Chapter Text
“What do you mean, ‘you won’t exist’?!” Exclaimed Amity. “You’re existing right now! So, your parents get together sometime later than expected. Big deal! As long as they get together before your conception, I think you’re good.”
“No, Amity, I think I see where Luz is going with this.” Said Jo. “When you and the others were stuck in the Human Realm after The Day of Unity, did Luz ever show you a movie called Back To The Future?”
Amity just stared at her friend. “Okay, pretty much, the film’s main character, Marty McFly, he does something similar to what you just did, Amity, which results in his parents not meeting and falling in love.” Continued Jo.
“Because of that, as the movie goes on, Marty’s siblings fade from existence, and Marty himself begins to fade as well towards the end! And while Marty fading away was bad, it’ll be worse if Luz ends up fading, since not only will me, Aster and everyone else not meet up and become friends, due to the Hexside Exchange Program not existing, but you and everyone else in the Isles will be dead, since that nutjob who used to rule the Isles gets a free W in successfully wiping out all witches.”
“I’ll do you one better, McBride.” Aster chimed in. “Not only will that Belos guy succeed in wiping out witchkind, he won’t even get a chance to sit back and relax, since The Day of Unity will cause the entire universe to collapse in on itself, like a neutron star, due to the most extreme case of ‘The Banana Cream Pie Paradox’ occuring.”
“Ok, relax, guys!” Responded Amity. “You want to get Luz’s parents back together, we’ll get them back together.”
“Alright. Good.” Said Luz. “The four of us will pretend to be students here. But we’re gonna need some new names. I can’t go around calling myself ‘Luz Noceda’, Dad might think I’m one of his distant cousins or something.”
Luz then pondered what name she should give herself, before snapping her fingers. “Fortebella Griswold Bellamy Werbenjagermanjensen. Perfect!”
“Is it though?” Said Jo, Aster nodding in agreement.
“Um… why not just keep your first name, and just make up a second one, batata?” Added Amity. “Like Fetherwhyle?”
Luz pouted, but ultimately conceded to her girlfriend. “Luz Fetherwhyle it is, then.”
Suddenly, the bell rang. “Ok, we gotta get to class now. I’ll come up with fake names for the rest of you guys.” Said Luz. “Oh, and Amity? Remember, until we’re out of this time, we’re just friends. Cool?”
“Luz, ‘Cool’ is my middle name.” Said Amity, briefly feeling a pang of anger in her soul at the prospect of having to hide her love for her girlfriend, before the anger was replaced by the confusion as to why her father and Odalia gave her such a bizarre last name. “Let’s split up when we get to lunch. You and Jo tackle your mom, Aster and I will focus on your dad.”
“Sounds good!” Said Luz as she gave Amity a side-hug, before the four time-displaced kids made their way to the first class.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Thankfully for the gang, Camila and Manny were in the classroom they chose. “Hm, that’s funny, no one told me we were getting some new students in class today.” Said the befuddled teacher as the gang walked in.
“Hi! I’m Lucia Featherwhyle, and these are Amelia Bright, Alexander Vaughn, and Jessica McFlynnigan!” Said Luz with a chirpy wave. Nobody in the class looked impressed, especially Camila. “All four of us just moved here.”
“From the Knee.” Said Amity, Aster elbowing her in the ribs for her mess-up.
“Did you say Miami?” Asked the teacher.
“Yep, that’s what she said!” Nodded Luz quickly, before breaking into an impromptu song and dance, completely unaware of the grimaces crossing Aster and Jo’s faces. “Miami, Miami, You’ve got style! Blue skies, sunshine, white sand by the mile! When you live in this town, each day is sublime! The coldest—”
“Enough, we get the point!” Exclaimed the teacher, before quickly regaining composure. “Just, please, sit down wherever there’s an empty seat.”
As Aster and Jo took seats at the front and back of the class, respectively, Luz sat next to her mom, while Amity sat next to her departed future father-in-law, who immediately took notice of her.
“Hi! My name’s Manuel, but my friends call me Manny.” Said Manny as he gave Amity a smile and a hearty handshake, as the teacher droned on, (seemingly) completely unaware that most of the students were carrying on their own conversations, heedless to the teacher’s teachings.
“Eh, don’t worry about Mr. Throttlebottom, years of teaching has drained his will to live.” Continued Manny. “Anyways, what’s Miami like?”
“Well, I think Lucia covered it. Blue sky, sunshine, white sand by the mile…” Said Amity.
“Sweet!” Said Manny, completely buying Amity’s less-than-convincing statement. “So, is there anything you’re interested in?”
Amity wracked her brain for any interests, before it clicked to her that there was one interest she had that she didn’t have to lie about. “There’s a book I love called The Good Witch Azura, and it’s about a witch who goes on adventures to save the Verdant Lands from an evil Dark Litch.”
Seeing as Luz had told her that her father had gotten her into Azura in the first place (and that the first book was written in 1989), Amity expected Manny to start infodumping onto her. Instead, there was nary a spark of recognition in his eyes. He must’ve gotten into that series at a later date.
“Neato!” Said Manny. “My favorite book is a series called Cosmic Frontier. People call it a rip-off of Star Trek, but I believe they have their own unique, individual flavours. And, hey, when you think about it, everything is inspired by something else, right?”
The teacher then split the class up into pairs to recite a passage from Romeo & Juliet, which turned out to be the Human Realm version of Romeo & Ghouliet, an old Demon Realm play (and one that she and Luz nearly performed in at Hexside, only to be talked out of it by their Oracle Track buddy Celine, who had foresaw potential danger occurring if the duo auditioned). And, as it turned out, Manny was actually quite the proficient actor, seamlessly burying himself into the role of Romeo, right down to using what Amity assumed was an authentic Italian accent.
In fact, the more time Amity spent with Manny, the more she saw Luz in him (though, technically, it was vice-versa, but still.). He was kind, funny, and quite fun to be around. He got passionate about the silliest things, but, in a way, there was something endearing about it. It was obvious to Amity that Luz had clearly modeled her personality after him.
Camila, on the other hand, Amity was less than impressed by. Though she knew her eventual mother-in-law would mellow out into a kindhearted woman in the future, the way she was acting now reminded Amity of the low opinion she originally had of her. Camila swore like a sailor, argued constantly with Luz and Jo, and when the teacher tried to reprimand her, she gave him a rude hand gesture.
Were it not for the fact that Luz’s very existence hinged on her parents getting together, Amity might’ve thought that she had done the right thing by preventing their meeting. But, for the sake of Luz (and, by extension, all of reality. But mainly Luz), Amity was going to have to be the bigger witch and become a tugboat (well, she’s pulling ships together, right?).
“Sooo, Manny… what’re your thoughts on Camila…?” Said Amity, only to realize that she never actually learned what Camila’s maiden last name was.
“You mean Camila Sorento?” Replied Manny, gaining a lovestruck look on his face (a look that Amity was all too familiar with, thanks to his [future] daughter). “Yeah, she’s the coolest. One time, some guys on the football team tried to ambush her, and she clobbered them all with her softball bat. I wish I was at least a tenth of as cool as she is.”
“But, don’t you think she’s kind of… mean?”
Manny frowned at that. “Well, she’s got a tough life at home. Her parents died in a car accident last year, and she lives with her uncle, Father Julio, the priest at the local church. Guy’s a real hard-ass, super strict. I guess that’s why she acts out all the time.”
Suddenly, the bell rang before Amity could suggest Manny get his act together and ask Camila out, and, unfortunately, she didn’t have any other classes with Manny, Camila or Luz before lunch. Her second class was science, and while she struggled with it at first, once Jo walked her through the work they were doing that day, she found it to be almost painfully easy. Next was music, where she was quite surprised by how skilled Aster was at playing instruments, when he performed the set given to him almost flawlessly.
When lunch came around, Amity immediately beelined towards the table where Manny sat, sadly all by his lonesome.
“Amity!” Said Manny, quite surprised to see her. “Are you sure you wanna sit with me? I mean, it might not be good for your reputation, since I’m not exactly the most popular person to be around…”
“Oh, don’t worry, caring about my reputation only brought me pain and strife, and I wasn’t truly happy until I was able to embrace the person I really am.” Replied Amity. “Besides, I’m not staying at this school for very long.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with the whole ‘not caring about reputation’ thing!” Said Manny as he pounded a fist into his other hand’s palm, a move that reminded Amity of something that Luz did from time to time.
“No wonder Luz was so devastated the day of the Bonesborough Brawl, and when Barcus’s Oracle magic demonstration went horribly wrong.” Thought Amity as Manny continued talking. “She lost everything when he died…”
Eventually, their conversation shifted from school reputation to Cosmic Frontier, though Amity was a bit confused why Luz never got into the series, considering how much Manny was gushing about it. Perhaps she was more of a fantasy girl than a sci-fi girl.
“Listen, Amelia, you seem like a neat girl.” Said Manny a moment after finishing up what he had to say about Cosmic Frontier. “Perhaps you’d like to get a bite to eat tonight? I know a nice Italian place.”
Manny then wrote down the address, and gave it to Amity. “And when we’re done, there’s a really cool movie called Ghost playing at the theatre next door.”
“...Um, wouldn’t you rather like to take Camila?” Said Amity.
“Nah, I don’t think it’s her kind of movie, Amelia.” Said Manny, before smiling at her. “So, how ‘bout it?”
Well… from the looks of how Camila had been responding to Luz trying to befriend her (read: very poorly), there was some time to spare before things got fixed up, and Amity could think of worse things to do than bond with her girlfriend's father. “Sure! I’ll meet you at the restaurant."
Manny quirked an eyebrow. “Uh, actually, I think I’m supposed to pick you up at your house, maybe get a stern lecture from your parents?”
“Trust me, dude, you don’t want to be anywhere near my mom.” Said Amity fervently. “I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”
“Alright then. It’s a date.” Said Manny, before standing up. “I gotta go look some stuff up at the library. See you at 7?”
Amity nodded, and Manny left for the library. However, as Amity watched him walk away, the words ‘It’s a date’ rang in her head, and a few moments later, Amity realized what had just happened.
“Oh crud…” Murmured Amity.
“Well, that looked like it went well!” Said Luz as she, Jo and Aster approached the lunch table, Luz sitting in the exact spot Manny sat.
“A little too well is a better descriptor!” Replied Amity. “Luz, you’re dad asked me out on a date! And I said yes! Titan, I didn’t even realize it was a date…”
As the words sunk in, Jo and Aster gained looks of stunned surprise, while Luz cracked a big grin. However, upon closer inspection, Amity saw that Aster’s eyes weren’t on her, but rather, looking up.
“...Did I read that dialogue correctly?” Said Aster after a moment, much to Jo’s visible confusion.
“Oh my gosh, you two would make such a cute couple!” Added Luz.
“Luz, stop! You’re compulsively shipping people again!” Exclaimed Amity, snapping her fingers in front of her girlfriend’s face. “He’s a guy! And I’m into girls! And above all else, he’s your father.”
To Amity’s credit, her words finally fully sunk in to Luz. “Ok, yeah, I should’ve figured that something like this could possibly happen, what with everything being all Back To The Future-y…”
“Just be thankful it’s not you in Amity’s position.” Chimed in Jo.
Amity balked at Jo’s words. “Why the hell would that happen to-”
“Never mind all that, guys.” Said Luz as she stood up. “I’ve got a plan to get through to mami. And trust me, you’ll love it; it’s super clever.”
Luz then walked over to the table where Camila was sitting, and stared down a fearsome glare with her usual bubbliness.
“Hi! I’m your daughter from the future, and me and my friends need your help.”
Luz’s plan was so clever, it made Amity cleverly headdesk hard enough to almost leave a bruise, Aster to cleverly facepalm hard enough to leave a handprint, and Jo to cleverly nearly choke on her meatloaf.