactly packed when they got there—it was a week night, so it wasn’t that surprising—so Amity and Luz had little issues making their way to their seats. Amity was amazed at how large the screen was. Sure, there were magical theaters in the Boiling Isles, but her parents had never let her see an Azura movie in one of them—they were too childish and cheesy and did nothing to further Amity’s academic progress, so they’d forbidden her from seeing them. As a result, she’d only ever seen them in her secret hideout at the library on one of the tiny crystal balls, way after they’d first been released. The twins had tried to convince her to sneak out and see whatever she wanted, multiple times, but she’d never budged—she’d been too scared of what would happen if she was caught. She’d missed out on so much because she’d been scared. But in this case, that meant she got to see her first big screen Azura movie with Luz... so maybe she was okay with that. The seats were surprisingly comfortable, and since Luz had applied another spell to Amity’s injury right before they left, she would actually be able to focus on the movie rather than the pain in her back that resurfaced whenever the spells wore off. Luz put Amity’s drink in the cup holder next to her and put the bag of popcorn she’d bought down between them. “You should try some. It tastes best when it’s still warm.” “I- I don’t know. I’m not that hungry, I mean, we just had dinner, and...” Amity was hesitant because everything inside her was guiltily yelling ‘that belongs to Luz, not to you, and she already paid for your drink’, but it was really hard to say no to her crush when she was looking at her like that. “Come on, try it.” Luz nudged her friend gently. “I’m sure you’ll like it.” Amity gave in. “More popcorn?” Luz whispered about thirty minutes into the movie when Amity hadn’t reached for more in a while, holding the bag towards her friend, who shook her head while the look in her eyes said something entirely different. “Come on. I insist.” Amity bit her lip. Like a lot of the human food she’d tried in the last couple of days, this ‘popcorn’-stuff tasted sweet and extremely good, and she really liked the way it melted in her mouth. It wasn’t that she didn’t want more, but... “But you paid for it.” She felt bad enough for staying with Luz and her mom and being an extra mouth to feed for them for a couple of weeks. But Luz buying her something on top of that... that was too much. Trying it was one thing, but actively eating more of it felt like she was being greedy. Her friend raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and you paid for how many of my snacks over the summer? Let me treat you for once, damn it.” “I-” Her friend’s smile made Amity’s defenses melt away, and she almost broke down in tears. Luz was the kindest person she’d ever met. How did someone like her deserve to have a girl like that in her life? “Okay...“ She extended her hand and slowly grabbed the popcorn bag again, her lips curling into a small smile. Luz beamed at her. Amity trying new human foods and liking them brought her a lot of joy. Every little smile she got out of Amity after how hard the last few days had been was a small, beautiful victory. Luz took another small palmful of popcorn for herself when Amity offered the bag to her again a bit later, but then handed it right back to her. “Keep it. I think I’ve had enough for now.” “Will those two ever shut up?” The guy in the row behind them grumbled annoyed at the person he was sitting with, while still saying it loud enough for the two girls to hear, probably on purpose. “I can barely hear the movie over all their talking.” Luz was about to turn around and apologize when a female voice replied, “Oh, be quiet, Jonah. They’re adorable. I wish I had a girlfriend like that.” The voice let out a dreamy sigh. Luz was so surprised by what she’d just heard that she almost choked on her popcorn. She could feel her cheeks heat up and her heart fluttered in her chest at the thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to look over at her friend to see Amity’s reaction. Instead, she cleared her throat awkwardly and was very, very focused on the movie all of a sudden. Why did the thought of someone assuming she and Amity were girlfriends make her so stupidly nervous yet so stupidly happy at the same time? Amity’s face was just as red as Luz’s. She was pretty sure she‘d almost passed out, trying to keep herself from squealing as she hugged the popcorn to her chest. ‘Someone thinks Luz and I are girlfriends. Girlfriends.’ She eyed her crush nervously, but, feeling a bit bold all of a sudden, she reached for Luz’s hand. The human girl immediately reacted to the gesture, gently intertwining her fingers with Amity’s. Until the movie ended, neither of them let go. “That was so much fun! I can’t believe they actually kissed!” Luz squealed. “That was a long time coming.” “It really was,” Amity agreed, smiling, although she was way less happy about the kiss itself – despite the fact that it had been really cute—and more happy about how excited it made Luz. Seeing her all happy and excited made Amity’s heart race. There was nothing more precious in the entire universe. “We’ll get so many new ship fics now that they’re officially a thing!” When they left the cinema, the smell of wet pavement filled her nose, and the picture fit the scent. “Oh. It’s raining” Luz said, a smile spreading across her face. It was somewhat heavy rain, too—and she couldn’t help but get excited about that. It felt like ages since she’d last been able to feel rain on her skin, and Luz couldn’t help but run out from under the cinema’s roof that extended slightly onto the sidewalk, thrilled at the prospect of feeling it again. Amity, for whom the word ‘rain’ equaled imminent danger, had a small heart attack. “No, don’t!” she shrieked and immediately pulled her friend back under the safe cover of the building. “What were you thinking?! You could’ve gotten hurt!” She pulled her crush into a hug. She was immensely freaked out. Luz suppressed a laugh, since obviously there was no way to actually get hurt by earth rain. ...not that she was complaining about the hug, though. She returned it, gently putting her arms around her friend and waiting for Amity to calm down a bit before slowly letting go and explaining the situation to her. “Our rain isn’t like the rain on the Boiling Isles. It’s completely harmless. Look.” She pointed at the other people walking around in the rain, completely unbothered by it. Amity blinked. Everyone walking around like that while it was raining, without any visible magic cover, was one of the weirdest, scariest things she’d ever seen. “...really?” She couldn’t believe what Luz was saying. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust her, but growing up knowing the very thing that her friend was calling harmless here was deadly wasn’t something she could just turn off. “Yeah.” Luz smiled softly at her. “But thanks for looking out for me. I really appreciate it.” Amity smiled back at her. “Always.” Then Luz took off the jacket she was wearing and gently placed it around Amity’s shoulders. “Here, you take the jacket. It’s waterproof. Maybe that will make you feel a bit safer.” They’d have to walk through the rain at least for a bit, and she could imagine how scary that had to be for someone who was only used to the kind of rain they had on the Boiling Isles, so she would have done just about anything to help Amity feel a bit less scared... but she also really wanted to show her friend how great the rain here was. Luz loved the rain, and she wanted Amity to be able to experience it like she did. Amity shot her a concerned look. “...but what about you?” The last thing she wanted was for Luz to get hurt. Luz chuckled and shrugged. “I’ll be fine. I actually really like feeling the rain on my skin.” Amity still looked at her skeptically. “...I can prove to you that it’s not dangerous, if you’ll let me. Just reach out into the rain, and I promise it won’t hurt you.” Amity gulped. “I don’t- I don’t think-” Luz squeezed her hand and smiled at her. “Don’t be scared. I swear it’s not dangerous. You know I’d never do anything to put you at risk, right?” Amity looked into Luz’s sparkling eyes and knew she would follow this girl to the ends of the world if she asked her to. “I do. I trust you,” she replied without a second of hesitation. Luz beamed, then got behind her, putting her arms around Amity and carefully cupping one of her friend’s hands in hers to reach out from under the roof into the rain. “It’s going to be okay, I promise,” she whispered soothingly. Amity could feel her friend’s warm breath on her neck. Her heart was racing from Luz being so close. The green-haired witch resisted the urge to flinch back when Luz lifted their hands, and tried to focus her friend’s embrace instead. Amity closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘Luz would never hurt me.’ Still, she couldn’t help but brace herself for pain that never came. After a moment, she felt a tickling sensation on her skin. When she opened her eyes again, she gasped, staring at the tiny drops of rain in her palm in amazement. “See?” Luz was still beaming at her, still holding Amity’s hand in both of hers. “...wow,” Amity breathed, completely mesmerized for a moment. “It- it’s so cold.” “Mhm.” Luz slowly let go of her, but never stopped to smile at her friend, reaching for Amity’s hand when she walked out from under the roof. “Walk out into the rain with me?” The green-haired witch still hesitated for a moment, unable to tear herself from the picture of her crush standing there, in the middle of the rain. She was completely mesmerized. Eventually, Luz’s hand in hers, she stepped out onto the sidewalk, again bracing herself for pain, but with every step she took, she got less anxious. The rain slid off the jacket harmlessly. The drops that ran down her hands felt cold, but not painful, and there was something absolutely incredible about the sensation. “This feels really surreal... but also kind of amazing.” “I can imagine.” Luz wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing – they probably should’ve been heading home before she got completely soaked, but right now, she didn’t care. She hadn’t even realized just how much she’d missed the rain here while she’d been in the Boiling Isles... and now she kind of just wanted to enjoy it to the fullest, and wanted to make sure that Amity could do the same and didn’t have to be afraid of it anymore. Not just because it was something she was hoping to make Amity happy with – okay, admittedly, it was mainly that, Luz loved doing things for Amity that made her happy –, but it was also kind of important in a sense that Amity really needed to learn it. If she was going to stay here for a couple of weeks, and with the weather probably being the kind of weather it always was at the beginning of September, it was very likely this was far from the last time she’d be confronted with rain. Luz knew just the place she wanted to take Amity to teach her. There was a small playground just a couple streets from where they were now. Like she’d guessed, it turned out to be completely abandoned because of the rain when they got there. She opened the door for Amity and grinned at her friend, bowing jokingly. “After you, Mylady.” Amity felt stupid for blushing at that. She should have gotten used to Luz’s overly dramatic gestures over the summer, but for some reason they still made her feel giddy with excitement every single time. Meanwhile, Luz was having a minor existential crisis, because she was starting to question if all these little sentences she’d said directed at Amity in that tone had been semi-intentional flirting. “Why did you bring me here?” ‘Right. Back to the task at hand.’ Luz took a deep breath, pushed these thoughts into the back of her mind for later and followed Amity onto the playground, her bold smile from earlier replaced by a way shyer one. “Rain’s really common in this realm. People would look at you strangely if they realized you were afraid of if. So I thought... maybe we should connect a positive memory to it.” She closed the door of the fence behind her and walked into the middle of the playground where it was nothing but grass in-between two goals for soccer. She extended one of her hands towards Amity. “Dance with me?” And just like that, they were twirling each other around on the playground in the middle of the rain, slowly, careful to take it a bit easy because of Amity’s injury, and without any of the magic their Grom dance had held... but magic all the same.* By the time they stopped, Luz was soaking wet... but Amity’s breathless laughter made everything more than worth it. “That was so much fun!” Maybe this realm’s rain really wasn’t so bad. ‘Amity’s laughing.’ The realization hit Luz very, very suddenly, and she felt a wave of relief and joy wash over her. For the first time since her call with the twins, Amity was laughing again. Luz felt so happy about that that she twirled her friend around one more time just for the heck of it, and then she tossed her arms around her and pulled her close. Amity was so surprised by that she stumbled backwards, just barely able to steady herself when she returned the hug. “What was that for?” “I’m just... really glad you’re feeling a bit better.” “Mainly because of you. Thank you, Luz.” Amity stared at her crush hesitantly for a moment, then pressed a quick kiss to Luz’s cheek. “For everything.” “No problem!” Now Luz was the one with the squeaky voice for once, trying desperately not to think of that ‘thank you’-cheek kiss as anything more than that while simultaneously trying not to pass out. “You didn’t need to- I mean, you didn’t have to- I mean- we should probably head home now,” she stuttered, extremely flustered. “I know I didn’t have to. But I wanted to.” Amity smiled to herself, very proud of herself for that large step of progress, that, despite not quite being a confession, was more than she’d expected to be able to do today—or anytime soon, honestly. And despite Amity being pretty sure that Luz hadn’t realized the kiss was meant to be romantic, but maybe counting her reaction as a good sign, and despite Luz wanting it to be romantic but not daring to hope—someone you liked liking you back was something that only happened in fanfics and movies, after all—both of them were walking on clouds all the way to the bus stop. Luz and Amity could already hear Camila's voice basically as soon as Luz unlocked the door, despite them still being in the hallway—and staying there a bit longer to take off their shoes. It was pretty easy to tell that she was extremely annoyed and not in a very good mood from the way she was speaking, although neither of the girls understood much before they opened the door to the living room. “You better!” Camila groaned audibly as she hung up. “Dios mío, what a bunch of incompetent idiots...” She just shook her head for a moment, then put the phone back into the charging station for the first time in almost two hours and sighed. That wasn’t how she’d imagined spending her second day off... but it was fine. It was good that at least that was sorted out now. “Well that sounded like a pleasant phone call,” Luz commented when she and Amity entered the room. “Hi mom.” Her mother turned around towards the two girls. “Welcome home, you two.” She smiled at them, her mood instantly improving a bit, then gestured towards the phone and sighed. “Well, apparently the person in charge of looking into Amity’s identity yesterday was an intern on his first week. And guess what? If you have a person checking for personal information that actually knows how the freaking database works, finding her isn’t an issue.” She covered her eyes with her hand for a moment, then shrugged and looked back at the girls. “But since we got that sorted out, at least she’ll be able to go to school with you tomorrow, and she should have a replacement passport in one or two weeks.” “Oh. That- that’s great,” Luz said, really surprised and confused because she wasn’t sure how exactly Amity could be in an American database since she didn’t exist in this realm, but really glad that this had somehow worked out, despite the fact that it shouldn’t have. ...that was something she should probably note and question at a later date, preferably when her mom wasn’t around. Amity smiled at Camila. “Thank you for making such an effort for me. You didn’t have to do that.” “Maybe not. But I wanted to.” Camila smiled, shook her head and decided to focus on things other than endless bureaucracy-related phone calls—namely, on how much Amity was smiling. After everything that had happened, that was a fantastic sign. “How was the movie?” “It was wonderful,” Luz said with a huge grin on her face. They’d spent the whole way home discussing it, and she still hadn’t quite processed that her ship was finally canon, which still made her incredibly excited... but all of that paled in comparison to the fact that Amity was finally able to laugh again. And Luz couldn’t even decide if the rain, the maybe-romantic-but-probably-not-kiss or the hand holding and being mistaken as Amity’s girlfriend during the movie had been her second favorite part of the evening. ...okay, so maybe she was a bit in love with her friend. ‘Or very.’ Everything she’d realized about herself and the way she acted around Amity and thought about her since she’d had that conversation with her mom made it pretty much impossible to deny that. The thought made her nervous, scared her, even, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to do about it—if she was going to do anything, at least it wouldn’t be anytime soon—but it was kinda nice to finally be able to place the butterflies in her stomach that had been there for quite a while now. “It really was. It was a great movie. Also, Luz did everything she could to cheer me up, and she did a really great job. I’m eternally grateful for having her in my life.” Amity smiled softly at Luz, looking at her with so much love in her eyes that Luz almost melted, and she was sure her heart had just skipped several beats. “I’m so happy to have you in my life, too.” The human girl smiled shyly, then had to turn away and face her mom in order to fight the overwhelming urge to just walk right over to Amity and kiss her. They’d had a great evening. She wasn’t about to screw that up with her impulsive behavior. “We had a lot of fun together. This was a great idea. Thank you so much, mami.” Luz hugged her mother, and Camila hugged her back after suppressing the shriek she almost let out when her daughter touched her. Luz’s clothes were so wet that they left wet spots where she’d touched her mom. “Mija, you’re completely soaked.” Luz rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled awkwardly. “Whoops, sorry.” Camila looked at her daughter, then at Amity, who, while not being quite as soaked as Luz, hadn’t stayed completely dry either. “No need to apologize, but please go shower and change immediately. Both of you.” Camila felt bad about not being able to pick them up now. She hadn’t realized how bad the weather was... but the two phone calls she’d gotten in the last hour had also been really important to get at least some things sorted out for Amity, so even if she had realized it, she wouldn’t have been able to make it. “Okay. Amity can go shower first,” Luz replied immediately, like the gentlewoman her mom had raised her to be. “I’ll make us some tea in the meantime. ...after I’ve changed,” she added at her mother’s strict—but mostly just concerned – glance. Camila shook her head. “Don’t worry about the tea, I can do that. Please just go change while your friend showers, okay cariño?” She ruffled her daughter’s wet hair. “And maybe go find a towel for your hair.” Luz smiled at her and hugged her again. Despite her still very wet clothes, her mother didn’t complain. She just hugged her back, and the two of them remained that way for a bit, neither of them moving. It was weird, but... it felt like they were a lot closer now than they’d been just a few days ago, despite the fact that not that much had changed between them. “Okay, got it. Thanks, mom.” Luz wouldn’t have admitted it out loud, but she was actually freezing—today had been among the colder days of early September, and in combination with the cold wind she’d been exposed to outside until a couple of minutes ago, the cold, wet clothes that stuck to her body were really getting to her. Despite that, she didn’t regret anything—this had been tons of fun, and doing it with Amity had been even better. Amity had already disappeared up the stairs by now—maybe because she’d been getting cold herself, or because she’d felt out of place, or maybe a mix of both of these things. Amity came back downstairs in her—or, well, technically Luz’s—pajamas a while later. She gave her crush a quick nod, and Luz, who was now dressed in similar but noticeably less wet clothes than before, disappeared up the stairs to take a shower of her own while the green-haired witch sat down on the couch. A moment later, Camila entered the room with two steaming cups of tea in hand. “Luz told me you really like wild berry tea, so I made you one of those, I hope that’s okay.” She put the cup that was meant for Luz down on the table, then handed the other one to Amity. “Are you feeling any better?” “I-” Amity managed a smile when she took the cup from Camila. The warm porcelain felt nice against her skin. The tea smelled and tasted as amazing as it always did. “I am, actually. Thanks to Luz, and to you. You’ve been so kind to me during the last couple of days, and you barely even know me.” She took another sip, awkwardly staring into the cup instead of looking the adult in the eyes. “Anytime, Amity. And like I said, if you need to talk to someone when Luz isn’t around, or for things that you can’t talk to Luz about... I’m here.” Amity almost started crying. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so genuinely protected by and cared for by an adult. Sure, her teachers liked her as a student, but she that wasn’t the same thing... and even Lilith, who she admired so much, had gone behind her back before, when she’d put the power glyph on Amity at the covention. She’d felt really conflicted about that for a while afterwards, and these feelings had started resurfacing after Emira had used Lilith’s voice to cause Amity’s confidence to slump. But since she was very far away from having to face her again at the moment, there was no use in dwelling on these feelings for now. “Thank you, Ms. Noceda. I- I really appreciate that.” The kinder this woman was to her, the more conflicted she felt about all the lies they’d told her. Luz was right, this world was very different from the Boiling Isles, and Amity wasn’t sure if Camila would have understood or liked the concept of her daughter learning to use magic, or the fact that she’d faced off against several different types of monsters all summer, so she understood why Luz didn’t want to tell her, and maybe she was right about this not being a good time to do it... but Amity couldn’t imagine someone who had taken in a stranger basically no questions asked doing anything to purposefully take away the sparkle in her daughter’s eyes. Maybe Amity’s relationship with her own parents was too far broken to ever be fixed... but, even with how little she’d seen of the relationship between Luz and her mother in the last few days, she was almost certain that this one could be. “You don’t need to thank me for that.” Luz’s mom gave Amity a warm smile, but what she said next made Amity’s blood run cold. “Oh, and I almost forgot to mention this, but your sister called earlier and promised to send over your legal documents as soon as she can, so we should hopefully have a lot of things sorted out very, very soon.” “My- my sister called?” Amity was really, really certain that that shouldn’t have been possible. Since she hadn’t talked to the twins since the incident on the previous Sunday, she couldn’t know for sure what her siblings had been up to, but as far as she knew, communication between human devices and witch devices were impossible—and even if they hadn’t been, there was no way her siblings could have figured out the right phone number. ‘What’s going on here?’