Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eda had always had a pretty good reign of her heart.

That was not to say she hadn’t had her fair share of relationships or lovers, because she had. All through her life she had experimented, and she had never deprived herself of company— she’d even married at one point, if marrying someone for less than a day to scam them counted for anything.

Still, she’d always been careful with her heart. She didn’t believe in love at first sight, and maybe because of her curse, or simply because that’s how she was, wild and free, she had never gotten deeply involved with someone.

That was why, when she saw Camila Noceda for the first time and her heart skipped a beat, the Owl Lady knew she was in deep trouble.

It had all been Luz’s idea, because of course it had been. Eda had been eating breakfast, sleepily watching King precariously standing on the top of a tower of metal pans while he made pancakes --idly wondering how long it would take him to lose his balance--, when a loud “I KNOW!” scream came from upstairs, followed by what was unequivocally Luz stomping down the stairs.

“I KNOW!” Luz yelled again as she ran into the kitchen, and although still half-asleep, Eda was used to this enough that she used her magic on instinct, lifting her breakfast and the whole table out of Luz’s way with a flick of her wrist and a small golden circle of light. Unfortunately, the absence of the table made Luz unable to stop her mad dash, and she yelled as she crashed against King’s pan tower, sending them both crashing into the ground.

Immediately, Eda put the table back down, careful not to harm Luz or King. She panted a little, because although, half asleep as she was, she had moved on instinct, using magic, even simple one, was exhausting. She shouldn’t have done it in the first place, but she slipped sometimes still, and she was grateful that this time, at least, neither Luz nor King had seen her struggle.

“It’s too early for this,” she mumbled, trying to hide her exhaustion with a yawn.

“King, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” Luz asked from somewhere under the table, and Eda couldn’t help but smile at King’s squeak of utter indignation.

She tuned them out as they argued, their voices and squabbles familiar enough that she didn’t feel the need to pay attention.

“But anyway, Eda!” Luz said, crawling from under the table to sit next to the witch. “Eda, I KNOW!”

“I heard you the first two times, kiddo,” she answered, roughly messing up Luz’ hair just because she could. However, when Luz just kept staring at her with wide, hopeful eyes, she gave in and asked, “What do you know?”

“How to tell my mom where I am and that magic is real!”

And that had been the beginning of it.

Honestly, at the moment, Luz’s plan had not seemed too bad. Honestly, it had been pretty decent. Travel to earth for a few weeks, introduce Eda as a teacher Luz met at camp and just happened to live nearby. Have Eda become friends with Luz’s mom, and when Camila trusted Eda, introduce her to magic. Then they would come clean, about the Boiling Isles, and Luz learning magic.

“And when she understands, I’m sure she’ll allow me to keep attending Hexside,” Luz concluded.

“Sounds too easy,” King pointed, stuffing his face with pancakes.

“It’s a perfect plan,” Luz insisted. “Please?” she asked, turning wide, pleading eyes towards Eda.

And well, what did she know, truly? Eda didn’t know Luz’ mom at all, so there was a chance Luz was correct. And on the other hand…

Eda drank the last of her apple blood, thinking it over. She’d gotten used to Luz’s presence in the house, and, if she was honest with herself, dreaded the moment the kid would have to return to the human world.

It scared her, sometimes, the love she felt for the girl. She wanted Luz with her, actively enjoyed her presence. She always looked forward to Luz returning home, to the way the girl would tell Eda all about her day, how she seemed to want her opinion about things.

Eda was not used to being accepted, wanted, or loved. But it was obvious Luz did, and Eda loved her back just as fiercely. So, if this plan allowed Eda to keep her, she thought she might as well try.

“It would also give you a chance to see human artifacts first hand,” Luz bargained, and Eda suppressed the urge to smile. Smart kid. “Think of all the human trinkets you’ll be able to—“

“Steal!” King put in, bouncing up and down in the high chair Luz had scavenged for him from Eda’s collection.

“—get,” Luz finished, throwing a disapproving look at King, as if she hadn’t stolen anything in her life.

Eda let the silence stretch for a few seconds longer, but it was only for the effect. Her mind was already reeling from the possibilities, plans and preparations coming in and out of existence one after another, because there was nothing she wouldn’t do for the kid.

“Alright kid. I’m in,” and flinched as Luz threw herself at her with a squeal of joy, throwing her arms around Eda.

“Thank you, thank you!” Luz had said, and that had been it.

Plans, after that, had been less complicated than had Eda expected.

Finding a place to live was easy: the house Eda used to cross to the human world was abandoned, and it had been for a long time. When they crossed to assess it, it was in worse condition than she remembered, but after four days of hard work and cleaning (and some tools Eda might have stolen from the Construction Coven exactly for this purpose) the house was, if not elegant, pretty comfortable.

The only bump on the road had been King, who threw an adorable tantrum when Eda told him he couldn’t go to the human world as he was.

“Hold your horses, King. I’m not saying you can’t go,” Eda explained after watching him for a while. “You just can’t go as you are. What will humans think of a weird talking cat with a skull on his head?”

“I’m not a…!”

“You can go if you wear this,” Eda continued, talking over him. The bracelet she handed him was made of a delicate golden metal, with three eye-like stones in the middle.

“Oooh,” King cooed, immediately stopping his tantrum to climb up Eda’s leg to her shoulder, making grabby hands at the bracelet. “Gimme, gimme!”

She had the caution to place him down on the floor before handing him the bracelet, and she did well because as soon as he wore it, he transformed. The dark haired boy that looked up at her from the floor looked to be around eight, and the only sign he was King was the unusual color of his eyes.

“Dang it, you look younger than I calculated,” Eda commented while King looked at his hands with distaste.

It was at that moment that Luz came into the room. “Eda, do you think we’ll need the magic blankets--whoa!”

“This form is disgusting,” King informed Eda, and his voice was unmistakable.

“King?” Luz asked, slowly approaching him. “Is that really you?”

“Well, we can’t have him looking like a demon in the human world, can we?” Eda answered, watching as King managed to stand up with little effort.

“I am tall!” he giggled, and that had been that.

They crossed the portal at sunset after leaving Hooty in charge of the house.

They were a strange procession as they followed Luz to her house: King wearing a pink bunny hoodie that clashed with his black shorts, and Eda wearing a purple sweater that bared her shoulders and brown and pink striped trousers.

“Here we are!” Luz announced waving at the house.

“Great, a real human house!” King said, scrambling inside the second Luz opened the door like the gremlin he was.

Luz laughed, running after him, and Eda followed, looking around with undisguised curiosity.

In all honesty, she had never really wondered what Luz’s home in the human world was like, but as she saw it for the first time she somehow wasn’t surprised.

It was messy. Eda was not the most orderly person by nature, but still she kept the Owl House’s common areas reasonably neat —Lily’s influence, really, although Eda didn’t want to think about her sister for the foreseeable future.

Luz’s house, however, was not tidy. Blankets and pillows piled up on the two couches near the door, and the two bookshelves on each side of the television were crammed full of books and photos. Eda stepped closer because she spotted Luz in one, and she spent a few minutes looking over all of them-- Luz growing up, and the woman that must be her mother, as well as a few of an elderly couple and a group of people who must be Luz’s extended family.

Eda’s fingers twitched as she stared at a picture of baby Luz wearing a dragon onesie, and she was debating the merits of outright stealing it, when a squeal and the sound of stomping little feet drew her attention towards the other side of the room.

“Eda!” King cried out, running towards her with a round thing held over his head. “Eda, look! It’s Owlbert!” And she had barely time to react before King shoved the thing in her face.

Eda closed her eyes, and then blinked because she didn’t expect the thing to be soft. And silky.

King was jumping up and down in excitement as Eda took the plush toy he was proudly presenting to her. It was indeed an owl. A round, cream colored owl with a white belly and a green bow that looked like a leaf.

“This looks nothing like Owlbert,” Eda decided. However, she squished the round plush between her hands and smiled before returning it to King. “It’s cute tho.”

Satisfied with this answer, King received the toy back and stomped away again further into the house to where Luz had disappeared into.

Silently, Eda followed. There was some strange feeling pulling at her heart, something familiar yet uncomfortable that she couldn’t quite recognize. And because she didn’t want to do any introspection, she did what she always did when something was troublesome: she ignored it.

“Wow, mom has been working a lot,” Luz commented from the kitchen, and Eda looked up just in time to see her scoop the mountain of take out containers piled on the kitchen island into a trash bag without a hint of embarrassment or self consciousness. “I’ll take that out later,” she mumbled to herself dragging the trash bag towards the backdoor, and suddenly the feeling that had been pulling at Eda became clear.

She understood this.

Coming to an empty house, having to fend for yourself. Except, of course, she’d had Lily, all of those years ago, and Luz had had no one.

“Listo,” Luz said, and grinning she turned to Eda. “Come on! I wanna show you my room.”

King was already there, of course, creating a mess, but Luz didn’t seem to mind.

It was the room of a child. The purple walls were covered in posters, most of them of Witch Azura, but some others showed monsters and fantasy creatures that had been, very obviously, drawn by Luz.

Eda smiled, softly. Her own childhood room had been very similar to this, except instead of a spider mobile she had had a sword hanging from her wall.

“And this is my anime and manga collection!” Luz finished, taking a disc out of King’s greedy hands. “No, that’s not for eating! But we can watch a movie while we wait for mom to come home!”

They went downstairs, and Eda amused herself by opening the kitchen drawers and making a mess --“Look at this thing! It’s a chicken, but it's also a spoon!”--, and then she and King got in the way of Luz as she used something called microwave to make popcorn --“This has to be magic, Eda, didn’t you say humans didn’t have magic?”--.

And it was strange, because even though they were not in the Owl House, it was familiar. They sat on the small couch just like they did during their game nights, King with one bowl of popcorn on his lap and Luz with the other.

“Wait, do you mean to tell me humans put moving drawings inside the box?” Eda asked, affronted, and followed with attention the story of a girl that walked into another world. “Of course the parents would get turned into pigs,” Eda pointed out, indignant. “Who thinks it’s a good idea to eat the food of the gods?”

“How do you know the food is for the gods?” Luz asked, looking up at her, and Eda snorted, distracted by the TV.

“Oh, they’re going to eat them,” she nodded. “That’s fair.”

They were watching the girl traveling by train --“There’s a train like that in the Boiling Isles,” King explained, licking his fingers clean. “But it falls off the edge of the world.” “Wait--the Boiling Isles has an edge?” “Of course. Under the right conditions.”-- when the door suddenly opened.

“Mami!” Luz shrieked, jumping from Eda’s side to throw herself into her mother’s arms.

That was when Eda turned her head, saw Camila Noceda for the first time, and knew she was in deep trouble.

Chapter Text

Eda didn’t know for how long she stared, but was startled out of it by King’s elbowing her ribs.

“Ouch!” she complained, looking at him. It was still strange seeing him as a boy and not as a demon, but the way he was looking at her with a raised eyebrow was 100% King. “What?” she whispered too loudly, but Luz chose that second to break away from her mother’s embrace.

“Eda, King, this is my mom,” Luz beamed, pulling her mom by the arm in the same way she did Eda. “Mami, remember I told you about my teacher at camp, Eda? She lives nearby!”

“Nice to meet you, Ms Eda,” Camila smiled, offering a hand to Eda. “I’m Camila. Luz has told me a lot about you. It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

Somehow, Eda had managed to stand from the couch, and by the Titan, but she couldn’t stop staring. Despite not having finished school, Eda had always been remarkably observant, and this time she couldn’t stop herself from noticing how much Luz resembled her mother.

They had the same nose, the same round face, they shared the shape of their mouths. It was...fascinating, and Eda didn’t pick up on what she was supposed to do until she caught Luz gesturing from behind her mother, shaking her own hands with an alarmed expression on her face.

“Ah, yes. I’m Eda,” Eda managed to answer, offering her own hand with more confidence than she felt. Camila’s hand was soft and warm, and humans were weird because why would you touch a stranger like this? It was so very incredibly distracting.“I live nearby,” she added, dumbly, because apparently her wits had decided to desert her.

From behind her, King made a choked sound halfway to a chuckle, and it helped Eda pull herself together.

“And that rascal over there is King,” she announced, strangely grateful when Camila dropped her hand because it was difficult to concentrate under such contact.

“Oh, is he your son?”

“Hell, no!” Eda answered, only to see Luz shaking her head and gesturing behind her mother’s back. “Huh, he’s my…cousin.”

King rolled his eyes, arms crossed over his tiny chest like the brat he was.

“I see,” Camila smiled, and Eda got distracted again because the woman also had dimples that matched Luz’. “Do you have a large family, Ms Eda?”

That sobered Eda right up, her thoughts immediately flying to Lily. The pain of her betrayal still felt too raw, especially since she had avoided thinking about it since it happened.

“Distant cousin,” King offered, and Eda smiled at him, softly.

“Okay!” Luz intervened, correctly reading the mood. “Let’s have dinner!”

Dinner was an awkward affair (for Eda) because although she did know how to cook, and had done so for all her adult life, the fact remained that Camila’s presence made her jittery, which was ridiculous because Eda hadn’t felt this way around anyone since she was twelve.

This was Luz’s mother, she justified herself, of course she’d want to make a good impression. And yet the fact remained that when Camila walked too close to her, on her way to grab a bowl, Eda stepped back so suddenly that she stumbled with the trash bag that Luz had not taken out and ended up on the floor.

“Oh my god!” Camila said, offering her hand again to help Eda stand, and that was the last thing she needed. “Are you okay?”

“It’s been a long day,” Eda answered, letting go as soon as she was able and looking everywhere other than the other woman. What was the matter with her?

From across the room, she met King’s knowing grin, and she narrowed her eyes in warning.

Say one word… she mentally threatened, and his smile widened.

“Eda?” Luz asked, and Eda recognized the tone immediately because it was the one Luz used when she was worried about her.

“I’m fine, kid,” she soothed, messing the girl’s hair. And it was a wonder because the touch calmed her as much as it apparently did Luz. “Just tired.”

Dinner afterwards managed to be normal, or at least as normal as it usually was for Luz, Eda and King, which meant loud and lively. Somehow, everyone managed not to say anything dumb and overly suspicious in front of Camila, which raised Eda’s hopes that Luz’s plan might work after all, even when she died to know what else could a blender actually do.

It was relatively early when Eda and King said their goodbyes. It was strange when Luz didn’t follow them, and Eda did not like it at all. However, because she was nothing if not an accomplished liar, she smiled and joked until Luz’s posture eased, reassured.

“Good night, kiddo,” Eda said, acutely aware of the way Camila was watching the interaction. “See you tomorrow.”

And because that was Eda’s luck that night, Camila stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Eda’s forearm.

“It was lovely meeting you,” the woman said, and Eda very firmly told herself that blushing was an utterly ridiculous thing that she was absolutely not going to do. Of course Luz had gotten her physicality from her mother. “Thanks for everything. I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”

It was absurd. Eda was the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles, and yet she only managed a few dozen steps before she walked headfirst into a tree.

She stayed there for a few long seconds, groaning to herself.

“You’re an idiot,” King commented, helpfully.

“Oh, shut up,” Eda grumbled, feeling her face grow hot.

This was bad. Very, very bad, because this was Luz’s mom, and the plan was to win the woman’s trust, so Eda had absolutely no business crushing….or whatever…on her.

Yes, it was a terrible idea, Eda told herself as she walked the rest of the way to their house in the human world. It had all of the potential for a disaster, and it wasn’t like the woman would be interested in Eda anyway.

“Now you’re moping,” King pointed out, but he looked amused, the little demon.

“I do not mope,” she answered with as much dignity as possible. “I have no reason to mope.”

“If you say so,” King conceded, once more running inside in front of Eda as soon as she opened the door.

It was only when the door closed behind them that Eda noticed how truly exhausted she was.

“Oh boy,” she sighed, leaning against the door. In the living room, King had removed his bracelet and was once again his normal self as he piled all of the blankets and pillows in the huge couch they had found and brought in just for the purpose.

“Sleepover!” King yelled, and Eda chuckled, the last traces of tension leaving her shoulders.

Soon they were nestled together, neither of them commenting about the perfectly usable rooms they had in the back of the house. One last time, Eda looked out of the window, and King must have been thinking the same as her because he said, before he dozed off, “Let’s have a sleepover with Luz too.”

This was not a nest, but it was enough. King’s small body was warm, and his even breathing soothing, and Eda slept.

She dreamt of her owl form. She dreamt of shifting, and changing, and of an endless forest, and of being lost and not knowing who she was. However, when she woke up, startled, a few hours later, she didn’t remember a thing.

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when there was a knock on the door.

With a yawn, Eda put the heavy, dog-eared book down (Your Curse and You: A Comprehensive History of Magical Curses Through the Ages), and stood from the couch, stretching like a cat. It was strange, not to feel her body ache anymore, although she didn’t know if she’d trade it for how easily she got tired as of late.

Lily had said it was normal, as even with the curse split between them, Eda had drained all of her magic. Her body was trying to replenish magic that wouldn’t ever be replenished, thus the continuous exhaustion.

Maybe it’d be good if I managed to sleep too, she internally complained, grumpy. She’d been able to hide it from King and Luz until now, but she was sure it wouldn’t be long until they noticed. Absentmindedly, Eda tucked King in, covering him with a fluffy red blanket. She didn’t remember her nightmares, and thus she wasn’t sure if they had to do with the curse, or well...with the whole ordeal with Lily.

“Nope,” she said aloud to the silent room, “Not dealing with that.”

“Eda?” Luz’s muffled voice came from outside, and Eda perked up, finally moving towards the door to open it.

“Up and about at dawn, eh, kiddo?” Eda said, opening the door, and blinked.

Luz was indeed standing there, carrying a bag and beaming up at Eda. However, what she hadn’t expected was the woman behind her, looking at Eda both apologetically and curiously.

“Huh…”

“Hi Eda!” Luz said, and ran past her, inside, without a care in the world.

“Luz,” Eda called behind her, trying to warn her. “Be careful, King is asleep in the--”

The small startled screech, the sound of something hitting the floor, and the “Oh, sorry, King!” told her it was too late. She took one minute to be grateful that the couch could not be seen from the front door, because King had not been wearing his polymorphic bracelet in his sleep and she could already hear their voices and their steps as they scurried around the house.

Unable to help it, Eda closed her eyes for a second, smiling to herself.

It took her a heartbeat too long to realize that Camila was still at her doorstep.

They stared at each other for a second, and for the first time Eda realized she was in the oversized sweater and the long, comfortable skirt that she used as pajamas, and she thanked the Titan and all of the gods that might exist that her long hair, if messy, was covering her pointy ears.

Eda had never once in her adult life been self conscious about her appearance, but right then the vain part of her desperately wished Camila didn’t have to see her in her pajamas.

They stood there for a bit, not knowing what to say to each other, but in the end Eda was saved from the awkward by Camila, who suddenly blinked as if she had snapped out of a trance.

“Sorry to bother you so early, Ms Eda” she said, voice tentative. “Luz insisted it was fine to come visit you, but if...if it’s not okay for her to be here so early, please be sure to tell me. I don’t mean to push her upon you. The summer camp is over so you shouldn’t have to...”

“She’s fine,” Eda interrupted, waiving a hand around. “She’s welcome whenever. I. I like having her with me.”

Once more, Camila stared at her, thoughtfully, and Eda swallowed. Was that weird? Had she said something weird? Eda didn’t think so, but for a moment she thought she had, and that Camila knew about her, and about Luz, and about the Boiling Isles and everything.

However, that didn’t seem to be the case because the woman’s hard expression softened with a smile.

“Thank you,” Camila said, softly, “for looking out for her until now.”

Eda laughed, nervous, still unsure that Camila was not referring to...well, everything.

There were another couple of heartbeats of uncomfortable silence, and then:

“I’m sorry to ask, but...are you okay?” Camila blurted out. “You look like you didn’t sleep a wink.”

“Ah, well, I was working,” Eda answered immediately, and perhaps it wasn’t a lie. “And either way, I’m what people call...an owl lady,” she joked, and laughed at her own joke because she was an idiot.

Except...Camila chuckled softly, and Eda’s laughter died on her lips, disarmed.

“Ah, well, I better get going,” Camila continued, as if nothing had happened, and looked past Eda, towards the house. “¡Ya me voy, mija!”

“¡Sí, mami!” Luz answered, and came running to the door to hug her mom. “Que te vaya bien.”

“Pórtate bien, ¿ok? Te quiero.”

“Yo también te quiero.” (1)

“Let’s talk later about…” Camila trailed off, gesturing towards Luz, and Eda nodded, dumbly. “Really, thank you. Have a nice day!”

Eda watched her go, blankly, and she wasn’t aware of how long she stared, but she was startled out of it by Luz.

“Huh, Eda? Are you okay?”

“Yes, Eda, are you okay?” King parroted, appearing on the other side of Eda looking again like an eight year old boy. “Was that the sound of your heart skipping a beat?”

Eda narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’ll disappear right now if you know what’s good for you.” And King rolled his eyes but went right back inside.

Luz, however, hesitated for a second.

“Eda…”

“I’m really fine, kid,” Eda reassured her again, musing her hair, because Luz had asked the same thing everyday since that awful day in which she had succumbed to the curse. “You don’t need to worry that much about me.” Luz looked like she wanted to disagree, so Eda continued. “Let’s enjoy our visit to the human world, okay? After all that happened we are due for a holiday.”

Luz seemed to relent at that.

“Okay,” and then, “Can I invite Willow, Gus and Amity?”

Eda shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“Yes!” Luz jumped, and finally went back inside, talking a mile a minute.

And Eda, because she was the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles, was calm as she closed the door behind her. She was calm as she listened to Luz explain what a blender was, was calm during breakfast, and she was calm as they chatted with Hooty through an enchanted mirror in the hallway.

But then, when she was finally alone in her room in her house in the human world, she rested her forehead against the wooden door, remembered the way Camila had laughed at her stupid joke, and finally succumbed to the gay panic that had been threatening to overwhelm her all morning.

Despite everything, the following days were indeed like a holiday for Eda, Luz and King. Camila, being a nurse, wasn’t around much, and since she didn’t press again for that conversation with Eda, the witch finally relaxed.

It was not that different than if they had been in the Boiling Isles. Luz taught them to use the bus -- they weren’t kicked out even though their antics did attract their fair share of attention-- and they roamed through town, creating chaos in their wake.

Everyday Luz ended up with tons of pictures of them all in silly places making silly poses. Eda made sure to buy tons of souvenirs --neither Luz nor King commenting on the fact all of them were shiny or sparkly-- with a credit card that had “Marilyn Hawthorne” as a name.

“I have my ways,” Eda told Luz when the girl raised her eyebrows. “Don’t ask.”

Eda and King also kept their pickpocketing to the bare minimum, and Eda and Owlbert disappeared a couple of times to do their own trash hunting.

So, all in all, they had such a good time that they managed to forget whatever worries they had had, and in Eda’s case, about how nervous Camila Noceda made her feel.

That was, of course, until a week later when Luz barged into the house early in the morning, as usual, and, before she knew it, Eda had Luz and King in his demon form jumping on her bed, uncaring of their sharp knees and, in King’s case, claws.

“Carne asada,” (2) Luz informed Eda, very seriously, and Eda simply groaned, turned around, and put the pillow over her head.

“No. Too early,” she complained, because it was the first time in ages she had managed to sleep in a bed and not in a nest made of branches, and it was weird but also sort of comfortable. “Go away.”

“Eda,” Luz complained, and even with her eyes closed she could see Luz’s pout, and King going through her box of treasure in the corner.

“Take anything and I’ll curse your little arms off,” she threatened King.

“You have no magic, and cannot curse me!” King declared, the brat. “Now it’s me who holds the power!” and taking something Eda could not see, scurried away, cackling.

“Ugh, whatever,” Eda grumbled, and after a couple of beats of silence, opened one eye only to find Luz eagerly watching her. “No. Sleepy.”

“Mom asked me to invite you and King to a barbecue tomorrow,” Luz said, and slyly looked down at her nails. “But if you’re not interested…”

“I have absolutely no clue what you mean,” Eda declared. “Also, I hate you.”

“Suuuure,” Luz drawled.

“I’m supposed to be befriending your mom.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It was your idea, remember?”

“Yep,” Luz quipped, and Eda could feel the girl’s grin.

“Argh, all right, all right!” Eda groaned, throwing the covers away. “Just...spare me from that look, ok?”

“What look?” Luz asked, looking at Eda with wide, way-too-innocent eyes.

Eda grinned.

“This look,” she said and, using both hands, squished Luz’s face until she was making a fish face.

Luz laughed, and they roughoused for a bit, which ended with Luz running out of Eda’s bedroom, still chuckling.

Eda was still smiling as she sprawled back on her bed like a starfish. She felt too at peace and warm to worry about the future. She’d go to that barbecue, and behave like a normal person, and would befriend Camila --Luz’s mom-- and she would not crush on her or anything of the sort.

She would stick to the plan, no feelings would come into the equation, and everything would be fine.

Much to everyone’s surprise -- Eda’s most of all-- things indeed went okay. It turned out that her executive decision to ignore her crush worked somehow, and she felt almost herself again when interacting with Camila.

No dumb nonesense, and no staring. Which didn’t mean Eda was not her chaotic self, because she was, but that only involved an incident with a huge ball of fire, and some weird chopped vegetables.

The food they made ended up being delicious (and not too charred) and they all talked and laughed with a familiarity that was strange to think about. As if Eda and King had not been strangers to Camila just over a week ago.

And then, when the sun set, and Luz and King finally succumbed to sleep on the couch in the middle of a movie, Camila gestured to Eda to follow her into the kitchen.

“Do you want a drink, Ms Eda?” Camila offered, when they were alone.

Eda blinked, surprised and somewhat impressed. This woman hadn’t struck her as someone that drank.

“Only if you drop that whole Ms thing,” she answered, smirking.

“Of course. Eda,” Camila smiled. “I have beer, and if you want something stronger…”

“Beer is fine,” Eda said, waving off the offer. From her previous experience of human drinks she preferred sweet things, and had hated everything other than beer. She liked the bitterness of it too. Very sweet and very bitter, and nothing in between. “Dark, if you have any.”

The night, when they stepped into it, was warm and quiet. Eda followed Camila’s example and took a seat on the steps of the back porch, taking care not to sit too closely.

They sipped their drinks for a while, in silence.

And it was...peaceful. Outside, the crickets were chirping, and the forest beyond the yard was dark, the leaves of the trees being rustled by a light wind. Above their heads, the stars were shining brightly, and for a long moment Eda stared, fascinated. She didn’t know the names or stories behind these constellations, and she had the compelling urge to know, her natural curiosity kindling a small, welcome flame in her chest.

She was already planning how to best approach a research on the subject, when she caught Camila’s eye and she quickly looked down, pretending her heart hadn’t skipped a beat at the fact that the woman had been looking at her.

“I know this situation is strange,” Camila started, and Eda was skilled enough at reading other people that she recognized how careful Camila’s words were. Careful and uncertain. “I don’t want you to think that I leave Luz with just anyone. And I barely know you. It’s just…”

Eda waited, patiently, because she had an idea of the kind of woman Camila must be, and this was something they needed out of the way if the plan was to succeed.

“Luz speaks so highly of you,” Camila explained at last. “She has never spoken highly of any adult, at all.”

Eda nodded, warmth spreading all through her. She loved Luz, and she was aware of it often, but she seldom felt it as sharply as she did in that moment.

“She’s a good kid,” Eda managed, voice thick, and felt a bit affronted when Camila chuckled. “Well, she’s a handful, and always acts before thinking, and she has this habit of biting more than she can chew. But she...she’s a good kid.”

“And you’re fond of her,” Camila pressed.

Eda swallowed. “Yes,” she admitted, simply, because this was something that was there for everyone to see.

Camila sipped her beer again, and when she looked towards the sky she looked happy.

“Will you tell me?” she asked. “About camp? About her friends? She’s been talking about inviting them to sleep over, and I...she’s never had any friends.”

So Eda told her. She didn’t lie, but, as best as she could, omitted anything that could give away the Boiling Isles. She told Camila about Willow, Gus and Amity, and that first day in which Luz got banned from school.

“Ay, esa niña,” (3) Camila grimaced, but Eda only laughed, because she was as proud of Luz as she had been back then.

“Aw, come on!” she teased. “I did worse in my day! I’m sure you also have some wild stories from your youth. Rebelling at school, or letting some—beasts—loose or something.”

Camila made a face. “I’ve always been boring, I’m afraid.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Eda challenged, raising an eyebrow at her.

Camila ducked her face, and the only light they had was that of the moon, but Eda’s eyes had always been sharp in the dark, and she didn’t think she was imagining the blush spreading through the other woman’s face.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’ve never been adventurous.”

“Mmm,” Eda hummed, a plan sparking into life in her mind. “Well, how about now?” she offered.

Camila startled.

“What?”

But the idea had already taken hold of Eda, and she had never been someone to back away from anything interesting. In a smooth motion, she stood, slightly dusting the dark, fitted trousers that Luz had found for her, and offered her hand to Camila.

“Let’s do something adventurous now,” she grinned, her smirk sharp and full of mischief and hard edges.

“Eda…” Camila began. “If the alcohol…”

Eda snorted. “That bottle isn’t even half empty and neither is mine. No excuses.”

And for a long, disappointing moment, Eda thought Camila was going to refuse. She certainly argued with herself, and when she took Eda’s hand she looked surprised, like she hadn’t expected to actually say yes.

“Good, now come on! Do you have a ladder or should we climb out a window…?”

They ended up climbing up a tree when the ladder proved too wobbly, and honestly Eda hadn’t expected Camila to go along with her, but she did. Climbing to the roof of the house didn’t present much trouble, despite Camila’s nerves.

“Eda, this is…this is dangerous, what if we fall?” she asked when they stepped into the slanted roof.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Eda tried to reassure her, but the effect was diminished by the fact that they were on their hands and knees, crawling towards the highest point of the roof.

Still, Camila followed. Eda made it first, sitting fearlessly on the roof’s ridge, at the very top of the house, with perfect equilibrium.

“Come on,” she encouraged, offering her hand to the other woman.

It was easy for Eda to pull Camila up, because even without her magic, she was strong. The end result was Camila sitting beside her, too close, and clinging to Eda’s arm with all her might, glasses askew.

“Look up,” Eda encouraged, smiling when Camila did. The sky looked closer above them, like they could reach and touch a star. The moon, too, looked almost within reach, and the way it bathed everything in its silver light made for a breathtaking sight.

Eda hummed, satisfied, because the wind was in her hair, and the world was quiet around them, and with the open night above them she felt truly free.

She felt Camila’s body relax, the tension leaving her by the second. Still, she didn’t let go of Eda’s arm, so Eda felt the need to break the silence.

“Hey, congratulations,” she teased, slightly bumping Camila’s shoulder and wickedly enjoying the alarmed sound that her actions provoked. “Not exactly illegal, but dangerous all the same. Enjoy your first adventure.”

They watched the stars in silence for a while, and this time, when the silence was broken again, it was Camila who spoke.

“…actually, there was this time…” she said, shyly. “I kicked a teacher in the shins.”

Eda laughed, throwing her head back, loud and free. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

Camila was smiling as she told the story, and in exchange Eda told of some of the milder pranks she pulled at school.

And they stayed there, by turns silently looking at the moon and talking, and they didn’t get down until well into the night.

Chapter Text

Willow, Luz and Amity arrived to the human world one perfectly sunny Friday morning, much to everyone’s excitement.

Just a few minutes before, Eda had lined them up in front of the Owl House, examining the illusion spells that hid their ears with critical eye.

“Okay, are you sure you can keep these up all day?” she asked, after she finished inspecting them. It was funny, but even though she could no longer do magic, she could still feel it, and perhaps because she’d been exposed to Luz’s glyphs, she could almost see it too, buzzing around the kids’ ears like the strange sort of energy humans called electricity.

“I can!” Gus volunteered, and Eda agreed because Illusion was Gus’ track, and such a small spell should be easy for him to maintain, even if he was distracted.

“I bound mine to my earrings,” Amity answered, dutifully, and Eda approved because Amity was smart and could be counted on to do her research.

“Amity helped bind mine to my glasses,” Willow said, and Eda nodded, because Willow was resourceful and would never be careless enough to put someone in danger.

“Okay then. Check, check and check,” she turned towards the portal. “Now come on!”

“Wait!” Gus cried out, and when Eda turned to him he was almost vibrating with excitement. She raised an eyebrow at him. “What about our clothes?”

“What about them?”

“Are they okay?” he demanded, and Eda appreciated the kid’s guts. “As former President of the Human Appreciation Society, it’s of utmost importance I make the best impression possible!”

Eda crossed her arms and pretended to critically look him over, amused by the way Gus straightened under her gaze.

“Luz said our normal clothes were fine, Gus,” Willow reassured him, and Amity, who was a bit away from them, squirmed a little in place.

“Eda is not wearing her normal clothes,” Gus argued, pointing at Eda’s outfit.

Indeed, Eda was wearing high waisted black jeans and a deep red button up she had tucked in. She had her hair up in a ponytail too, her ears uncovered because she had decided to also bind a spell to disguise them to her own earrings (she tried not to remember how the simple spell had made her sleep for fifteen hours straight). At least her boots were the same.

“I’m sure Luz dressed her,” Willow said, and Eda bristled.

“Hey!” she complained. “I’ll have you know I’ve been going to the human world since before you were born!”

Willow and Gus giggled, and Eda let her scowl melt into a grin.

“You all look fine,” she finally conceded, and eyed Amity. “You too,” because Amity, although she had not worn a dress, had most certainly dressed up. “Now let’s get this dumb conversation over with and go!”

She led the way, and, as she expected, King was already there in his human form, ready to be the welcoming party.

“Welcome!” he yelled, theatrically. “To the Human World!”

“King?” Gus and Willow chorused, and surrounded King, asking him all kinds of questions.

“You’re tall!” Gus gushed, because as a boy King was as tall as him, and King giggled, delighted.

Herding the kids to the agreed meeting point was both easier and more hilarious than Eda had dared to expect. Easier because Willow and Amity, although obviously curious about the human world, had enough sense to keep their behaviour somewhat normal. And funnier because Gus didn’t, and he kept alternating between whispering and excitedly yelling questions that King answered like he was the ultimate expert in all things human.

“...and then, when it lands, it explodes! So if they want to fly, humans have to build another again,” King finished explaining after Gus pointed at a plane that crossed the sky.

“Wow,” the boy whispered. “Such tenacity.”

“Surely that’s not right?” Willow asked Eda. “It seems a little too...extreme. For humans.”

Eda laughed. “Ah, of course it’s not right!” and grinned when Willow frowned. “But there’s no way I’m intervening. They’re having such fun.”

Willow looked like she wanted to argue, but after looking at King and Gus --who indeed looked like they were having the time of their lives with their faces pressed against the bus’ window-- shrugged and relaxed, probably making a note to ask Luz the truth later on.

It took them 20 more minutes of stares and weird looks from the other passengers until Eda finally clapped her hands once.

“Okay, kids! Here’s our stop!”

Eda grinned, savoring the anticipation almost as much as the kids. The thrill had nothing to do with Camila, of course, nor with how Luz had “planned” for the adults to be by themselves for a while.

It had nothing to do with spending time alone with her, and it had nothing to do with how well they had been getting along, and of course it wasn’t the reason she had made sure to look good-- in a very human sort of way.

None of those were the reasons, because it was not like this was a date or anything.

And so it was with the greatest delight that Eda guided them towards the entrance of one of the loudest, most chaotic and colorful places she had ever been in the human world, and didn’t feel one bit nervous.

The happy carnival music washed over Luz and Camila in waves, as if the gentle wind carried it to them and away by turns.

The day was clear and sunny, not a single cloud to be seen in the sky. It was a cheerful sort of day, and as if fueled by the energy of the games and rides behind them, Luz bounced on the ball of her feet, as she had done when she was excited since she was little.

Camila didn’t know whose idea it had been to come to the carnival. It had been Eda who had brought it up --because of course-- when the topic of Luz’s friends coming over came up.

“Let’s take them somewhere fun,” she had proposed. “Make a day out of it.”

“¿Por favor?” (1) Luz had pleaded, eyes wide, and Camila had relented, first because why not, and second, because Eda was looking at her and she had recently had the uncomfortable realization that she had a hard time saying no to Eda.

So here they were, waiting at the entrance for Eda, King and Luz’s friends.

The clock hit 12:00, and then 12:01.

Unable to help herself, Camila looked at her clock for the third time in a minute. By her side, attuned to her moods as she often was, Luz rolled her eyes.

“Solo han pasado dos minutos...” Luz mumbled, although there was amusement under her words, and it was enough for Camila to try and pull herself together.

“No dije nada,” Camila defended, because Luz was 100% correct and Eda and the children were only two minutes late.

“Ajá,” (2) was Luz’s answer, and Camila tried to ignore her daughter’s almost knowing smile.

Camila shook herself. She straightened her back, shedding the nerves with practiced ease. She was not one to deceive herself, but at that moment she was almost convinced that the restless energy she felt was the excitement of finally getting to meet Luz’s friends, and not…

Well, Eda was an outstanding person, she admitted, and honestly, she had never met someone like her. It was natural Camila was...intrigued.

However, when Eda appeared a couple of minutes later with the children, Camila got the feeling that perhaps she should stop trying to fool herself, because, well. Eda was gorgeous, and Camila figured that it meant she was only human that she’d noticed. Still, she was certain her heart had no business skipping a beat at the woman’s mere sight, and she felt dumb, because she hadn’t feel this way since before Luz had been born --and perhaps not even then-- and she was old enough not to need any of this nonsense.

“Eda es soltera, por si te interesa,” (3) Luz teased in a sing-song voice, and before Camila could do anything more than splutter, she ran forward to throw her arms around her much mentioned friends.

Unaware of Camila’s embarrassment, Eda stepped forward, swiftly sidestepping Luz’s tackle.

“Hey, sorry we’re late,” she said, “kiddos got distracted by... everything, really.”

“I see,” Camila answered, and although she didn’t, she couldn’t care less about it at the moment. Instead, she was thankful that her job had trained her to hide her emotions so well, because the last thing she needed was Eda noticing this...thing...she felt for her. Whatever it was.

However, Eda frowned, and Camila was sure that whatever she was about to ask was not going to be good, but was saved by Luz happily calling for her.

“Mami!” Luz bounced, and the sight of her daughter pulling her friends forward roused a feeling that overcame all others. The smile that came to her face then was easy and full of honest delight, and she listened carefully as Luz introduced Willow, Gus and Amity, as if Camila wouldn’t recognize them after listening about them for hours.

“Nice to meet you!” Gus and Willow choursed, with Amity echoing them more stiffly. Camila made a note of this for later.

“Okay, okay, enough gushing!” Eda interrupted, clapping her hands. “Time to have fun!”

That was, indeed, the most fun and chaotic afternoon that Camila had had in a very long time.

Several years had passed since she’d taken Luz to anything with mechanical attractions --not after she’d secretly drunk a neon green slushie, proceeded to throw it up in the middle of a tea cup ride and then tried to convince the attendant that it was alien goop-- and she had forgotten the energy that good carnivals had.

And it turned out that Eda rode all the attractions and played all the games the children did (and some they didn’t) and won every single time. Every time she played, she was loud and unapologetic, and also every time she stepped away with the flashiest, shiniest, fluffiest prize on sight.

After watching Eda flawlessly knock a pile of metal bottles for the third time in a row, Camila could no longer hold herself back.

“How do you do that?” she asked as Eda was handed her prize by a harried looking employee.

“This game? Pfft. Piece of cake. I played sports at school,” Eda explained as if that answered anything at all. “Besides, these are all hacks. There’s no scam they got that I don’t know,” and held up the plushie she had just received as if to examine it with critical eye.

Camila blinked, not knowing where to start unraveling that statement, but was interrupted by Gus jumping between them from out of nowhere.

Startled, Camila took a step back, not having noticed how close she’d been standing to Eda.

“Look, Amity!” Gus called, oblivious, pointing at Eda’s plushie. “It’s a blue abomination!”

“It’s Domo,” Luz explained. She reached for it, presumably to take a closer look, and yelped when Eda raised it over her head, out of Luz's reach.

“Nope, this is mine,” she teased. “Win your own stuff.”

“Edaaa,” Luz complained, but the children dutifully made a semi-circle to discuss how to best beat the game.

“Maybe I should teach them how to cheat it,” Eda told Camila, and whistled when Amity managed to topple almost all the bottles first try. Camila didn’t know what expression she had on her face, but it must have been one of disapproval because Eda took one look at her and shrugged. “What? These are all scams. You basically have to cheat to win.”

“You’re going to get banned,” Camila protested weakly, because this woman was truly too much sometimes.

Eda laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time. Not that it’ll be necessary,” she finished, pointing to where Amity had managed to win a prize and was shyly offering it to Luz, cheeks deep red.

Despite herself, Camila smiled. Luz was oblivious, but Amity’s feelings were pretty transparent.

“Come on, let’s give the kids some space,” Eda suggested suddenly, friendly tapping Camila on the shoulder. “Luz!” she called. “We’re gonna get something to drink, you kids want anything?”

“No thanks!” Luz called back. “See you here in an hour?”

Eda raised her thumbs and made a shooing motion with her hands, guiding Camila away from the children.

For a while they walked in silence, Camila looking at everything but Eda, keenly aware of the woman’s presence beside her. Without the children as an excuse for conversation, Camila felt oddly jittery, and she very firmly scolded herself.

Eda was Luz’s teacher, she reminded herself. Luz loved her. And whatever had happened at camp that had made them bond so strongly, it was blatantly obvious that Eda loved Luz too. That was all.

Enjoying her company was all well and good, but coveting more would be selfish, and foolish, and probably hopeless on her part.

She didn’t notice how deeply she was into her thoughts until Eda spoke.

“You okay?” Eda asked. “The kids will be fine. I gave them enough money to keep busy for a while.”

Camila blinked. “You...gave them money?”

Eda raised an eyebrow at her. “Sure. They all have good heads on their shoulders, I’m sure they’ll keep King under control.”

“You gave Luz money too?” Camila asked, scandalized.

“Yes?” Eda answered, looking honestly surprised for a second. “Shouldn’t I have?”

Camila looked down at her hands, frowning. “You didn’t have to.”

“Well, perhaps, but this is probably the best use for it, considering how I got it.”

The way Camila turned to look at Eda, sternly and from over her glasses, felt familiar if only because she had directed that same look at Luz plenty of times, but knew she had been had when Eda grinned at her. Out of pride, Camila tried to keep the stern facade for a little longer, but eventually a smile broke through, a smile and a small chuckle.

“There she is,” Eda commented, and Camila shook her head, bewildered. It was not the first time she had wondered what it was about this woman that made her able to play her like a fiddle, but somehow it felt...nice. Easy. Like Camila could relax, and be herself, and Eda wouldn’t like her any less for it.

“You’re terrible,” she laughed, shaking her head, and just like that, the last of that odd nervousness melted away, leaving only warmth in its wake.

“I’ve been told,” Eda grinned back, but her voice was serious when she continued,“But anyway, you didn’t answer the question. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Camila sighed, only half lying. She felt better now than she had all week, and Eda’s concern was actually touching. “I had a long week, I guess I let it get to me without noticing.”

Eda hummed a little as she thought, looking away. They walked in silence for a couple more minutes, people watching, but now the silence was comfortable. When their conversation started again it was light, truly nonsense, mostly Eda running commentary on everyone’s performance on various carnival games.

Afterwards Camila wouldn’t remember what had made her stop at that stand. It might have been the fact that Luz had been listening to that old song for the past week or so, but the fact was that when Camila caught sight of the yellow plush out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but stop and stare.

It took Eda but a second to notice.

“Eda?” Camila asked, mildly alarmed, when Eda walked past her and exchanged some tokens for ping pong balls she was meant to throw into color coded cups floating in water.

Camila watched as Eda assessed the game for a few seconds, eying a couple of the other people who were playing, and then proceeded to perfectly land the ping pong balls in the colored cups, two reds, one blue and one yellow.

The person in charge of the game whistled in admiration, and a few people clapped as Eda pointed at and received her prize.

“Here,” she said, and thrust the plushie into Camila’s hands with an awkwardness at odds with her behavior so far.

Stunned, Camila looked down at the toy. The yellow sunflower beamed back at her, and Camila ran a hand through its soft happy little face, at a loss of words.

“Was that not the one you wanted?” Eda asked, and it was the odd tone of her voice that made Camila look up.

There, in the midst of people, against a background of color and the noise of the carnival, Eda had her back to her. Camila stared, breathless for a few seconds, because although she couldn’t see Eda’s face, her body language was unmistakable-- the rigid line of her back, her tense shoulders-- and Camila’s heart skipped a beat, because right then, for some reason, Eda was embarrassed.

“I can exchange it if you want,” Eda offered stiffly without turning, and Camila couldn’t do anything else but laugh. It was a strange sort of laugh, full of fluttery feelings, because Eda’s awkwardness was incredibly endearing, and because this wasn’t a date, but Eda had won something for her and then gotten embarrassed about it, and there weren’t that many explanations for that.

“It’s mine now,” she smiled. And instead of overthinking it, Eda’s embarrassment and the butterflies in her own stomach emboldened Camila enough to allow her to show affection as she always did: by touch. The hand she rested on Eda’s arm was light, but just that much contact centered Camila, and she herself felt a little bit flustered when she spoke, “I love it. Thank you.”

Eda mumbled something in answer that Camila didn’t catch because the woman was stubbornly looking away. However, it wasn’t lost on Camila how Eda didn’t pull away, even if she perfectly could have.

She didn’t think she was imagining the tension between them.

“We should go back to the children,” Camila suggested, because Eda looked defiant even though her face was flushed, and while the strangeness of the situation greatly amused her, she wasn’t cruel enough to prolong Eda’s suffering.

“Yes,” Eda answered immediately, clearing her throat. “Yes, the kiddos. Let’s...yes.”

“Yes,” Camila agreed, kindly, trying her hardest not to laugh.

It was her turn to guide Eda back to the children, so she did, patiently. Her hand stayed where it was, and Eda didn’t pull away, and Camila refused to think too much about it. Instead, she allowed herself the selfishness: to enjoy Eda’s proximity, and her low voice that still had an undercurrent of embarrassment to it, and the nice feeling of being with someone amidst a crowd of people.

They managed to hold a pretty normal conversation until they found the children again. Eda immediately went to them, almost as if she needed to put them between her and Camila, and Camila regretted the loss of contact, the calm she had felt moments ago nowhere to be found.

“Did you have fun?” she asked Luz, brushing her feelings aside with ease because it was something she was used to.

However, Luz’s explanation was interrupted by Eda’s antics, and although she didn’t outwardly show it, it set Camila at ease-- because Eda was being louder than usual, as if full of restless energy, and it reassured her that something had indeed happened between them, and it hadn’t been all in Camila’s imagination.

“What happened to her?” Amity asked, smoothing the hair Eda had ruffled and taking shelter by Camila’s side.

Unable to help herself, Camila similed, slowly. It was not like her, but for some reason she felt the need to push, see if she could make Eda flustered again. “I think I broke her,” she informed Amity, loud enough that Eda overheard.

Eda stiffened before turning around, looking mortified. “I am most certainly not--!”

Camila laughed and Eda settled down, mumbling something inaudible once more.

“Yuck,” King complained, just loud enough that they could pretend they didn’t hear him. “Flirting. I’m allergic.”

The rest of the afternoon went as well as could be expected. Lunch came and went without much trouble other than King and Gus getting a sugar rush, but, all in all, they all played some more games and rode some rides (for some reason, the merry-go-round was a success with everyone) and in general had a fantastic time.

It was late afternoon when it was obvious to Camila that the kids, while happy, had finally tired themselves out. Eda too seemed weary, so when Camila proposed to head home, she was met with no resistance.

It was Luz who spotted the flyer. They were almost to the entrance when she made a choked, excited sound that made Camila look her way on instinct-- a sound she had long since learnt to recognize, and that often meant trouble.

“Look!” Luz said, dashing off to rip something off a lamp post. When she returned, it was Amity she presented the piece of paper to, the other children crowding around her to look.

“What’s the fuss about?” Eda asked, voicing what Camila was (more mildly) wondering. Luz handed her the flyer, and the woman immediately and without second thought moved closer to Camila, so both of them could read it at the same time.

TALENT SHOW, the flyer read, in an obnoxious bright green font.

Show us your talent!

Win or get gooped!

“Look at the prize!” Luz pointed, bouncing on the balls of her feet in her excitement. In a corner, the most recent book from The Good Witch Azura series could be seen, with a legend that declared it as having been signed by the author. “Imagine having a signed copy of The Good Witch Azura!” she gushed, eyes sparkling, and Camila’s heart fell to her feet.

“Mija…” she began, trying to let Luz down gently. A talent show. She knew the kind of acts people put at those contests, and not only did Luz not fit in with that sort of people, but her probabilities to win were close to zero.

However, she never got to finish her sentence because Eda immediately took a step forward.

“Lead the way, kid!” Eda declared, so quickly and with a voice so full of confidence that Camila was stunned for a second by the woman’s immediate support of Luz.

Everything happened quickly after that. Caught by the whirlwind that was Eda, Camila watched in astonishment as she and the children organized themselves, going in several directions to accomplish different tasks.

“It’ll be fine. We still have 45 minutes,” Eda reassured her, as if that was Camila’s concern and not...well, everything else.

“Do you even have an...act?” she asked Luz, weakly, because she knew the answer.

“Yup! King and I have the perfect thing for it!” she beamed, but her smile dimmed a little when Camila didn’t react. “¿Mami? ¿Puedo participar?” (4)

Camila struggled with herself for a second, torn. On one hand, she wanted to make Luz happy. And on the other…

Well, Camila had seen Luz in this sort of situation before. Often, even. She’d do her own thing, and people would laugh at her.

She couldn’t bear it. But...she had sent Luz to camp for this reason, right? So maybe this time things would turn alright.

“¿Mami?”

“Come on, kiddo, you don’t have much time,” Eda intervened, oblivious to the tension.

Luz, however, looked at Camila, uncertain, and it was all Camila could do to offer her a small, forced smile, and nod slightly.

Something painful curled in Camila’s gut when Luz’s expression didn’t immediately clear up. Instead, she turned to Eda, as if seeking guidance or support, and the feeling that washed over Camila when she saw Eda’s sharp, confident smile was too close to shame for her liking.

It was worse when Luz brightened again, obviously reassured, and dashed away to begin her preparations.

Unsettled, Camila rubbed her eyes under her glasses, and was startled when she opened her eyes again only to find Eda watching her thoughtfully.

Suddenly, it dawned on her that Eda might not have been oblivious at all.

“Let’s go,” was all Eda said, pointing to some direction with her head.

Camila didn’t involve herself in Luz’s preparations. Instead, she was the designated caretaker of all of the group’s prizes --which thanks to Eda amounted to two big trash bags-- as well as everyone’s meeting point.

Eventually, all of Luz’s friends gathered around her. They looked excited, and the way they whispered among themselves should have made Camila happy but didn’t. Did they really know Luz? Would they laugh at her, if she did something weird? Was she about to witness the loss of her daughter’s first friends?

As the contestant’s acts went on, Camila found herself unable to pay attention. She didn’t hear a word of the songs other children sang, or heard a note of the instruments they played. The closer to Luz’s number they got, the more her stomach twisted with trepidation.

Finally, after what felt like ages but must have been about 30 minutes, it was Luz’s turn. The lights went off, but still Camila saw Eda in the wings of the stage, giving Luz and King a bright grin and a thumbs up.

The first notes of a song Camila recognized filled the air, playing for a few seconds before the song truly started.

1, 2, 3…

The lights of the stage switched back on suddenly, and at first the only thing that could be seen was the microphone stand there in the center. It had been somehow decked in green and yellow: a badly crafted version of the sunflower plushie Eda had won her earlier that day.

There's a zombie on your lawn

We don't want zombies on the lawn

Camila twisted her hands in nerves, because she had the feeling she knew where this was going.

Indeed, when Luz and King appeared on stage, they were fully disguised as zombies. And it was not the nice kind of zombies. Luz had always been good with makeup, faking wounds and the sort with uncanny accuracy. Luz and King, now, were the gory kind zombies, and although the choreography they were dancing to would have been cute under other circumstances, as things stood they just looked...weird.

The titters started after the first chorus. Other parents started to whisper, the children to giggle among themselves. Camila gripped her hands so tightly she hurt herself, because Luz’s friends, beside her, were also laughing.

Except.

She frowned.

That was not quite correct.

“Yeah! You go, Luz! King!” Willow cheered, joyfully and without a trace of mocking in her voice. Just...acceptance. Support.

From the wings of the stage, Eda was also laughing, delighted, and her laughter was also not unkind.

Camila blinked, confused as a thought as novel as it was dreadful crossed her mind.

However, before she could fully put her finger on it, she was distracted by Luz and King’s act when the children fell to the ground at the end of the song, “rotting”, which meant Luz had her “guts” spilling all over the floor just as King’s “brain” exploded all over the first row of seats.

People started to scream, disgusted because Luz had also always been great at making those sort of things look realistic.

The fallout was pretty much what Camila had expected. She was used to apologizing, so she did, mortified when Luz and King stepped forward to get gooped as per the rules. However, what she didn’t expect was that Eda stepped forward with them, and so the three of them were covered in a slime that looked pretty much like colored mud.

“Ah, well,” Eda said as they walked out the carnival. The sun was already setting, and around them, the lights of the carnival were turning on, one by one. “I’m sorry we couldn’t win first place, kiddo.”

Camila walked along, stunned into silence by the complete ease with which Eda moved, as if completely uncaring of the fact she was covered in slime, clothes ruined.

“It’s okay,” Luz chuckled. “It was fun.”

“It was great,” Gus assured her, and sighed longingly. “Maybe next time we can also be zombies.”

“That’d be fun!” Willow agreed, and Amity hummed her assent. “And the first place was really good.”

Eda laughed. “Yeah, that cat that spoke like a human was really something.”

Camila said nothing. Oh, she smiled and hummed when it was needed of her, because that was a mask she had worn long enough that it came easy to her. But as they made their way home, the five children, Eda and her, she couldn’t help but look at them, really look.

The way they all fit together was easy.

Laughing together, teasing each other, talking to one another.

Belonging.

Camila had never been one to cry. Even since she had been a child, she’d been stubborn, the sort of girl adults call mature, serious. Whenever something hurt her, her reaction had always been to grit her teeth and get through it, stubbornly and without complaint.

It was a trait that had served her well all through her life. It helped her everyday in her job, and it had helped her to raise Luz until now.

But that Friday afternoon, sitting on the back of a bus while the sky was changing colors and with the first stars appearing in the horizon, Camila looked at Luz laugh with her friends and, had she had the courage, she would have cried.

Eda closed the door and sighed.

For a moment, she rested her forehead against the old wood, and allowed herself to be enveloped by the sweet silence. Behind her, the house was cold and quiet, but the noise of the kids’ laughter still rang in her ears, a buzzing noise similar to an after image.

Although she was exhausted, she smiled. Ever since Lilith had halved the curse —and honestly, even before that— Eda had become familiar with exhaustion. This exhaustion, however, was not of the magical sort. Instead, it was her body that felt heavy, but in a good way: the tiredness of someone that had had a long, busy day and had enjoyed every single bit of it.

Even so, although the silence was sweet, there was also something unnerving about it. The house was still, and something twisted in Eda’s chest at the fact.

Emptiness.

Even before Luz, rare had been the occasion she had returned to an empty house. That was specifically the reason for the Owl House’s existence— be it Hooty, or King, and later Luz, she never had been totally alone, as long as she was there.

Eda closed her eyes. Even if for a moment, she was alone now, and despite this being something she had feared for a long time, it didn’t feel wrong. Melancholic, perhaps. It was an emptiness that ached, but the hurt was eased because she knew it was temporary, and that her family was just next door, having a sleepover and having a great time, and when they were done they would come back to her again, and tell her all about it in minute detail.

She was looking forward to it.

Yet, for now she had time for herself, and she really did intend to enjoy it.

The door to the Boiling Isles materialized in front of her in a flash of light when she pressed the key’s eye-button, and when she crossed over, the fresh night air hit her face, carrying with it the scent of the forest and of the word she belonged to.

After being away from it for so long, the magic of the land felt like little sparks at her feet. It was bright and invigorating, familiar although Eda had never noticed it like this before, and it felt as welcoming as the happy, annoying little cry that Hooty let out when he saw her again.

“Hey, Hooty,” Eda greeted him, and in a rare display of affection (for him) she scratched him under his chin just as she did with Owlbert, rolling her eyes when Hooty freaked out and retreated back to the door.

Her house, too, felt familiar when she entered. Unlike the house in the human world, the Owl House did not feel empty, but still there was something…off about it.

But it was not the house.

From the moment Lilith had finished her spell, leaving them both with mismatched eyes and little to no magic, Eda had known. She’d known because she had already gone through the same thing once before: a change so deep and all-encompassing that made you different, whether you wanted it or not.

She’d lived all her adult life with her curse. It had been part of her, just as much as her magic had been, and without those things she was…herself. And yet not.

She wasn’t the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles anymore, for one.

Eda looked at the golden owl crest on the ceiling of the living room. It was pulsing with magic still, magic that had once been her own, and suddenly she felt like she didn’t belong— like nothing in the house fit her anymore, a stranger in a place she had once loved.

Loss.

“This is so dumb,” she told herself, and even though she knew that it was normal, and that she should allow herself to grieve, she didn’t. She wasn’t ready.

She had gone back to the Owl House with the full intention of getting some of her old books, the corny adventure ones that she hadn’t read for the longest time, but now that she was there she suddenly didn’t want to read them anymore. Suddenly, she wanted to be back in the human world, a place where no one knew her, where she had the freedom to be herself, even if she didn’t quite yet know who that was.

“We’ll be back soon, Hooty,” Eda informed him, cutting off his constant stream of chatter. “Keep watching over the house, okay?”

“Okay!” Hooty answered cheerfully, and Eda was almost not listening again when he added, “Lilith will keep me company!”

“Lilith?” she asked, suddenly alert.

“She comes by to have tea with me sometimes!”

Eda grimaced. “You know what, I don’t care right now. Just make sure not to let her into the house.”

“Okay!”

Once she was back in the human world, Eda was methodical in her preparations. She finally had a very much needed shower to un-goop herself, changed into her most comfortable clothes, donned her bunny slippers, made herself a mug of something sweet and warm, hid under a pile of blankets, and went through the stack of books that Luz had left next to the couch.

She browsed through a selection of fantasy, haphazardly opening them in random places to see if something caught her interest when she found it.

The Hobbit, the title read, and Eda knew this must be good because hobbits had been at war with fairies and other fire elementals since before the Titan. Surely humans would have kept some of the original lore.

The living room was lit by a few candles, and the golden, soft glow made the place feel almost cozy. It was not quite home, but King and Luz would be back soon, and then she’d be home again.

Satisfied, and further burrowing under the pile of blankets, Eda opened the book and started to read: In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Eda didn’t know how long she had been reading, but she was so invested in the outcome of Bilbo’s game of riddles that when there was a knock on the door she nearly jumped out of her skin.

She looked around, disoriented in that way people that had been dragged out of a good book often are, and it probably took her longer than it should’ve to realize she hadn’t imagined it and there was someone at the door.

She was not surprised by who it was. Camila, much like her, was in comfortable clothes, checkered pants that looked soft and a loose pink cat t-shirt. She had thrown over her shoulders a colorful piece of cloth Eda didn’t know the name of —like a very short cape—, and once again Eda’s traitor heart skipped a beat, probably because it was late, and seeing Camila in comfortable clothes made Eda realize they had somehow gotten close enough for Camila to trust Eda with this more private version of herself.

“Already fed up with the kids’ noise?” Eda teased, because making a joke out of everything was her default and she couldn’t help herself.

“Oh, not at all,” Camila answered, smiling up at Eda, and no, Eda was not going to humiliate herself in front of this woman again. “They’re behaving.”

With a nod and a wobbly smile, Eda took a step back, opening the door in silent invitation. Camila’s steps were soft behind her, and she gathered her wits in time to see the woman looking around, curious.

For the first time, Eda forced herself to look at the living room with the eyes of a stranger. It wasn’t fancy. Some burgundy touches here and there because that was what Eda liked, but other than that it included their huge couch, a bookcase, an old TV, and a chair and a table in the corner, piled up with books and parchment.

Belatedly, Eda realized that other than the small mountain of plushies she had won that day and some of Luz’s belongings, the house was bereft of personal belongings. No photos, no nothing.

“I’m not here often,” Eda offered as an excuse.

Camila just shrugged. “I had wondered why I’d never seen you around before,” she commented, and Eda was acutely reminded that Camila was a smart woman.

However, Eda offered no more explanations and Camila didn’t ask for any. Instead, Eda gestured at the couch but dragged the chair for herself when the woman took a seat.

“Urgh, I’m old,” she complained, because she was still tired after all of the excitement earlier that day.

“Of course,” Camila agreed without missing a beat, and Eda laughed, finally relaxing. She liked this about Camila, the steel hidden under her politeness, and she grinned at the other woman, pleased when her smile was returned.

“Ah, I’m a horrible host. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine,” Camila answered, and that was a lie if Eda had ever heard one.

She hummed, tilting her head as she analyzed Camilla. Maybe it was because they were similar in this —both of them being accomplished liars— that Eda could feel the storm brewing under Camila’s facade of calm.

For a wild, overwhelming moment of panic, although she knew it was impossible, Eda wondered if Camila had somehow figured out what the deal with the sunflower had been about earlier that day. It flustered Eda even now to remember— she had not intended to do it. But even so, giving flowers didn’t mean the same thing in the human world than in the Boiling Islands, she was pretty sure, so there was no way Camila could have found out the origin of Eda’s embarrassment.

Unless, of course, one of the kids had told on her, in which case she would make sure to kill the culprit painfully and slowly.

Eda’s inner panic, however, was interrupted by Camila’s words.

“Earlier today I was ashamed of myself,” she began, and although the words were odd, Eda felt relieved because at least they were not having a feelings-feelings conversation. “Today was great. Seeing Luz with her friends made me so happy. But…I’m afraid…”

Eda straightened in her chair, alert. She waited in silence for Camila to find her words, alarmed when she saw tears well up in the woman’s eyes.

“Hey,” Eda called, softly. In a swift moment she left the chair in favor of sitting next to Camila, resting her hand over hers in an attempt to comfort her.

“I’m sorry,” Camila said, and her voice was very small. “It’s just…I’m so bad for her.”

Eda frowned.

“You talking about Luz?”

“Today when she said she wanted to enter that competition, I was so afraid,” Camila confessed. “I know how she is. She…I love her, but even I can see that she doesn’t fit in. She tries hard. She tries so hard, but the world is such a harsh place for people like her! And so when she told me she wanted to…to expose herself once again, to be the target for all those awful people to laugh at, I…I wanted to tell her no. I didn’t want her to try.”

Camila swallowed, and Eda inwardly sighed. She had hoped it was not like this, but even so she listened silently, because she knew there were plenty of things in the world she didn’t understand, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t at least listen.

“But you!” Camila continued, looking at Eda, and although her eyes were red rimmed, her stare was clear, and Eda was taken aback by the determination directed at her. “You did what I could not. You supported her and stayed by her side, and even when those people laughed it didn’t matter because she had you. All of you. And I…” she trailed off. “I could not do that for her.”

“Camila…”

“I love her. I wanted to protect her. It guts me, but today I realized… in my attempt to help her, I tried to change who she is. I thought the best way to save her from hurt was to stop her from being who she is. What kind of miserable person does that to someone they love?”

Camila’s words bounced off the walls, her anger at herself sharp like a sword.

For a while, Eda said nothing, because Camila’s words hit too close to a wound that had always been there, and that had very recently been reopened by Lilith.

“I know some people,” she joked weakly, and she knew her smile was unsteady. “Look, I know nothing about children. But I do know what it’s like to be told by others what’s best for me,” she sighed. “Luz is young, and I guess it’s normal to worry, but being young doesn’t mean she’s stupid. That kid’s strong, and she’ll decide for herself how she wants to live.”

Eda pulled back, unconsciously hugging herself. With one hand, she rubbed the dark gem hidden under her clothes, over her heart.

“Yes, the world is harsh. And it won’t always be easy. Which is why she should have a safe place to come back to, to gather strength.” When she turned to Camila, Eda’s expression was hard and unforgiving. “You did your best, although not what was best for her,” she said, unapologetic even when Camila flinched. “Well, now you know. Talk to her. Listen. Apologize. And do better.”

Camila closed her eyes, as if the words hurt her, but it was testament to her love for Luz that she didn’t cower away from them.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”

And Eda, because despite her words she was not blinded by her personal hurts, grabbed a couple of blankets from the pile and wrapped them around Camila. Then, she turned on the TV to have an excuse of something to do, and sat back down next to the other woman, piling blankets over the two of them.

“Kids are already having a sleepover, there’s no reason we can’t have our own,” she mumbled, and didn’t dare look at Camila’s expression at that moment.

They curled together on the couch, neither of them paying attention to whatever was happening on the screen, and Eda pretended she didn’t notice Camila crying against her shoulder.

They fell asleep leaning against each other, when they succumbed to sleep they were warm, and felt safe in each other’s company, and neither of them had nightmares that night.

Chapter Text

When Camila opened the door, the house was dark and quiet.

Without losing a second, she closed the door behind her, although not fast enough for the rain not to come inside, pushed by the wind. Before she could turn on the lights, bright lightning crossed the sky, illuminating the living room for a second before plunging it into darkness again.

Immediately, Camila started to count. She’d barely made it to four when thunder struck in the distance.

Before even taking her raincoat and her boots off, she checked her phone again. Although it was impossible that Luz’s message had changed in the three minutes since she had last checked, and she was aware that no news was good news, she looked again. Indeed, Luz’s last text was from forty five minutes ago, telling her that she, Eda and King had gotten delayed and might be home a little later than usual.

Later than usual, Camila’s mind repeated, and something warm and delicate bloomed in her chest like a flower. It was a wonder, the way Eda and King’s presence had become Camila’s normal. She tried not to think too much about how Eda’s constant presence made her feel, how her jokes and her reassuring grin had become so much of a comfort for Camila as of late, how much she looked forward to come home to a loud house, with Eda, King and Luz’s endless joy and laughter.

Lightning crossed the sky again, followed by thunder. It was closer this time, and Camila hoped Luz, King and Eda would hurry, so they would make it home before the storm got any worse.

However, the noise snapped Camila out of her reverie. She was a practical woman. She took off her boots and raincoat at the door, and went to find some rags she could place at the door, to soak up the water Luz, Eda and King would inevitably bring inside with them. Then, because she had to make the best of the time before the others came home, she took a hot shower and changed into warm clothes-- old sweat pants and a soft hoodie with a pink axolotl Luz had made for her a couple of years back.

It was only then, when she was once again warm and comfortable, that she methodically began with her preparations: towels first, making sure there was hot water, finding warm clothes for both Luz and King. This last task took some searching, because King was too small to fit into Luz’s current clothes, but eventually she managed to find an old pair of Luz’s flannel pajamas, the blue ones with the cute little dragons and the legend Dragons Love Tacos.

Finding something for Eda to wear was trickier. Not only because Camila was definitely flustered by the thought of Eda possibly wearing her clothes, but because the woman was definitely taller than her, and Camila was not sure she had any pants that would fit her.

Eventually, she found a pair that had enough hem that if, undone, would probably be long enough to be comfortable. Within three minutes Camila had all the dry clothes folded on Luz’s bed, stacked on top of their respective towels. She had already moved to her next task --dinner-- when she heard the door open and the loud voices that announced the presence of the people she had been waiting for.

“Urgh, I’m never listening to you again,” she heard Eda complain, just at the same time Luz called, “¡Mami, ya llegamos!” (1)

“Yes, I heard you,” Camila answered, finishing going down the stairs, and although she had anticipated what she would find, she still had not been prepared for the state Luz, Eda and King were in.

“Oh my goodness,” Camila said, in shock. They were soaked to the bone, covered in mud to their knees because of course they would, and King in particular looked like a half-drowned cat. “What happened to you?”

“Huh...sorry for the mess?” Luz offered, but Camila waved her off.

“To the shower with you. There are dry clothes on Luz’s bed. Luz, to my bathroom. King, you got the shower downstairs.”

King pouted, obviously about to complain, but thought better of it when he saw Camila’s expression.

Luz chuckled, probably because she knew better than to argue with Camila when she was in full mom mode. However, King looked so...miserable, wet and cold, that Camila felt her heart soften. She didn’t know what had happened, but out of the three of them King looked like he had had a particularly bad day.

“If you hurry you can have some flan before dinner,” Camila said, and was amused when all three of them --Eda included-- perked up at her promise. “It looks like you had a difficult day.”

“Flan?” King repeated, hopeful, and Camila crouched down to ruffle his wet hair affectionately.

“Hurry and you’ll get the biggest slice,” she mock-whispered, and that was enough. She smiled when she heard King’s little feet going up the stairs, presumably to find the instructed clothes, before dashing right back down and slamming the bathroom door.

Giggling, Luz followed, although thankfully she didn’t slam any doors.

Camila stood up once again, careful not to look at Eda. Now that they were alone, Camila felt a strange shyness creep upon her. Ever since the night after the carnival, when they had had that conversation --or rather, after waking up beside Eda-- something had shifted between them.

Camila wasn’t sure what exactly it was, but it made her unable to calm down. Even now, her heart was racing, keenly aware of Eda’s presence a few feet away from her.

Things were not made better when she risked a peek at the other woman and found her staring at her.

“Is something wrong?” Camila asked, desperately hoping she was hiding her embarrassment well.

Eda blinked. “Your hair is down,” she stated, which made nothing but make Camila’s heart jump in her chest. God, she was not a teenager, and she would not blush.

“I was caught in the storm too.” Thankfully, the absurdity of the conversation finally caught up with her, and she remembered that Eda was soaked. “And you need to get dry. You’re going to catch your death like this.”

“Aww, I’ll be fine,” Eda shrugged. As if the slight antagonism had given her energy --which knowing Eda, perhaps it had-- the woman seemed to suddenly liven up. “I should probably go next door to get some clothes.”

Camila raised one eyebrow at her.

“Absolutely not. There’s no way you’re going back out in this weather.”

“Meh, it’s nothing,” Eda insisted, and the storm chose that second to prove Camila right when a bright flash of lightning made the lights flicker for a second, followed by a very loud thunder.

Camila looked at Eda. “You were saying?”

Eda grinned, raising her hands in surrender. “Fine, fine.”

Camila smiled, and it took her a second to realize they had been just standing there, unmoving, smiling at each other like idiots.

Jesus, she needed to get a hold of herself.

Another thunder echoed through the air, and Camila was saved from the awkwardness by the bathroom door slamming open as King exited. Judging by the amount of time he’d been in the bathroom, he had probably barely taken a three minute shower, but he looked warm and comfortable while clad in the dragon pajamas.

The sound Eda made when she saw him was concerning until she dashed forward to muss King’s wet hair.

“No! Stop!” King complained, trying to get away from Eda.

“You’re so adorable!” Eda told him, which was true, although Camila didn’t think King appreciated it at all.

Indeed, it took King two seconds to duck under Eda’s arm and run towards Camila.

“Camila! Help me!” he cried out, hiding behind her. It was incredibly hard not to pick him up and cuddle him, and although Camila was strong enough that she could do it, she didn’t because she didn’t think the action would be welcome.

So, instead, Camila turned to Eda.

“Go shower,” she ordered, grinning at how offended Eda looked.

“Urgh, fine! Take his side, I see how it is,” she complained, and, safe from where he was using Camila as a shield, King smirked. “Brat,” Eda scolded him, and he blew a raspberry towards her in answer.

For a couple of seconds, Eda and King glared at each other. But perhaps because Camila was a mother, or maybe because she was simply that attuned to Eda, she noticed the exact moment Eda’s facade fractured. Although she saw it for no longer than a second, the way Eda’s whole expression shifted, lighting up with wild and unadulterated joy, left Camila feeling weak at the knees.

It was there and gone in a second.

“All right, all right. Not because you told me, mind!” Eda declared, narrowing her eyes and pointing at Camila and King. She was shaking her head as she walked into the bathroom, but she was also smiling, and Camila felt that she might die if she had that expression ever turned to her once more.

“She didn’t take her change of clothes with her,” Camila said, weakly.

From where he was behind her, King pushed himself under her arm, like a needy cat that wanted to be pet.

“Eh, let her walk out naked,” he suggested, and Camila thought she might faint because absolutely not.

“I’ll have Luz take her clothes to her,” she firmly stated, and the way King’s strange eyes glittered was too mischievous for Camila’s liking.

But this was something she knew. Teasing, and bright eyes, and King’s little body pressed against her were all things she remembered, although it had been a long time since Luz had been this small.

“Let’s go upstairs,” she told King, because it needed to be done. “We’ll brush and dry your hair, and then you can have your flan.”

Perhaps it was the promise of desert that did it, but they had King’s hair dried faster and with less fuss than Camila had expected. By the time Luz came downstairs, King was sitting on the kitchen counter, his little feet kicking the air, an empty plate next to him as Camila prepared dinner.

“¿En qué ayudo?” (2) Luz asked, and yes, this was familiar.

“I helped wash the vegetables,” King informed Luz, who proceeded to coo over him in a way that was very similar to Eda’s although with better results.

“Please wash the rice,” Camila asked, and Luz nodded, already getting to task.

It was not long until the children started telling her all about their day, talking over each other and laughing when they recounted something particularly silly. And Camila had never particularly liked cooking --her job seldom leaving time or energy for it-- but she had always loved the kitchen. She liked this: the loud voices, the easy laughter, the sound of the broth boiling in the stove, the smell of garlic and onion in the air. It reminded her of her own childhood, when she would help her mom cook, without any other worries than whatever happened at school and what they’d have for lunch that day.

This was what Eda walked into. Despite what Camila anticipated, she didn’t feel awkward at all at seeing Eda wearing her clothes. Instead, she felt warm, because, there in Camila’s kitchen, Eda looked comfortable. They all fit together. Like a family.

“The kids are telling me interesting stories about your adventures today, Ms Eda,” she teased, feeling a knot in her throat when Eda easily grinned at her.

“All lies, I assure you,” Eda answered.

And it was dumb, because it wasn’t aything in particular.

There was nothing special. No fateful moment, or grand gesture. It was not that Eda was particularly gorgeous in that moment, or that Camila had any sort of crucial revelation. It was not even the first time they had been like this. It was simply that they were all together, and it felt like somehow it had always been so.

And perhaps the knowledge had always been there --the awareness of what this feeling was-- because as she watched Eda laughing at something Luz had said, Camila was not surprised by her feelings.

It was in a kitchen, with a storm raging outside, that Camila finally stopped trying to get a hold of her heart. She let it flutter in her chest like a bird, and freed it to go where it wanted.

To Eda.

The days that followed passed sweetly, rolling by like the big, fluffy clouds that were so common in the sky at the end of summer.

For Eda --although she could not speak for Luz and King-- the end of August felt like a dream. It was a strange thing to feel like that, but there was an unexpected peace to be had in the slow days, when she had nothing else to do but enjoy the sun, play with Luz and King, and wait for Camila to come home at night.

She enjoyed them to the fullest. It was not that she hadn’t enjoyed her days with King and Luz in the Owl House, because she had, but there was something about the way Camila smiled at her every time she came home and saw Eda that made Eda feel warm inside. It was an odd, vulnerable feeling, entirely different from the crush she had long since given up trying to deny.

Belonging.

Whenever Camila smiled at her and asked her how her day had gone, Eda couldn’t help but feel...wanted.

Home.

However, as the end of August approached, she could no longer ignore the dark worry that Luz also shared: the knowledge their time was running out, because when August ended, Luz would have to go back to school in the human world.

It was a reminder-- that they had a confession to make, and it would have to come sooner rather than later.

And that knowledge, the uncertainty of change and what it would mean for everyone, like a dark cloud in the horizon, was the one thing that could touch Eda’s happiness.

Things were like that when Eda once again dreamt of the forest.

Although she didn’t always remember the dream when she woke up, it was always the same dream. The forest was dark, and endless, and when Eda looked around, she realized she was alone, lost. Her body felt odd, foreign, and when she looked down she was surprised she was not in her owl form. Instead, she was mid-transformation, arms half-way to wings, eyes dark, feathers breaking her skin here and there.

She was scared.

She called something out, a name that the darkness swallowed. The forest was eerily quiet, and this frightened Eda all the more.

So she ran. She ran endlessly, because although she didn’t know the way, she knew she had somewhere she had to be, a place she could go to and be safe, if only she could find the way.

She always ran for a while before the dream shifted. Suddenly she was in her childhood room, just as she remembered it from where she was young: with posters on her walls, her favorite books in her shelves, her school work strewn across the floor.

The bed was undone, empty.

When she tried to talk, she found she couldn’t find her voice.

Behind her, her bedroom door opened, slowly.

The shadow at the door was familiar, and the gem in her chest vibrated once, like a drum over her heart, with such strength that Eda gasped.

Breathing heavily, she placed a hand over her heart.

It hurt.

It hurt so much she had tears in her eyes.

And still she didn’t bend over. She raised her head to look at the person that walked through the door. And although she knew, she knew, still it was a shock to see Lily’s elegant figure stepping into the room-- Lily with her dark hair and severe clothes-- Lily who was raising her silver staff to curse her-- and Eda could feel the curse as it took her over once more, could hear Luz’s screams for help and she couldn’t move because the curse was taking over but she had to, she had to…!

Eda startled awake when something smacked her in the face. It was dark, and the room didn’t feel familiar, and for a long moment she was disoriented.

“Luz!” she cried out in the darkness. The adrenaline of the dream coursed through her body, sharpening her fear.

On instinct, she drew a circle in the air, casting a spell to defend, to protect. The golden light sparked into life for a second before flickering out without the spell being fully cast, and Eda turned around in bed, suddenly breathing heavily, as if she had run a marathon.

“No!” she cursed, because the exhaustion felt like a stone in her chest, once again stopping her from moving, and she struggled-- fought to move because she could not...not again…!

The soft sound of wings snapped her out of her panic. There was something pressing against the crook of her neck-- something small and warm and familiar, and even though her panic some part of Eda recognized who it was.

“Owlbert?” she asked, hating how her voice trembled.

The little owl cooed, further nuzzling Eda, and Eda pulled him closer, concentrating on his small body, on his weight, on the way he was cooing to her as if trying to soothe her.

Slowly, so very slowly, the panic passed. Eda didn’t know how long it took for her heart to calm down, for her to be able to breathe again, but Owlbert stayed with her through it, as he had done since the very first day she had made him.

“Thank you,” she whispered, gently cupping Owlbert where he was still nestled against her neck.

Owlbert cooed a question.

“I’m fine,” she answered with a sigh. Then, as an afterthought, she turned on the lamp on her bedside table. It was no bigger than Owlbert, and cat shaped, and Luz had gifted it to her when she’d noticed how much Eda hated the white light of electricity.

The soft, golden glow chased away the last traces of fear from Eda’s heart.

“I’m fine,” she repeated, and it felt somewhat truer than the first time she’d said it.

As if in protest of her attempted magic, Eda’s whole body ached as she got out of bed. She groaned as she leaned against the wall, fighting a dizzy spell, but stubborn as she was, she refused to go back to bed. There was no way in hell she was going back to sleep that night.

It took her embarrassingly long to make it down the small hallway and to the stairs. She was halfway down --and considering just sitting down to rest, dignity be damned-- when she heard the unequivocal sound of steps and someone knocking on her door.

The pang of fear that pierced her heart was as irrational as it was devastating, because it was the middle of the night, and because she somehow knew who it was on the other side.

“Owlbert, hide,” she ordered, and the sound of small wings flying away were the only sign he had obeyed.

She didn’t stop to check. Her heart was beating in her ears once more, and it was the fear that gave her the strength to get to the door in a second.

“Luz?” she asked as soon as she opened the door, and she was proven correct when she indeed found Luz in her pajamas, hugging a blue alien plush and accompanied by a worried looking Camila. “Hey, kid, what’s wrong?”

Luz said nothing. Instead, she simply stepped forward and hugged Eda, tightly.

“She had a nightmare and asked for you,” Camila explained somewhat apologetically, and Eda felt her heart break.

“Ah,” she sighed, hugging Luz back and wondering if it was her fault. It was not unusual for people that were close to each other to share dreams, at least in the Boiling Isles. “It’s okay, kiddo. I’m here, see?” Luz nodded, face still hidden, but hugged Eda tighter. “Okay then. Let’s go inside.”

Camila was silent as she followed them inside, and for that Eda was grateful. It was difficult to walk with Luz clinging to her in such a way, but she didn’t mind. Eda too felt better at having Luz close by, especially after that dream, and she was damned if she was going to pry her away anytime soon.

She was alarmed for a second when she heard King’s steps coming downstairs, but he must have heard their voices because when he appeared, in his pajamas and hugging his stuffed bunny, he was in the form of a boy.

“What happened?” he asked, voice thick with sleep.

“Luz can’t sleep,” Eda explained, overcome by affection for King when he simply nodded and went straight to the couch to turn it into a bed.

With the last of her strength, Eda made it to the couch. Another bout of dizziness clouded her eyes for a second, so she closed them, trying to keep her breathing under control because the last thing she wanted was to upset Luz further.

The pile of blankets King came back with was almost as big as him. He threw them carelessly on top of Eda and Luz, climbing beside them without question and proceeding to make the couch into a comfortable, if messy, nest of warmth.

He was back asleep almost immediately, and Eda smiled. After a few moments, Luz eased her death grip, instead burrowing under Eda’s arm, one hand resting over the dark stone, over Eda’s heart.

Eda swallowed, overcome by emotion.

“I’m sorry,” Eda said after a long while, her voice soft because Luz’s breathing had just evened out in sleep. The room was dark, the only light coming from the open window, but although she knew she would see Camila if she only turned her head, she didn’t. She couldn’t. The exhaustion caused by trying to do magic was taking its toll, and coupled with the way guilt weighed her down, she could barely move. “I’m afraid this is my fault.”

Camila, who had remained a little apart until then, took a step forward. In a mirror gesture of what Eda had done the last time they had been in this same room --although in very different circumstances-- Camila grabbed the chair from the desk in the corner and placed it next to Eda.

“How so?” she asked, and Eda admired the calm openness in her voice, the way her expression was clear without a trace of judgment.

“I’m cursed,” Eda confessed, thoughtlessly, still unable to look Camila in the eye. “Luz saw me at my worst,” which was an understatement, Eda thought, bitterly. “I wish I could have spared her that.”

“Eda…” Camila whispered, and when Eda finally dared look at her again, there was only concern in her face. “I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while...are you ill?”

“I...was,” Eda answered. It was easier to talk in the dark, and so she was grateful for the soft silver moonlight that came through the window. “I recently got cured. But…” her mouth twisted in a bitter grimace. “I don’t know what I am anymore.”

“If you need help--” Camila started, and some dark place in Eda twisted in discomfort.

“It’s under control,” she snapped, the words hard and sharp even though she had not intended them to be so.

There was a pause in which she could almost feel the weight of Camila’s stare as the woman analyzed her.

When she spoke again, her words were gentle and kind: the way one speaks to a frightened creature. “I can help, you know.”

Eda swallowed. She hated it. She hated the longing, because this was the one thing --the one burden--, that she had never shared with anyone. Not ever.

So she did what she’d always done the handful of times she’d let someone close enough for this conversation to come up: she tried to deflect.

“I’ve dealt with this by myself my whole life,” she shrugged, trying to dismiss it all together. She knew she was a liar, but she also knew she was good, and honestly, because she was --had been, her mind corrected-- the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles, no one had ever pressed the issue.

She was surprised when Camila moved. For a second, Eda thought that she had succeeded and Camila was going to turn around and walk away. However, instead Camila knelt by her and took Eda’d free hand --the one that was not currently in Luz’s possession-- between hers.

Camila’s hair was down, and her hands were warm and her touch gentle, and when she looked up at Eda her face was bathed by the soft moonlight, and the sorrow in her eyes made something heavy press on Eda’s throat.

“I’m sorry,” Camila whispered. “You shouldn’t have had to.”

It hurt, the words sharp as knives as they found a target in her heart. It hurt because it was true, although Eda thought she had come to terms with the fact a long time ago.

“Are you in pain right now?” Camila asked, and the gentleness in her voice rose something within Eda, something close to hurt but entirely different at the same time.

She fought it.

Viciously, she tried to beat down her heart, because she felt vulnerable, and in truth she had never shared her hurts about the curse with anyone. It had always been her burden alone to bear.

But the curse was gone now, wasn’t it? Surely, she wasn’t a burden? She hadn’t yet figured out what Lilith’s spell had done, halving the curse, but still, she didn’t have to worry anymore about others seeing her owl form, had she? To worry about seeing the horror and disgust in people’s eyes when they realized what she was.

Camila would be frightened too, if she saw it. Horrified, even, and Eda didn’t think she could...

Eda didn’t realize she had closed her eyes until one of Camila’s hands cupped her cheek.

“Eda?” the woman asked, earnest, and Eda knew she was done for. Not only because of the kindness, or the touch. It was because this was Camila, and Eda was not used to crying but she wanted to-- she desperately wanted this person to show her affection, to care for her, to never leave her. “Please, let me help you.”

Speechless, Eda nodded, and the way Camila’s face lit up was a wonder. And maybe it was because it was the middle of the night, or because she was too exhausted to fight her feelings anymore, or because her heart felt raw and tender, but suddenly, Eda had the strong desire to kiss her.

It would be so easy too. In the position they were currently in it would be so easy for Eda to lean down and close the distance between them.

Something must have shown in her face because Camila’s eyes widened a little, and Eda’s heart raced because it was not until that moment that she was certain they were both aware of this thing between them.

She almost did it. She wanted to. She desperately wanted to, but it suddenly occurred to her that it wouldn’t be fair. Although no fault of her own, Camila didn’t know a lot of things: about the curse, and the Boiling Isles, Luz’s magic, or even about King’s true form. And if she kissed her now...wouldn’t that be dishonest? A deception?

Eda closed her eyes once more, pained.

She wanted to, but couldn’t do it.

She had to tell Camila the truth first.

“Eda, are you…?”

“I’m sorry,” Eda said, as earnestly as she knew how. Gently, she disentangled herself from a sleepy Luz and watched as the girl rolled over, mumbling something but not waking up. Then, when she was sure Luz was still asleep, she turned to Camila and took both of the woman’s hands in hers. “There is tea in the kitchen, in a yellow tin,” Eda told Camila, offered her this one thing, because at the moment it was the only thing she could give her. “One tablespoon. It helps when I’m like this.”

If Camila was confused, she didn’t show it. The way she did things was methodical, confident: bringing water to a boil, measuring the tea and bringing it to the living room. Then, she busied herself with the pile of blankets, tucking in King and Luz before helping Eda sit up and then tucking her in too.

Eda let her. She didn’t remember the last time she’d allowed someone to take care of her like this, and so she took a sip of the tea both because it really did help, but also to hide the knot on her throat.

When Camila sat back down in the chair, she had a book in her hands. It was The Fellowship of the Ring, which Eda had started after having thoroughly enjoyed The Hobbit.

“Will this help?” Camila asked, the offer clear.

Speechless and embarrassed, Eda nodded. However, Camila wasn’t awkward at all. With the same efficiency she’d done everything else, she found and lit a candle without comment when Eda told her she didn’t have lamps downstairs, and placed it on the windowsill, close enough that the golden light spilled over them both.

It took Camila one second to find where Eda had stopped, and her voice was clear and nice to listen to as she read again the silly song that had amused Eda so much when she’d first read it:

There is an inn, a merry old inn

beneath an old grey hill,

And there they brew a beer so brown

That the Man in the Moon himself came down

One night to drink his fill.

The time passed quickly as Eda listened, and, like a child, she tried her best to stay awake as long as possible. It was the last bit of selfishness she allowed herself: Camila’s voice and her reassuring presence, the silence of the night, the light that enveloped them in a cocoon of safety. It was bittersweet, the knowledge that this moment would never return, and so Eda drank everything in, every word and every second, until it was impossible for her to remain awake.

It was exhaustion that finally claimed her, and she was so tried that she was unaware of the warm hands that took the mug from her grip, made her comfortable, and brushed her hair away from her forehead, gently.

“Descansa, corazón,” (3) a sweet voice whispered in the dark, and Eda slept, free of dreams.

Eda waited two more days to confess, but only because she spent one of those days dead to the world, asleep.

When she woke up in the early morning of the second day, her whole body hurt, but at least she didn’t feel like she might faint just from walking across the room.

She redirected King and Luz’s concerns by announcing her intentions to tell Camila the truth that evening, and although both of them looked doubtful, Eda put on a good enough act that by the time they finished breakfast they looked, if not relaxed, somewhat reassured.

Reassuring Camila was not as easy.

“Eda!” Camila exclaimed that evening when she saw her. She immediately took Eda’s hands in hers, and wasn’t it strange how the touch made Eda’s heart flutter even now? “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” Eda tried to reassure her, although obviously Camila wouldn’t have any of it.

“You were asleep for a full day!”

“Ah, well, that’s sort of normal.”

Camila narrowed her eyes. “Sort of normal? Eda Clawthorne,” Camila began, and Eda straightened on instinct.

“Let’s talk later,” she offered, trying to smile, but must not have succeeded because Camila’s expression changed to concern.

However, although obviously reluctant, she nodded, and Eda was sure it had to do with Luz and King, who were in the kitchen very obviously pretending they were not eavesdropping.

Dinner that night was subdued. It was obvious that Luz was tense, and Eda too felt the weight of the confession like a stone on her shoulders. King, bless his heart, tried his best, and it was mostly thanks to him that dinner was less stressful than it could have been.

Too soon, however, dinner was over. As agreed, Luz and King made themselves scarce, and as soon as they were alone, Camila approached Eda.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked. “You’ve been quiet today.”

Eda’s smile was weak.

“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.”

“Such as?”

“Home,” she answered, heart thundering in her chest.

“I see,” Camila answered. “And where is home?”

Although expected, Eda blinked, taken aback by the question. She looked up from the dishes she was drying across the kitchen to Camila, who was finishing washing the last of the dinner dishes. From above them, Eda could hear Luz and King doing something or other, and suddenly it dawned on her how familiar this house had become, how comfortable she was in it, although it wasn’t hers.

She wondered what would happen if she answered here.

But, although that was a confession in itself, it was not the confession that needed to be addressed. Instead, Eda turned around and was dead serious as she asked, “Do you want me to show you?”

She barely waited for Camila’s confused nod before she pulled out the magic key from her pocket.

“I would ask that you hear me until the end,” Eda said. “Because where I come from, magic is real.”

In the middle of the living room, Eda set the magic door, the golden light of it reflecting off Camila’s glasses, hiding her expression.

With more confidence that she felt she had, Eda opened the door.

“These,” she began, gesturing to the other side of the door. “Are the Boling Isles.”

Chapter Text

Eda took Camila to one of the hills in the outskirts of Bonesborough, far enough of the city not to scare her but close enough that there wasn’t any doubt that they weren’t on the human world anymore.

True to her word, Camila listened until the end. It was a long story, and it took a long time to tell, but she didn’t interrupt as Eda told her everything she thought she ought to know, even the things she would rather not have to tell her.

The moon was already setting beyond the Boiling Sea when Eda finished her story.

Around them, as if it somehow knew about the importance of the moment, the Demon Realm was still. A light, fresh breeze brought to them the sounds of the forest: the rustle of leaves, the small sounds of the creatures of the night doing their midnight activities.

Camila stayed silent for a long time. She didn’t move, but even though Eda couldn’t see her face, she knew she was watching her surroundings. For a moment, Eda felt a pang of sorrow, because it took little to no effort to see how everything, even the sounds, was completely different from the human world. There was nothing familiar: from the small screeches and chirps, so at odds with the insects that sang their song at night on Earth, to the way the fairies and the night-birds flew across the sky, covering the alien stars.

“I see,” Camila said at long last. When she spoke, her voice was even, calm, but there was something choked underneath, some feeling to fagile for comfort.

Thoughtlessly, Eda took a step towards Camila, heart shattering when Camila took a step backwards to stay well away from Eda’s reach.

“Please take me home,” Camila requested. She wasn’t looking at Eda.

Eda complied, subdued. The yellow light of electricity was almost too much for Eda’s eyes as they crossed the portal, a stark contrast to the pale almost reddish glow that the moon gave to everything in the Boiling Isles.

“¿Mami?” Luz asked, and Eda’s eyes adjusted enough to the light to see the scene before her.

Luz and King were in front of the door, obviously having been waiting for them, both of them anxiously looking at Camila.

Eda hated that she couldn’t see Camila’s expression when she stepped forward to envelop Luz in a hug.

Silently, King went to Eda. It was a testament of how worried he felt when he pressed himself close to Eda, clinging to her arm.

“Mija, tenemos que hablar,” (1) Camila said when she pulled away. She didn’t sound angry, and Luz didn’t look upset, but there was something off in her voice that made Eda’s skin crawl. Suddenly, she had the strong urge to take Camila by the shoulders and turn her around, somehow make her yell or cry, or anything, anything other than this empty mask.

Eda almost did it, but when she took a step forward once more, Camila’s flinch was so noticeable that Eda couldn’t do anything but stop in her tracks, all the air having left her lungs.

“Camila--” Eda started, pleading for something not even she knew.

Camila shook her head. “No. I…I don’t want to see you right now.”

It was a blow, and for a moment, the wild part in Eda refused. Camila’s back was a line so tense it looked about to snap, and for a second Eda wanted nothing more but to step forward and hug her.

She drew a deep breath, silently, and took a step back.

“Come on, King,” she said instead, guiding King toward the door. She didn’t want to, it wasn’t in her nature to leave a personal conflict unresolved, but Camila’s request had been clear, and Eda had never been one to cross other people’s boundaries.

The door closing behind them sounded terrifyingly final, but Eda tried to dismiss it, unwilling to let her own fears deceive her.

“...so how did it go?” King asked after a few seconds of silence, and he looked so lost and uncertain that Eda couldn’t bear it.

In a swift moment she grabbed King’s wrist, and the demon didn’t protest when she took the polymorphic bracelet off.

The weight of King in her arms was familiar, and it must have been reassuring for him too because for once he didn’t complain when Eda cuddled him, easily carrying him around.

“I guess we’ll know tomorrow,” she answered, trying to inject nonchalance into her words.

King looked doubtful. He stretched his little body to look over Eda’s shoulder --towards Luz and Camila’s house-- but settled back down into Eda’s arms after a second.

“Okay,” he accepted, trusting her as he always did, and, like she had on countless occasions, Eda was glad to have him with her.

Eda did not sleep well that night, but at least she didn’t have any nightmares.

She was up at dawn, and because there was no need of subterfuge any longer, she took off the fake covers from the books of magic she had neglected in the past weeks and sat at her desk, fully intent on continuing her pending research on her curse.

She’d been working for a while when the front door opened with a bang, and Eda would have been alarmed if not for the cheerful voice that yelled, “Eda!”

Eda’s first reaction was to blink, because she’d been so concentrated on the book that she had managed to forget about everything else for a couple of hours. Luz, at the door, looked radiant. Her grin was blinding, and Eda felt herself smiling in answer, the weight that had been crushing her since she told Camila the truth melting into nothing.

“It worked!” Luz said, and Eda barely had time to stand up before Luz jumped into her arms. “Mom’s okay with it! We talked last night, and she’s not mad! She says we have to discuss the details, but for now I can visit the Boiling Isles whenever I want to!”

“That’s great, kiddo,” Eda answered, musing Luz’s hair, trying her best to keep her voice even. Although Luz’s news made Eda happy, there was something that didn’t strike her as being quite right, and it unsettled her. Unable to help herself, Eda looked behind Luz, almost expecting to see Camila at the door too. She berated herself for feeling disappointed that she wasn’t.

“She’s not here, she said she’d come by later,” Luz told her, and Eda was embarrassed of having been so transparent. “She’d like to go back and see me do magic,” Luz seemed so excited at the prospect that Eda could almost feel her vibrating in her arms. “What spell should I cast first? Maybe fire? Ice? It has to be something incredible!”

Eda chuckled, finally allowing herself to be infected by Luz’s bright happiness.

“The light spell,” she suggested. “It was your first one after all.”

“Right!” Luz agreed, and unable to keep herself still any longer, dashed under Eda’s arm towards the stairs, climbing them two at a time. “King! King, guess what--!”

Eda listened to King’s squeak as Luz barged into his room with the good news. Although their excited voices were familiar and did good to her heart, now that she was alone, Eda’s smile slowly faded away.

She looked around. The house in the human world was as it had always been: a tad empty, with minimal decorations. Everything in it had been meant to be practical, the whole house fixed up so it could fulfil a temporary mission.

Well, it had fulfilled its purpose, and although things were happening too quickly, Eda knew, without a doubt, that they wouldn’t spend another night in the house.

She shrugged the feeling off, but in truth she suddenly felt very tired. It was not only the prospect of Camila being mad at her, but that, now that the return to the Owl House was imminent, Eda realized how much she’d been using the situation to avoid thinking about her own problems.

“Ah, well,” she sighed, methodically starting to fold blankets and track down the things they would take back to the Boiling Isles. Luz had said that Camila wasn’t angry, so even though something bothered her about that, she tried her hardest to believe it.

By the time she finished gathering their belongings in a big pile in the living room, Eda had almost convinced herself that everything would be alright.

The second Camila crossed the door to the Boiling Isles with Luz, Eda knew without a shadow of a doubt that things were not alright.

After returning to the Owl House that day, Eda had given Luz the key to the magical portal to keep. Letting the key go didn’t pain her as much as she thought it would. Although she loved to go treasure hunting in the human world, Eda wanted Luz to be able to have easy access to both worlds whenever she wanted to, so the choice, really, had been easy.

Hooty, of course, was delighted that they had returned. King, too, was happy to be back to his regular demon form, running around and finding a place for his new plush collection. However, after the third time Eda found him jumping trying to get something out of his reach, she gave him back the polymorphic bracelet.

“It’s tailored for you anyway,” she shrugged when King’s eyes went wide with gratefulness. She was surprised when King hugged her leg, and cleared her throat, feeling mildly awkward. “Just make sure not to abuse it.”

“I can be tall whenever I want to!” he cackled, completely ignoring Eda, and ran away to do something or other.

So all in all things had returned back to normal --or what had been normal before Lilith’s betrayal-- when Eda heard the peculiar sound of the magic door materializing just outside the Owl House.

Both Eda and King were already there when the door finally opened, bright light spilling through it and revealing the shapes of the two people they were waiting for.

“We’re here!” Luz loudly announced, a bit unnecessarily, and although she had seen Camila just the day before, Eda felt a pang at the sight of the woman, a longing that was too strong to deny.

Immediately, as if drawn by a magnet, Camila’s eyes fell on her, and Eda froze, too many things going through her mind at the same time. There was the sudden self-consciousness, of course, because Camila was seeing her in her usual attire: her red dress, hair messy. All her strange physical characteristics were there for display too, finally fully on view without a spell between them to hide them or soften them-- Eda’s pointy ears, her sharp fang, the mismatched eyes, the stripe of white in her hair. But beyond that, as Eda and Camila looked at each other for an endless moment, Eda couldn’t help but recognize the mask Camila was wearing, the calm that hid things that she was hiding from the world.

All of this happened in a second, and when Camila looked at Luz, she was smiling, as if completely undisturbed by anything, and Eda felt an ugly, violent feeling rise within her.

She hated it.

She hated that mask, and that smile, and she wanted nothing more than to shake Camila, make her---

What?

Get angry? Cry? Yell?

Eda swallowed, bitterness pooling in her stomach: a feeling she didn’t know what to do with.

“Is this the Owl House?” Camila asked Luz, kind and accepting, and Luz beamed.

“Yup!”

Eda was brought out of her reverie when she felt King take a step closer to her, effectively hiding behind her. It took her a moment to realize that Camila hadn’t seen him in his true form yet.

By the Titan, she cursed inwardly, this was so fucked up.

“It’s okay, King,” Eda told him, gently pushing him forward. “Your shape doesn’t change who you are.”

King was shy as he walked forward, peering up at Camila with a caution that was heartbreaking. Despite her words, Eda tensed, because the situation couldn’t help but make her remember another time in which her other form had been exposed, and the hurtful rejection that had followed, and she was damned if she wasn’t going to protect King from that if she could.

Thankfully, it wasn’t necessary.

“It’s okay King,” Luz echoed. “I told mom about you.”

“King?” Camila asked, crouching down to be at King’s level. “Is that you?”

Uncertain, King nodded, and squeaked a little when Camila pulled him into a hug.

“Ay, que bonito eres,” she smiled, and although she didn’t understand the words, Eda relaxed.

“¿Verdad que sí?” (2) Luz cooed.

“I am not cute!” King protested, although Eda noticed he didn’t squirm too much in Camila’s arms.

“We could have been saying how dignified you are,” Luz pointed out. “You don’t know.”

“Oh.” King seemed to think about it for a second. “Fine. As long as you know it.”

Camila chuckled, put King down, and that was that.

The rest of Camila’s visit to the Owl House was pretty much in the same vein. She was calm and accepting, smiling every time Luz showed her something new. Although surprised, she was polite to Hooty, and when Luz led her by the hand into the Owl House, Camila looked at the golden owl in the ceiling, in awe.

Eda had never in her life felt such apprehension than she did the moment Camila stopped in front of her Wanted poster.

“Ah, that’s...well, difficult to explain,” Luz laughed, awkwardly. “But Eda’s not at fault, I promise!”

“I see,” Camila said. She didn’t look at Eda.

In fact, all that afternoon, Camila didn’t look at Eda. She oohed and aahed at Luz’s magic, kind and encouraging. She laughed at King’s jokes and anecdotes, and didn’t flinch away from him. And yet, there was something hard in her expression that Eda couldn’t help but notice, something brittle under her reassuring understanding that made Eda more worried the longer Camila kept up the facade.

The sun was already hiding behind the trees when Camila and Luz decided to return to the human world. They had already crossed the door when suddenly Luz jumped right back, dashing inside with a yelled, “I left my phone in the kitchen!”

Eda decided in a split second.

“Hooty, buy me five minutes,” she said, and trusting he would do as she had asked, crossed the portal herself.

She was not surprised to walk into the living room of the old house in the human world, glad that Luz had the sense to hide the door when she used it.

However, Eda didn’t have time to dwell on that, because Camila was there, and the surprise in her face when she saw Eda instead of Luz was the first real expression that she had directed at Eda all day.

It lasted only for a second. “Where’s Luz?” she asked, cool and polite, like she didn’t care about Eda at all, and Eda couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are you mad at me?” she demanded, too upset to keep her voice under control. “Look, I know! I know how much I screwed up, so if you’re angry just say so!”

The silence between them was tense, but Camila’s mask didn’t shatter. The only sign that she had heard was the way the corners of her mouth turned downwards.

Silently, she stared at Eda, and it took Eda a while to realize that Camila was debating whether to say something or not.

“Cam--”

“Luz told me about your plan,” Camila interrupted, the words sending cold ice through Eda’s veins. Outside, the world was tinted orange and red by the sunset, and Eda regretted wanting to bring a reaction out of Camila because her words were dripping scorn when she asked, “Was befriending me part of it since the beginning?”

Eda gritted her teeth. Clearly, she saw the two paths before her: lie and perhaps spare Camila from some of the hurt, or tell the truth and destroy what had been between them.

It was hard. It was an ugly choice, an unwinnable scenario, and it took everything in Eda to answer.

“Yes,” Eda admitted in the end. She said it because it was the truth, and she owed Camila nothing less, but also because she was the kind of person to own up her mistakes, especially if they hurt others, and would not be able to live with it otherwise.

It didn’t mean it hurt any less watching Camila’s reaction. Hurt, harsh and devastating, crossed the woman’s face, an anguish Eda desperately wished she could soothe.

It lasted only a moment. By the time Camila turned around and away from Eda, she had had her feelings under control, expression clear, face empty once more.

“I see,” Camila said, but even if her mask was perfect, her voice sounded like she was about to cry.

Eda took a step forward. “Please, let me explain…”

“No!” Camila’s voice echoed in the empty room, stopping Eda on her tracks. Camila did not turn around, her back to Eda and one hand on the door of the old house, as she requested, “I want to be alone right now.”

Eda balled her hands into fists.

However, before anything else could be said --if anything-- the magic door behind Eda flashed and Luz came through muttering under her breath.

“Perdón, Hooty estaba molestando,” (3) she mumbled, only to stop, surprised, when she saw both women. “Mom? Eda?” Luz asked. It was impossible for her to have missed the tension in the room.

“Hey, kiddo, did you find your phone?” Eda asked, proud that her voice came out normal.

“Huh, yes? It wasn’t in the kitchen though.”

“Ah, well, glad you found it,” grinned Eda. “Hope to see you soon,” she concluded. It was awkward as heck, but Eda was at the end of her rope. Turning around, she crossed the door back to the Boiling Isles.

She didn’t look back as she walked into the Owl House. She barely remembered to direct a “good job” towards Hooty. Eda walked straight into her room, slamming the door behind her, and, once alone and safe, allowed the hurt of the rejection to transform into an emotion that she was better suited to deal with: anger.

“Damn it!” she cursed, kicking some branches that had fallen from the nest she had used to sleep in, and she had never missed her magic as much as in that moment, devoid of her prefered outlet for her feelings.

Defiant, and out of frustration, Eda tried to cast a spell, and the exhaustion that immediately fell over her was welcome for once, and, for the first time, Eda welcomed sleep when it followed soon after.

As it often happens after a life changing event, the following days in the Owl House passed swiftly, easily, with a mask of normalcy that didn’t fail to disturb Eda.

As she watched from afar as Willow tried to teach Luz some of what she had missed at Hexside, Eda couldn’t help but feel the dissonance. Since the day she had last talked to Camila, Luz had come to the Demon Realm everyday. Yet, although the trouble she and King got into was the same, it wasn’t the same. Luz was not there every morning anymore, sleepily telling Eda her dreams at the breakfast table; she wasn’t there at night, for them to stargaze, or tell spooky stories, or just...be there. In the house. With Eda.

It pained Eda, although, rationally, she had known there was no way she could keep Luz to herself forever. And despite this, it pained her all the more because she knew that if the change was difficult for her, it must be ten times as hard for Camila.

...who Eda had refused to think about, except for all those small hours in which she didn’t have the sense to make enough noise to scare away the thoughts about her.

“Homework is difficult,” King commented from across the room. He had been sitting by the coffee table, drawing and definitely not doing anything remotely homework related. “How do you do it?” he asked Luz. “You go to two schools, don’t you?”

“Oh?” Willow perked up, interested.

“Oh, no!” Luz hurried to explain. “Mom decided we should take a break to decide what to do next, so I didn’t go back to human school.”

From her spot next to the fireplace, Eda stopped reading. She tilted her head a little, interested because this was the first she’d heard about it.

Willow smiled. “Your mom is very understanding,” she said, and Eda felt a fierce pride rise in her chest, because she knew that, despite all else, Camila was trying her hardest to do her best by Luz.

“Yeah...” Luz agreed, voice dropping.

“Luz?”

“It’s just...I’m worried,” Luz confessed, and that made Eda look up, putting aside any subterfuge. “She took a few days off work, and we’ve been talking about a lot of things. And don’t get me wrong, I’m happy! I really am! But…” she sighed. “...she looks...not okay. She’s distracted all the time and sometimes she looks like she wants to cry.”

Luz peered at Eda, as if to gauge her reaction, and Eda flinched.

She gritted her teeth, ashamed that she had to avert her eyes. The frustration she felt had become familiar in the past days, and once again she turned it into anger, because Eda was not used to inaction, to having a problem she could not cheat or tank her way through, and it was killing her.

So she moped.

She hated it, hated feeling down with every fiber of her being, to her thoughts randomly flying away somewhere she didn’t want. And to make up for this, in the following days Eda worked hard. She had never been a stranger to hard work, so now she poured all her energy into studying runes, tracking old texts and trying to make combinations of the runes Luz had already discovered-- with diverse and sometimes destructive results.

King and Luz gave her space. It was infuriating, of course, that they felt they had to be careful around her, so Eda worked twice as hard, going out with Owlbert when she felt she was about to explode. She was grateful that she could still fly with her staff, probably because that magic was tied to Owlbert’s existence and not to her non-existent magic, and flying became the one thing that calmed her down when all she wanted to do was either yell or throw herself in bed to see if plants would grow on her.

And things would have probably stayed like that for a long time if Luz had not burst into the Owl House early one morning, calling for Eda.

“Eda!” Luz called, and Eda was on her feet and out the room before Luz had even finished saying her name. “Eda, help!”

They nearly crashed into each other at the stairs, and Eda’s first impulse was to pull Luz behind her, to protect her from whatever had put that note of panic in her voice. However, Hooty was just behind Luz, and Eda forced herself to calm down, because if something had been following Luz, Hooty would have taken care of it instead of looking mildly perplexed.

“Eda!” Luz cried out again and the way she spoke was too fast and disconnected for Eda to make any sense of it.

“Breathe in, kid,” Eda told Luz, and when she looked too frustrated to obey, Eda lightly tapped Luz on her forehead, the strange gesture seemingly startling Luz enough that she fell silent for a moment. “Deep breaths,” she instructed, nodding when Luz obeyed. “Now tell me, what happened?”

“Mom is sick!” Luz said, and Eda felt like she had been punched in the chest. “Mom is never sick! Should we call an ambulance? I don’t know what to do!”

“Okay, kiddo, it’ll be fine,” Eda tried to reassure her, because Luz looked on the verge of tears. “We’ll figure out what’s wrong, and she’ll be alright, okay?”

Luz’s face crumpled a little, and Eda wondered if she had screwed up before Luz just walked into her arms again, seeking comfort just like she had that night when the both of them had shared a nightmare.

“Okay,” Luz mumbled, and Eda swallowed, heart swelling, overtaken by the affection and protectiveness she felt for her.

“Aww, group hug!” Hooty cooed, and Eda dodged to the side before he could wrap himself around them.

“Urgh, Hooty, go back to the door!”

“Guys?” King asked, from above them. And like a switch had been flipped on, Eda shoved her feelings down in favor of the things that must be done. “King, did you hear that?” she asked, and King nodded. “We’re going to the human world.”

The instructions she gave were clear and precise, and not even ten minutes later they were back in the human world, and the sense of purpose helped Eda ignore the longing that she felt at being back at Luz and Camila’s house.

When Eda opened the door, everything was as usual, and only then did Eda allow herself to admit how much she’d missed...this. The quiet, and the peace, and...

“Luz?” Camila’s voice came from upstairs, and Eda braced herself.

“¡Sí!” Luz answered, quickly climbing the stairs two at a time. Eda (and King) followed at a more sedated pace, and so when they made it to the door, Luz was already in her mother’s arms, half-sitting on the bed.

Camila’s bedroom was small, the wooden furniture old fashioned but functional. The curtains were drawn, but the light of the morning filtered through it, making it almost bright.

It was obvious that Luz hadn’t told Camila that they were there because she looked up in alarm when Eda and King appeared at her bedroom door, eyes going wide in surprise.

“Wha--” she started, but to Eda’s surprise, it was Luz who cut her off.

“¡Tu fiebre estaba super alta!” she half-scolded her mother. “¡Anoche me dijiste que no era nada! Apenas te despertaste hace rato, así que ni te ofendas de que haya pedido ayuda.” (4)

“She was worried,” Eda added, silently vowing to herself to learn Spanish. “And she did well.”

And it was obvious that Camila was not okay. More than tired, she looked exhausted, and Eda had an inkling of what was happening because she recognized the look.

“Can we help?” King asked, peering from around Eda’s legs.

That simple question seemed to render Camila speechless, and she must indeed not have been feeling well because she leaned back against her pillows, closing her eyes.

“Have you eaten?” Eda asked, as calmly as she could manage without sounding harsh. Camila didn’t answer, but Luz volunteered the information.

“Bread, I think. She said she wasn’t hungry yesterday night.”

“Okay then,” Eda nodded. “Some sort of soup. I don’t know what humans have when they need something light?”

“Chicken noodle soup!” Luz answered, obviously looking relieved now that Eda was taking charge.

Eda turned to King. “Can you and Luz handle that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, and King straightened, trying to appear taller.

“Of course!”

Luz nodded, and somewhat reluctantly she stood from the bed to leave the room.

“I’ll be down in a moment kiddo, okay?” Eda reassured her again, mussing up her hair, and at that, some sort of tension seemed to leave her shoulders.

“Okay.”

Eda gave herself one second to swallow her nerves and pull herself together before she turned to face Camila.

When Camila didn’t move nor opened her eyes --nothing to acknowledge Eda’s presence-- Eda decided to act. Without any hesitation she pulled a stool that was by Camila’s small vanity close to the bed. Sitting down, she dug into the bag she had taken with her, and glass clinked when she found and took out what she’d been looking for.

Maybe it had been the sound of glass clinking that piqued Camila’s curiosity --stubbornness, in Eda’s opinion-- or maybe Eda’s movement, because Camila finally opened her eyes, and Eda tried to blame her flinch on the glass sphere she had pretty much shoved in Camila’s face and not on the woman flinching back from Eda’s touch.

“What-what’s that?” Camila asked, startled, and Eda ignored in favor of watching the light dancing like fireflies inside the sphere.

“A little something I borrowed from the Healing Coven,” she explained, moving the sphere a little downwards and watching it again.

“The Healing…” Camila repeated, and then, as if her strength had given up, she leaned back against her pillows and closed her eyes. “I’m okay.”

Eda snorted.

“You’re most definitely not okay,” she refuted, but the tension left her shoulders too when the sphere let out a purple puff of smoke that smelled like fresh grass before going dark again. “You’re not going to die either, though. But you’re not okay.”

Camila stayed adamantly silent, and Eda inwardly sighed, because that was what she’d figured.

In silence, she opened the window, so fresh air could come in, and tidied up a little, picking up clothes from the floor and putting them on the laundry basket. Then, she smoothed Camila’s covers, and although this was something she hadn’t done for another person since she was a child, the mundane nature of the tasks felt strongly familiar.

Everything went well until Eda touched Camila’s shoulder to help her lay down.

“I’m fine!” Camila snapped. Her eyes flashed, finally showing some of the anger she’d been very evidently holding back. “I’m a nurse, and I already took something for the fever! I don’t need--your magic--I--I don’t need--!”

“I know,” Eda answered, pressing her lips together against the hurt. She could be stubborn too. “But I don’t care. You can hate me all you want later, but now I’m going to take care of you and you’re going to get better.”

“You’re so--!” Camila choked out, her face twisted by emotions Eda couldn’t decipher. “Infuriating! You blackmailed my daughter into breaking into a prison instead of taking her back home! You enabled her lying about where she was! You-- you put her into so many dangerous situations, and I--what if something had happened to her? She wouldn’t have come back home, and I would never have found out what happened to her!”

Camila covered her mouth with one hand, even now holding back a sob, and Eda balled her fists, both allowing every single word to hit its target and restraining herself from trying to touch Camila again, certain that her touch would be unwelcome.

“You lied to me! Pretended to be someone you were not! You played me like a fool! And still!” Camila continued, voice shaking. “Still!” Her face twisted, the first tear finally rolling down her cheek. “Still I can’t hate you!”

It was like the room itself had tilted in its axis, and suddenly Eda drew in a breath, having forgotten how to breathe.

Eda’s mind was reeling as the world rearranged itself around her. It was dumb -- she was so dumb-- because either by mistake or choice, she had done Camila an injustice by not considering her feelings to be as strong as they obviously were. Eda still couldn’t believe it, but she had to not only because the evidence was right in front of her, but because if she wanted to move forward, she had to accept this too.

So she did.

It was difficult, of course, because it meant that the damage she had unintentionally inflicted had been greater than she’d expected. And yet, it made her selfishly happy too, hope blooming in her chest, because this meant that she might have a chance, and even if it was small, Eda would take it without hesitation.

It took only one moment for Eda to make up her mind.

In the end, it was determination that settled over her. As she made her choice, calm descended over her, grounding her, giving her the peace of mind she needed to deal with the situation at hand.

Eda was not used to being gentle, but as gently as she could she wiped Camila’s tears, helped her lay down, fixed her blankets so she wouldn’t be too hot, tucked her in.

“I know I was selfish, and I know I made many mistakes,” she said to Camila’s back. “I was in the wrong, and I’m sorry.”

There would be more words to come. There were many more things Eda felt she needed to say, many more things she wanted to apologize for. But for now, it would have to do.

She sat back down into the stool. She swallowed, looking for the words she wished she had been told when she had been hurt and scared. “It’s okay to cry. If you need to.”

And as if she had been waiting for permission, Camila finally broke down. It hurt to hear her sob, but Eda stayed by her side, silently offering support even as Camila began to cry in earnest, hiding her face in her pillow.

And because she didn’t know what to do, how else to soothe this woman she would fight the world for if needed be, she started to hum.

It was an old lullaby, a silly thing that her grandma had used to sing to her and Lilith when they had had nightmares.

A spell, her grandma always had said, and as a child she had believed it, and even if a song couldn’t ever be a spell, Eda sang and hoped it’d be true, even if she had to change some of the words for now.

Keep this star

keep it in your heart

for it to keep you

for it to keep you

safe from harm.

Keep this flower

keep it in your heart

for it to keep you

for it to keep you

safe from harm.

When Camila finally fell asleep, Eda closed the door behind her, quietly.

As she had expected, Luz and King were there, sitting in the hallway, and she would have felt embarrassed had she had the energy for it.

“The soup will be ready in fifteen minutes,” King announced, although his voice was subdued in deference to the woman sleeping on the other side of the door.

“Eda?” Luz asked, and it was love that made Eda able to summon a smile.

“Don’t worry, kid. Your mom’s strong. She’s just exhausted. I guess we did drop a bomb too many on her.”

Luz pressed her lips together, looking down with a frown.

“It’s my fault,” she said. “I knew it. I knew it was too much, but I got carried away as usual, and…”

“Hey,” Eda called her, and although her voice was a little sharper than she had intended, it succeeded in making Luz look up again. In a swift movement, Eda kneeled by her, so she could see her in the eye. “Listen to me: this is not your fault, okay? Sometimes things are bad, and we decide to take more than we can bear. She chose that herself, and you’re not to blame for it.”

“But…”

“All we can do is be there for her. If anything, it’s me who’s to blame for this,” Eda sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“Yeah, I’m always in favor of blaming Eda,” King piped up, and Eda threw at him the most dramatic look of disbelief she could.

“Excuse me?”

King shrugged. “It’s efficient.”

“Look here, you little gremlin...” Eda began to say, but trailed off when Luz chuckled.

“Thank you,” she said, pushing herself on her knees to hug both Eda and King. “Things are always better when you two are with me.”

Eda closed her eyes for a moment, returning the hug, determined not to cry.

“Same, kid,” she managed, proud that her voice didn’t come out too watery.

“Same here!” King agreed, and the surge of love Eda felt for these two was so bright and wild that she almost felt it, golden like magic, bonding them together.

After a while, Eda cleared her throat.

“Okay then. Time to check on that soup.”

“The soup!” Luz exclaimed, standing up and dashing down to the kitchen.

When Eda stood up, her back cracked, and by the Titan but she was too old to be sitting on the floor for any given amount of time.

A heartbeat of silence passed and Eda resigned herself, because if King hadn’t followed Luz it could only mean one thing.

“You don’t have to say it,” she groaned, not looking at King, and he snorted.

“That song doesn’t go like that,” he pointed out, needlessly, and Eda felt herself begin to blush because she knew. “So, have you decided what you’re going to do?”

Eda nodded. “I’m going to get her flowers.”

She could almost feel King’s stare, but she refused to meet his eyes.

“Wow, that serious?” he commented, which was dumb because it wasn’t like he didn’t know what she had meant. “Humans don’t...they don’t do that. She won’t understand.”

“I’ll tell her, then.” Eda answered, a promise. “When she wants to listen.”

When Eda risked a peek, King was, indeed, already looking at her, an inscrutable expression in his eyes.

“Ah, well,” he shrugged in the end, and patted Eda’s leg. “I approve. You have good taste.”

Eda groaned again. “Urgh, I hate you so much.”

King giggled, suddenly dashing down the stairs, his little claws making a scratchy noise against the wood. “You do not!” he called in a sing song.

“I do not,” she mumbled to herself, voice warm.

For a moment, Eda allowed herself to lean against the wall, trying to gather all the feelings that threatened to spill over, wrapping them around herself like a cape. It was unfair, she thought, for feelings to be so exhausting.

Then, feeling lighter and more hopeful that she’d felt in a long time despite everything, went to join Luz and King in the kitchen. Right now, the priority was to allow Camila to rest and get her well again. Her personal plans would have to wait a little longer.

Chapter Text

1. Lilith

The first time Lilith saw Eda in the glade, she had been so surprised that she didn’t understand what she’d seen until much later.

After all, she’d been there picking flowers too. She’d been doing it out of duty, however, the repayment of an unasked favor to someone she owed a lot and hated being indebted to. Therefore, because Lilith had spent all of her morning digging out and repotting flowers for magical purposes, it never occurred to her that Eda could have any other reason to be doing the same thing.

The second time Lilith saw Eda, to her credit, she had been paying more attention.

Not that she had not been paying attention the first time, mind. Ever since the mess that had been Lilith’s capture of Eda --which Lilith refused to think as a betrayal, no matter what her nightmares whispered to her at night-- she’d been hyper aware of everything related to her sister.

However, she had been doing so from a distance. After the adrenaline of their escape had faded, and Eda had secured Luz and King inside the Owl House, she had refused to look at Lilith at all.

“Edalyn…” Lilith had started, helplessly, because there wasn’t anything, really, that she could have said to her sister at the time.

Still, although Lilith had seen it coming, Eda’s flinch had been painful to watch. She had been tense, and her averted eyes especially hurt because through the years Eda had always been annoying, and nosy, but had never once ignored Lilith for any reason whatsoever.

“No, Lilith,” she’d said, and both her low, wounded voice and the way she hadn’t called her Lily as usual, were like arrows to the target that was Lilith's heart. “I can’t--I’m not...no.”

“I know,” Lilith had miserably whispered. It had been many years since she had last cried, but at that moment it had been like a dam had overflowed, silent tears welling to her eyes. “I know.” And then, very quietly, “I’m sorry.”

Eda had nodded, not in acceptance or an absolution but in acknowledgment, and Lilith had vanished.

Inside Lilith’s mind, there was a box.

It had always been there, since she’d been little, but as she grew up the box became sturdier, heavier, stronger. In it, Lilith put all the feelings that got in the way of her duty, everything that would make her less than perfect, all those thoughts that would hinder her.

She put this memory in there as well-- locked away Eda’s hurt eyes, and her voice. She locked the memory together of that of the human girl screaming as Lilith threw her at spikes, her panicked voice as Lilith pushed her down, begging for Eda to leave and save herself.

Instead of thinking of those things, Lilith watched from afar.

Unseen, she’d kept watch on Eda and those of hers. She’d witnessed Eda’s sleepless nights, and she’d been watching as Eda, Luz and King had gone to the human world through the portal.

Befriending the house demon --Hooty, as he called himself-- had been an unexpected event, but to Lilith’s surprise he made a decent cup of tea, and through his chatter could be both disturbing and aggravating, through it Lilith caught glimpses of Eda’s life, and it was enough.

So, although the first time Lilith had seen Eda in the glade had been accidental, the second time Lilith had 100% gone in hopes of seeing her sister again.

Despite what other people might have said (and did, but she was not thinking about that either), she had not been stalking Eda. Even so, Lilith’s heart had jumped in her chest when she’d seen her sister in the clearing again. She’d hurried to hide --but only because Eda wouldn’t want to see her-- and so it had taken her several minutes for what she’d been doing to fully sink in.

Eda was picking flowers.

But not picking, picking. She was kneeling on the ground, carefully examining each plant with the care a person would only take when they were…

From her hidden place in the thicket, Lilith blinked.

It was not possible, was it? Even if Eda was in love --and Lilith had never known her to have developed more than crushes on anyone-- surely she wouldn’t resort to such an old fashioned tradition.

But as she watched Eda painstakingly inspect every petal of the small blue flower, Lilith was forced to recognize the truth that, although unexpected, was glaringly obvious, because not even the keenest potioneer would have looked at a plant with such longing, or be so gentle when taking it from the earth to plant it in a modest wicker pot.

The third time had not been so much chance as Lilith confirming her theory.

Exactly a week later she found Eda again at the glade, looking for yellow flowers, and this time there was no other explanation for Eda’s behaviour: sundrops had no magical properties whatsoever, and people only ever used them as gifts in courtships.

And, despite what had happened between them --or perhaps because of it-- Lilith found she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She knew it was unfair, but she couldn’t come to terms with the fact that Eda --her baby sister-- was in love with someone enough that she was courting them.

In her mind, the box shook, a memory trying to free itself from its containment.

“I’ve said this before, but you don’t know her as well as you think,” Nor commented one night, a few days later, when Lilith could stay silent no longer. They had been in the kitchen, as usual, sitting in front of the beautiful fireplace, and the demon had been working in a piece of embroidery. “You have always been blind when it comes to her.”

Lilith gritted her teeth, biting her tongue like she had done when she was young and trying to hide her temper as not to get into trouble. Nor --a demon, of all people-- had given her shelter and hidden her when the Emperor’s coven had been looking for her. A wild witch, of course, although not nearly as powerful as Eda had been.

Lilith hated it. She had found she hated everything these days: Nor, and her kindness, and feeling indebted to someone who had not asked anything in return. She hated feeling uncertain all the time, never sure when the other shoe would drop, hated feeling useless, and directionless, and empty -- and most of all, Lilith hated herself. She hated herself fiercely and wholly, with the bitterness of a person that had deluded herself for a long time, and now, forced to take a good look at her heart, had found herself sorely wanting.

When Lilith looked away from the fire, it was only to meet Nor’s thoughtful stare. Lilith didn’t know why, but for the life of her she couldn’t help but feel unbalanced in the demon’s presence. It was, of course, because it had been a very long time since Lilith had been with a friend, someone who didn’t mean to use her and meant her no ill, but of course that was something that would take her a very long time to realize.

“I know her better than anyone,” Lilith scoffed, trying for dignity but only coming across as petulant and stubborn: a child that wants attention but doesn’t know how to ask for it.

“If you say so,” Nor agreed, placidly, returning her attention to her needlework.

It was like she was dismissing the whole thing, and that rubbed Lilith wrong, the feeling too close to being ignored for her to take easily.

“I’ve always been the one closest to her,” she insisted, and even as she said it she knew her voice was too loud, and suddenly she was uncertain as to why she was so upset, if this was about Eda at all, or if there was something else Lilith had missed.

Inside her mind, the box rattled once more, loudly.

And, as usual, when Nor looked at her, patiently, with those sharp unnatural emerald eyes that seemed to look straight through her, Lilith had to look away. She couldn’t stand that look, and she didn’t understand why she felt the way she did, and it terrified her.

The demon hummed, a non-committal sound, and when she spoke again her voice was so nonchalant that she might as well have been talking about the weather.

“You want to be as special to her as she is to you, but you also want her to be this person you made up in your head. You knew her once, when you were children, but she grew up and you didn’t. This hurts you, but you’ve never been honest about it, and so it has been a long time since you last saw her clearly.”

Lilith’s eyes widened, taken aback. In the months she’d been under Nor’s roof they had talked plenty of times, but, Lilith realized for the first time, never about anything personal. Maybe that was why what Nor was saying hurt so much to hear.

“You know nothing about us!” Lilith hissed. She could feel herself flushing, although not in anger-- pain, and shame, and regret and hurt -- the feeling of something cracking somewhere inside her and spilling things that she had long kept contained.

“Perhaps. But I know people. I have been around long enough for that,” the demon shrugged. “I may know nothing about the Owl Lady, but you’ve been under my roof, and I will tell you this, Lilith Clawthorne: you may love her, but love is not the same as respect, and you don’t respect your sister. And this is plain to see to anyone with eyes because you can’t even address her by the name she prefers.”

Lilith had fled.

She had flown into the night using her staff, blind and directionless.

As she flew into the dark sky, she felt like shattering, like the box inside her mind had finally shattered open, all the ghosts and memories she had locked away finally flying away like hungry birds that could no longer be contained.

She’d known.

Deep down, Lilith had known, even if she’d never had the courage to acknowledge it-- because acknowledging that she had not treated Eda with respect meant that she’d not only cursed her, but that, all these years, she had continued to hurt her, stomping over her feelings just to save herself from well deserved guilt.

It meant that it was not the curse that had made their relationship unsalvageable --a mistake she had made when young and scared-- but everything that had come afterwards: the lies, and the mocking, and the selfishness.

She had made Eda, and her love for her, into a prop to justify herself. To make herself feel good about her actions.

She’d put herself over Eda, not once, but again and again.

It was that simple.

She crashed somewhere in the dark, but the storm that was her feelings was so strong that she didn’t even notice the physical pain.

Instead, she cried.

She cried as she had not done since she was little. Loudly, shamelessly and honestly and brokenly, she wept her heart out, and the forest protected her, witnessing her pain in gentle silence.

Afterwards, Lilith wouldn’t know how long she had cried, but when she had finally come to her senses, she’d found herself in the glade. There she sat, miserably, hugging her knees with her back against a tree, and so deep in her thoughts she was that she barely noticed the sky changing colors, or the sun spilling through the clearing.

And yet, when Lilith heard rustling, her body instinctively moved to hide, certain of who it must be that had come for flowers.

For a while, Lilith just watched Eda in silence. She followed her sister with her eyes as the woman considered several of the flowers of the glade. However, Eda didn’t work for long until she snorted, rolled her eyes, and said, voice loud in the silence of the forest:

“You don’t have to hide. I know you’re there.”

For an endless moment, Lilith froze, paralized with both fear and dread.

She struggled with her feelings for a long time, trying to decide what she should do, what she wanted to do, and what she ought to want to do. Yet, in the end, perhaps because she was exhausted, and the crying had left her empty, she stepped out of her hiding spot and into the clearing, revealing herself to Eda.

Eda nodded, in acknowledgment once more, and went back to work.

This time, it was Lilith who had trouble looking at her sister. Instead, she sat down in the shade, no longer caring how she looked, or if her dress got dirty. She felt raw, like her heart was there for everyone to see, but it didn’t escape her how Eda, just by the virtue of her presence, made her feel okay again, like things would be fine between them, sometime in the future.

Lilith loved her.

It was a dumb thing to realize, how much she loved Eda, but she did. She loved her, and her love had not been enough.

They stayed there, Lilith sitting under a tree and Eda examining every single plant on the glade, for several hours. Neither of them spoke, and in the end Eda sighed, frustrated and unhappy, and that more than anything snapped Lilith out of her gloomy thoughts and into the present.

“Have you ever met someone…” Eda started, and Lilith’s eyes widened a little in surprise. “That makes you feel like...home? Like you...belong. Like you’re wanted, and you have to do nothing more than exist.”

Lilith swallowed, her heart beating faster in her chest at Eda’s confession.

“I have...not,” she answered, carefully, although she had the inkling that it might not be quite true.

Eda sighed, running a hand through her wind swept hair. It was a familiar gesture, dear because Eda’s hair had always been wild, even when they were children.

Lilith fumbled for words for an endless moment, desperate not to break the small trust Eda had deemed to place on her, keenly aware she didn’t deserve it.

“Has your courtship not gone well?” she asked, tentatively.

Eda shot a quick glance at her, as if to assess her reaction, and it hurt because that was familiar too.

“I don’t really know,” Eda answered, and Lilith blinked, unable to understand what Eda meant but certain that pushing for more would be unwelcome.

Indeed, Eda didn’t say anything further. They sat in awkward silence for a while, the tension between them so strong that it felt almost like electricity, before Eda returned once more to her task with endless tenacity.

Someone that makes you feel like home, Lilith repeated to herself, turning the words this way and that in her head. Eda had been that for her, she realized, for way longer than she had been that for her sister.

Lilith cursed herself, grimacing at the ugliness of the situation.

It was too much-- too much hurt, too much emotion, too many mistakes. Everything felt too tangled, and Lilith didn’t know what the correct course of action was, but as she watched Eda assess a white flower with a critical eye, the love she felt for her overwhelmed everything else for a second.

She allowed it to. It was hard to allow herself this, to not taint the love with guilt or jealousy, but in the end Lilith allowed herself to love Eda like she had when they were little: wholly, and fully, the kind of love that wants nothing in return.

In a swift movement, Lilith stood and turned around, going back into the forest without a word.

It might amount to nothing. She might be wrong, and Eda might not accept her gesture, but Lilith had seen the colors of the flowers. If red was already delivered, it meant that Eda must be trying to find white next.

It was a memory that guided her.

A memory of warm hands, and laughter, and flowers in the window, and a song their grandmother had sang to them, a long time ago. And it was a strange thing, because two days ago Lilith would not have pegged Eda as someone sentimental. However, this time Lilith had looked: Eda had been looking for white flowers, and if none of the ones in the glade had convinced her, it must be because the one she’d been looking for didn’t grow in the glade.

She didn’t have the tools for it, but when she found what she was looking for she set herself to the task, not caring that Eda might not be there when Lilith returned.

Lilith’s heart was in her throat when she returned to the glade to find Eda still there. All of her ached-- her fingers, her back, and her arms and her heart -- and she barely had the courage to say, “Is this the one you were looking for?”

Shyly, she showed the small plant she had cupped in her hands, perfect white flowers blooming in the midst of deep pink-purple leaves.

Lilith knew she had guessed correctly when Eda’s expression shifted, surprise mingling with another soft emotion Lilith couldn’t name, because it was tradition for family to help choose flowers, as a sign of approval, when there was a courtship.

“Lilith…”

“Like grandma’s song,” Lilith explained, needlessly.

Eda swallowed. “Like grandma’s song,” she nodded, and gently took the flower from Lilith’s hands, accepting the flower.

Lilith stepped back as Eda carefully potted the plant, giving her space and trying not to cry.

Eda was packed and ready to go in a second, and Lilith was preparing to leave too --wondering where she was going to go to-- when Eda’s voice rang from the other side of the clearing.

“Lily!” she called, and Lilith turned around, surprised. “Thank you. And take care.”

Lilith swallowed, trying to fight against the wave of emotion.

“You too,” she managed to say. It was difficult to continue, but she had to, and it was not so much courage than love that tempered her words, “Good luck with the courtship. Eda.”

Eda froze for a second, eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

It was also love that kept Lilith in place, eyes unaverted. She neither pressured nor asked for more, because the path she saw before her was long yet, but gave Eda everything she could read in her expression.

For a moment, Eda just looked at her, head tilted, as if considering her.

In the end, it wasn’t much. Eda’s expression softened, barely the shadow of her usual grin, and gave thumbs up to Lilith before grabbing the staff she had left against a tree and flying away.

It wasn’t much, but it was something.

It was something.

“Lilith?” a familiar voice asked, and Lilith turned in time to see a hooded figure coming toward her from the depths of the forest. “Are you okay? I’m sorry I said too much. You didn’t return, and I thought…”

Speechless, Lilith stared at Nor, the demon she had not considered a friend but had come to look for her during the day even when the sun hurt her.

“You look terrible,” Nor informed her, a gloved hand resting lightly on Lilith’s shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

Home, Lilith repeated, numb.

What other things had she overlooked, and what kind of world she had been looking at until now?

She had a long way ahead. There were many things she had to think about, and she still felt lost.

But...

Under the hood, Nor’s expression was concerned.

Open.

Accepting.

Lilith didn’t understand why. Not yet. But she nodded.

And, slowly, so very slowly, Lilith began her journey back home.

2. Willow

By the third day Luz had returned to the Boiling Isles for good, Willow had known that her friend was not okay.

Sure, Luz was outwardly happy as usual, but Willow had always been perceptive. That was something her dads had always told her, and by now she knew it was true-- there was something bothering Luz that she didn’t want to talk about, and Willow would be there when her friend was ready.

It had taken Luz two weeks to break down, and Willow would have been impressed had she not been so worried.

It had been an ordinary day. They had been at the Owl House, just hanging out and playing Hexes Hold'em. Amity had been winning --much to King’s chagrin-- but even King and Gus’ excitement hadn’t been enough to cover the way Luz looked out of the window for the third time in ten minutes.

From across the table, Amity caught Willow’s eye. She had noticed it too, and it was strange because even with everything that had happened between them, they still knew each other enough to understand the other without words.

“Luz, are you okay?” Willow asked, because while she knew Amity would have her back, she also knew Amity’s feelings for Luz would render her speechless at the slightest provocation.

“Huh? Of course I’m fine!” Luz lied immediately, returning her attention to the game, and her smile was wide enough that Willow might have believed her a couple months back.

“You’ve been looking out of that window a lot,” Willow commented, neutrally, and Luz grimaced a little.

“She’s worried about Eda,” King informed them, placing down a card that proceeded to reduce Gus’ tower to ashes.

“Have Eda and your mom not fixed their misunderstanding?” Amity ventured, placing one of her cards down in a spot that made Gus groan aloud.

“Really, Amity?” he complained, and closed his mouth when Willow threw him a look. “You’re all ganging up on me,” he mumbled under his breath.

“It’s not that,” sighed Luz, watching as one of her cards tried to eat one of Amity’s, only to be mercilessly destroyed. “It’s just...dunno. It’s dumb.”

“It can’t be dumb if you’re worried about it,” Willow pointed out, and allowed one of Gus’ cards to take out one of hers.

“It’s...weird,” Luz shrugged. “I guess I just thought that when mom knew about the Boiling Isles then everything would be okay.”

Willow frowned.

“And is everything not okay?”

“That’s why I said it’s dumb.” Luz grimaced, barely blocking King’s attack. “Like, things are good! I’ve been talking to my mom about a lot of things, and she’s been great about me learning magic. Everything’s going just like I wanted, and yet…” she trailed off. She distractedly watched Amity’s cards destroy King’s, the central one ripping the others to pieces.

“Yet?” Gus asked, casually like he was not paying attention, and Willow smiled.

“I feel...torn?” Luz frowned, as if trying to put her thoughts together. “I’m not attending human school right now, but I think I have to? Eventually? And that’s okay but...argh! It’s like...before the Boiling Isles, I always thought I’d be a writer. But when I found out I could learn magic, I thought I’d rather be a witch! But realistically...I can’t do both. I can’t just...come here and be a witch and leave mom alone. But if I ever go to college I’m going to have to stay in the human world, and I won’t see you guys or Eda again. It’s like I got all I wanted but at the same time there’s no way for me to get what I want.”

The room was still for a moment as the game stopped, the only sound the one of King’s cards smoking into ashes.

Willow was glad that Amity had placed a hand on Luz’s shoulder, because she herself couldn’t do it from across the table.

“...do you really have to go away for this college thing?” King asked after a while.

“Yeah, probably.”

“That sounds...difficult,” Amity said then. “But, well, I don’t see the problem. Aren’t you already a witch?”

The way everyone stared at her made Amity flush. Quickly, she snatched her hand back, looking down to her lap in embarrassment.

“I mean...they’re plenty of witches that don’t work with magic?” Amity continued, speaking very fast. “And...there are writers here too? Or people who change tracks? Huh...what I mean to say is, maybe you don’t have to choose? Huh, it’s not like people are only ever one thing.”

Although she could not see her, Willow grinned at Amity. Beside her, Luz was staring at Amity open mouthed, and Amity was growing redder by the second.

“Amity’s right!” Gus piped up. “And even if you go to that colesh thing, it doesn’t mean we won’t ever see each other again! After all, my uncles live on the other side of the Isles, and we always manage to meet when it counts. It can’t be that different.”

“Guys,” Luz said, joyful and full of feelings.

“You’re stuck with us forever,” Willow added. “No matter what.”

“No matter what,” Luz accepted.

“No matter what!” Gus yelled, and Luz chose that moment to launch herself over the table, disturbing all the cards, and the group hug got derailed by the chaos of cards exploding and running everywhere.

“Hooty, don’t let them into the kitchen!” King yelled, and they were laughing as they chased the cards through the living room, and Willow was so, so grateful she had gotten the chance to meet Luz, and have everyone as friends.

The clean up was long and tedious, but by the time Eda came back home, they were all sitting innocently around the kitchen table, eating snacks.

The future would bring what it may, but until then, the children felt safe in the knowledge that, whatever happened, they would face it together.

No matter what.

3. Camila

Although the sky was clear, without a single cloud to mar its deep blue, the morning air was cold enough that Camila had to hide her face in her scarf to breathe. She had always loved the sharp cold of clear autumn mornings, and that year autumn had arrived more gorgeous than ever, all golden leaves and azure skies.

As she walked, Camila enjoyed that morning too, doubly happy because she was on her way to meet a friend she hadn’t had time to catch up with for a long time.

When she opened the door, the café, as usual, was busy. It was a small thing, one of those hole-in-the-wall places, with huge windows and plants everywhere, cozy but not fancy by any means. It was Camila’s favorite place to have breakfast. Her mouth was watering already, because although it wasn’t overbearing, the smell of food and spices was there in the air, familiar enough that it reminded her of her own mother’s cooking when she’d been a child.

Camila was right on time, but true to her nature, her friend was already sitting on a table by the window, in the sunniest spot in the room because she tended to get cold easily. As if she had felt Camila’s eyes on her, the woman looked up, her severe face breaking into a grin when she caught sight of her.

“Camila!” Josefa exclaimed, happy like they hadn’t seen each other in a hundred years as opposed to yesterday, and stood to hug Camilia in greeting.

“I’m sorry I made you wait,” Camila said, answering the hug.

“Nonsense,” Josefa rebuked her. “You’re never late. You know how I am.”

Camila did. Josefa was the head nurse at the hospital where Camila worked. She had been Camila’s boss for the last seven years, and they had been best friends for almost as long.

They ordered coffee and breakfast, and conversation was easy. They very seldom had time to catch up at the hospital, so they took their time now, talking about work gossip and then about their children, for Josefa’s youngest son had recently announced he was getting married to his long term boyfriend.

“They make such a nice couple,” Josefa beamed. She had never been one to boast about her children, but the happiness in her voice was unmistakable. “It feels like it was yesterday when he came out to me, all nervous, like I wasn’t the one who raised him. Boy, I figured it was a possibility!”

Camila chuckled, happy to listen to the details about the wedding.

Soon after, the conversation moved on to another topics, and they were lingering over their second cup of coffee when Josefa looked at Camila, with those intelligent eyes that were so good at figuring out when a patient was lying, and finally asked, “What about you? Don’t think I haven’t noticed that something’s been going on that you haven’t told me.”

“Ah,” Camila sighed, looking down at her coffee. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to talk about it, but instead it was that she was not used to asking for advice.

After the day she had come down with a stress induced fever, true to her word, Eda had not appeared in front of her again. It had been a relief of sorts at the time, because it had been hard enough to deal with Luz’s desire to learn magic, and trying to navigate how to best support her had taken priority over everything else, leaving little room for her to process her feelings for Eda.

However, after the first week, Camila had found on her porch a potted plant, with big leaves and clusters of flowers very similar to lilac, and a letter from Eda.

It had taken Camila three days to gather the courage to read it, and when she had, it had not been what she’d expected. The letter had been almost nonsensical, a retelling of some mischief Eda had gotten into when she’d been a child. Camila would have laughed had she not been so confused.

Yet, the following week she received another plant, this time the flowers a deep purple, with another letter, and another one the week after that. It was after this third week that Camila realized what Eda was doing in the letters -- she was telling her about her life.

At first, she hadn’t known what to think, but there was something sweet about the gesture, about the flowers themselves, that Camila appreciated. For one, Eda never pressured her in her letters. The tone was light, cheerful, and soon Camila started to look forward to them. They were comforting, in a way, soothing her heart that was still wounded by the feeling of having been lied to. Like these pieces of truth, little by little, were mending a wound too raw to be directly addressed.

Camila hadn’t dwelled much on it. However, as of late, she’d found herself constantly thinking about Eda, missing her and wanting to see her, and that had been a sign that she needed to finally deal with what had happened between them.

Except, of course, Camila didn’t know how to do it.

Carefully, she told everything to Josefa. She didn’t lie, and the only thing she left out was the existence of magic because she didn’t want to address that right now. She told her friend about Eda, and about her feelings for her, and about the letters and her confusion.

“And now I don’t know what to do,” Camila sighed. She felt slightly better just by the fact of having shared what troubled her, and she knew talking about it had been the right call, even if nothing came out of it.

“I see,” Josefa said, frowning as she thought. “Sounds like a complicated situation.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re in love with this woman?”

Camila squirmed in her chair, feeling her face grow hot. She had always appreciated Josefa’s tendency not to beat around the bush, but she couldn’t help the vulnerability.

“I...yes,” she admitted at last, and this too made her feel relieved. It was scary too, because saying it aloud made it somehow more real, but it was also like the acceptance was a weight off her heart.

Josefa nodded. “And does she love you too?”

Camila startled. “I haven’t asked her, but…” she knew the answer to this question. She remembered the way Eda had taken care of her that day, the way she had sang to her --the memory of that still made her heart flutter-- the way she had looked like she wanted to kiss her when Luz had had that nightmare. They had never talked about it, but Camila had known because, despite all else, Eda’s feelings had always been pretty transparent. “I think she also has feelings for me.”

Josefa’s expression gentled.

“Ah well, no one can decide for you. Relationships are difficult, and only you can decide what’s a deal breaker or not,” she shrugged. “Now, let me make clear that I’m not trying to convince you to give her another chance. But I’m going to ask you the same thing I ask my children when they come to me for romantic advice: what are you looking for in a partner, Millie? Are you thinking you’ll only be happy with someone perfect? Someone who doesn’t make mistakes?”

Camila looked down, thoughtful.

“As I said, only you know what you’ll forgive, what you’ll accept or not. It’s your life after all. But...going into a relationship thinking it’ll be easy, or that none of you will have to do any work...that’s naive. In a relationship, everything that happens, big or small, requires work. Is that something the other person will do for you? Is this something you’re willing to do for this person?”

Silently, Camila took a sip of her cold coffee.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to give you better advice,” Josefa said, after a while, and only then did Camila realize she had been silent for too long. “But when it comes to matters of the heart, there’s very seldom a straightforward answer.”

“Oh, no! I...actually, your advice has been very useful. Thank you,” she hurried to reassure her friend. “You have given me a lot to think about,” she smiled, and because she really was grateful, she reached across the table to squeeze the other woman’s hand.

“I’ll support you regardless of what you choose, okay? Let’s not wait this long to talk again. I get that you’ve had a lot going on, but even at my busiest, I’ll always make time for you,” Josefa half-scolded her, and Camila smiled, feeling warm, because she was the kind of person that needed the reassurance, and Josefa knew that too.

It was past noon when they parted ways. The chilly air felt nice against Camila’s face when she left the café, and the day was bright and beautiful, and Camila inhaled deeply fully allowing herself to enjoy the sun kissing her face.

Because she wanted to think, she walked back home. It had been a while since she had had time to herself on a day off. Usually, she spent her free time with Luz, or seeing friends or running errands, and she had almost forgotten the pleasure of just existing in the bright morning, the sweet silence of being comfortable with herself.

So she enjoyed it. It was almost one when she made it back home, and when she opened the door she felt better than she had a long time. Lighter, and although she hadn’t quite decided what she was going to do regarding Eda, she suddenly found that thinking about her no longer hurt.

Smiling, Camila took her jacket off, and because she still had an hour or so until Luz would be home, she decided she might as well take advantage of the silence and nap.

When she fell asleep, Camila had a dream.

It was odd, because she was a light sleeper, and she never dreamt. However, one second she was on the couch, comfortable and warm under a fluffy blanket, and the next she was in the middle of a dark, menacing forest. It was dark, and alien, and although Camila herself felt calm, there was a distinct fear coming from somewhere, the echo of someone that was lost and scared, and trying to find their way home.

Curiously, Camila looked around. She had the distinct feeling that she wasn’t in the human world, yet, she didn’t feel scared. However, that other person was, and Camila longed to find them, to hold them and tell them everything would be fine.

She had to find them.

It was only instinct that guided her, some pull she felt towards deep into the forest.

However, the deeper she went into the forest, the darker it became, and the more difficult it became to advance. Soon, she had to cover her face with her hands and break the branches as she walked. A storm broke out, a strong wind pushing her back. It was like the forest wanted to keep her away from the scared person, but Camila didn’t budge, because this was someone she loved, someone she wanted to protect, someone she wanted at her side.

Hurry.

She needed to hurry.

Camila broke into a run, urgency taking over. She was so concentrated in finding the person that needed her that she didn’t notice when she reached the edge of the cliff. One moment she was in the forest, and the next something was shifting, the ground giving out from under her feet.

She fell.

A spike of fear pierced through her as she lost her footing, and she called for someone, a name that the dream swallowed before it could be uttered. However, the person the name belonged to must have heard it regardless because there was a ripple above Camila’s head, a drop of magic, an echo of something hidden by dark storm clouds that made Camila look up at the sky.

She fell, and once again, the dream changed.

Suddenly, there was no forest, nor cliff, or anything. There was only the grey sky, and the storm Camila was falling through, the cold of the rain clouds sticking to her skin like tears.

She fell.

And then, over the wind and thunder, Camila thought she heard a voice calling her name-- the voice of the person she’d been looking for, the voice of the one she had wanted to see the most.

“Camila!” the voice cried out, and Camila twisted in the air, trying to find its owner.

And then, in an explosion of wind, the sky cleared. Camila looked up, breathless, suddenly blinded by the sun and the pure blue of the sky. There was a person there, diving after her, and understanding bloomed in Camila’s chest because this was the person she had been looking for.

Camila fell, but there were tears in her eyes, because Eda’s face was set in a mask of determination as she dived down, pressing herself against her winged staff to go faster, faster, one hand stretched out towards Camila.

Eda.

Stubborn, infuriating, unpredictable, lovely Eda.

Blindly, Camila reached towards Eda too. However, she was no longer afraid, because the sky was beautiful, and Camila had never been as sure of anything as she was right then that Eda would catch her.

Ah.

That was it.

That was all.

Eda’s hand was strong and warm as she caught Camila in her fall, and her bright grin was the last thing Camila remembered before she woke up.

4. King

It had been long since King had decided that all non-demons were rather stupid.

Not stupid as in unintelligent. Eda, and Luz too, could be pretty smart on a regular basis. Yet, that didn’t mean they weren’t dumb, a fact that King had been forced to live with since the day he had struck his deal with Eda.

As things stood, however, it was not as if his agreement with Eda would be fulfilled any time soon. King didn’t mind. Demons had long lives, and he could wait. The time he got to spend with his unexpected found family was precious, and although he would never tell anyone, he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

After all, he was the King of demons, and demons took care of their own.

Which was why King was so upset by the fact that some of those family members were currently being idiots, because apparently no one in the Owl House could go any length of time without King having to point them in the right direction.

However, because King was a mastermind, he knew he had to bid his time. Luz had decided not to intervene, so although everything was up to him --as usual-- he knew this specific problem required subtlety and wits, both things he possessed in abundance.

So King had waited, and watched.

It had been because he’d been watching that he’d recognized the chance when it presented itself.

It had been a normal afternoon, and when he’d followed Luz through the portal, no one had suspected a thing. That day, he’d been in his human form, an easy transformation thanks to the bracelet Eda had made for him, and although his body always felt weird, he wasn’t too bothered by it. He was used to not being in his real form after all, and it was a matter of getting used to it.

He had not expected to find Camila asleep on the couch, and at first, King could not believe his good luck. Luz had only smiled, silently tip-toeing upstairs as not to disturb her mom.

King had made his plan quickly.

Luz looked suspicious when King asked her to return to the Owl House for something or other, but by now King had mastered the art of being adorable, and he knew neither Luz nor Eda could resist his wide, clueless eyes. He used them then, pleased when Luz sighed and obliged, and with her out of the way he knew his chances of success had dramatically increased.

He chose a place on the floor not too close to Camila as to spook her but also close enough that she could clearly hear him. Around him, he scattered some toys, a decoy to hide his true purpose, and then, softly, he sang.

He didn’t have to wait for long. Three or four minutes later, Camila was blinking awake, looking around her in mild confusion --and King couldn’t help but be curious about that dream, because he was pretty sure Eda had also been asleep back in the Owl House. However, he ignored his curiosity in favor of his plan, and instead continued his ruse of playing and singing until Camila sat up, shaking her head as if to clear it.

“Oh, did you sleep well?” King asked, trying to sound normal, and, although he didn’t know it, failing miserably.

Camila, however, didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she was staring at him with an intensity that told King he had already won.

“King, were you...were you singing?” she asked and King did his best not to cheer in triumph.

“Oh, this?” he asked, injecting as much nonchalance into his voice as he could, and sang again:

Keep this star

keep it in your heart

for it to keep you

for it to keep you

safe from harm.

Keep this flower

keep it in your heart

to remind you

that I love you

with all my heart.

“It’s a love song popular in the Boiling Isles,” King informed her, as innocently as he could. “Old fashioned, perhaps…”

“A love song…” Camilia whispered. She looked stunned. “That last verse…”

“That’s just how the song goes,” he told her, helpfully. “Everyone knows it.”

King had never before watched someone have a blinding realization, so he followed with interest the play of emotion in Camila’s face right then. He watched her blush first, and then look around with shock, to her house that was full of flowers. By now, Eda had sent over half a dozen, and they were all around them, blooming in all the colors of the rainbow: Eda’s feelings exposed for everyone who knew what to look for.

“That idiot,” Camila said, covering her mouth, voice choked.

From upstairs, Luz called out for King, having chosen that moment to return. It didn’t make much difference. King grinned and silently retreated, job done. Hopefully this would give Camila a push in the right direction, so he didn’t have to watch Eda pine for much longer, and they could all be a family once again.

As he went up the stairs, giving the blushing woman some privacy to contemplate her feelings, King congratulated himself for a job well done.

Judging from Camila’s expression, it wouldn’t be long now.

Mission accomplished.

Chapter Text

It took Camilia nearly another week to gather enough courage to put her plan in action.

Honestly, there wasn’t much to it. She had simply asked Luz one morning, after breakfast, if she could use the door to the Boiling Islands, and Camila hadn’t been sure what made her more flustered: Luz’s initial shock, the way her whole expression filled with joy after that, or the way her grin finally settled into a teasing one.

“Claro que sí~~” (1) Luz had answered in a sing song, and Camila had been grateful of the fact that Luz hadn’t teased her any further because she wasn’t sure her heart could take it.

And it was perhaps silly, but after Luz made herself scarce, Camila stood there, alone in her living room, for an embarrassingly long time. The key to the magic door felt warm in her hand, almost pulsating with a strange sort of life, and Camila did her best to fight the anxiousness she felt at the prospect of what she was about to do.

She drew in a breath, slowly, trying to get a hold of herself.

Still, her heart felt tender, because it is always a difficult thing to completely place your heart in someone’s hands, to give it away to be kept or broken, never completely under your care again.

In the end, there were the flowers that gave her courage. Around her, the flowers Eda had given her bloomed bright and beautiful, unmarred by any sort of fear or darkness.

To remind you

that I love you

with all my heart.

Camila’s face was set in unwavering determination when she pressed the eye of the key. Immediately, the door flashed into life, and without losing another second, she opened it, afraid she’d lose her nerve if she waited any longer.

The door closed behind her as swiftly as it had appeared, and Camila allowed herself a second to look around. She had not been to the Boiling Isles many times, and never alone, and yet, the forest didn’t look threatening. Instead it was vaguely familiar, and perhaps because it was never far from her mind, she remembered the dream of falling from the sky, where she had searched for someone through a forest identical to this one.

Slowly, with her heart pounding on her chest, she walked forward this time, too.

However, this time the destination was obvious, because soon the forest gave way to the clearing occupied by the Owl House.

In truth, Camila didn’t know how she felt about it. It was a strange building --although not as odd as other things she’d glimpsed at the Boiling Isles-- and there was something eerie about it, about it’s unexisting symmetry and the eye that stared at her, almost in warning.

For the first time, Camila didn’t dismiss the unease. She had no one to put a show for right now, no one to fake a smile for, no one she had to protect. So she let the disquiet wash over her; acknowledged the worry she felt that this strange world was the one her child might very well choose over hers one day.

Despite this, Camila smiled. It was bittersweet because this worry, although keen, was not new, for it was one all parents faced one day, and from the start she had known she would not be spared from it. After all, it was not like Luz would always be safe, if she stayed in the human world.

It was hard, and it wasn’t like Camila had overcome that fear then and there. It would come back, again and again, but her heart felt lighter nonetheless now that she allowed herself to accept it.

She was still nervous, but her step was confident as she left the shelter of the forest. From the door, Hooty stirred, but his expression was too bright for Camila to worry.

“You’re Luz’s mom!” Hooty yelled, and Camila was barely able to suppress her flinch when the house demon --that was what King had told her he was-- extended from the door and was in front of her in a second.

“And you’re Hooty,” Camila answered, laughing nervously because Hooty was very unsettling.

“That’s my name!” Hooty answered, in that over-excited way he seemed to have. “Hello, Luz’s mom!”

“You may call me Camila, you know.”

“Ok! Hi C a m i l a.”

He said it like that, stretching the word, and the woman smiled soothingly, talking back a couple of steps.

“Huh, is Eda in?”

“Nuh-uh. Eda’s out right now,” Hooty answered. “But you can come into the house and wait for her. Eda gave her permission.”

Camila blinked. “She...did?”

“Uh huh. She said not to creep you out if you ever came here, and that you were always welcome!”

Something warm bloomed in Camila’s chest, soothing her nerves. Her smile gentled too, becoming more genuine, because truly, that woman.

“Well, then. If it’s alright with you, I’ll wait for her.”

“Okay!” Hooty agreed, and immediately folded back up into the door.

“King?” Camila asked, just outside the door, and Hooty shook his head.

“He’s not here either!” he answered. “But I can keep you company!”

“...that won’t be necessary, Hooty.”

Tentatively, Camila walked inside.

The house was quiet, strangely still compared to the strange life of the forest, and as she took her first steps in, she looked around with interest. The first time she’d been here, she had been too stressed to really pay attention, more focused on Luz than on anything else. She took her time looking around now, her interest not only coming from the fact this was the place Luz had been living in for months, but because this was Eda’s home, and that made Camila’s interest more selfish.

And it truly was a nice place. Once you looked past the weapons on the wall --Camila rolled her eyes at those, somewhat unsurprised that Eda was the kind of person who showcased those sort of things-- the room was...nice. Cozy. It looked lived in, the books and knick-knacks piled on the shelves and tables giving a sense of the personality of those that lived in the house.

She looked in wonder at the golden owl markings in the ceiling, taking the time to appreciate their beauty, wondering if there was some special meaning behind them before she moved to peer at the pictures hanging from the wall.

There were pictures of Luz.

In the midst of photos of people Camila didn’t know, Luz beamed at her, and Camila placed a hand over her heart as she looked-- Luz in what looked like an eating competition, Luz in front of the Owl House giving thumbs up while wearing her Hexide uniform, Luz in the middle of a sports match. Camila laughed, fondly, when she saw Luz in a Banned poster, both because of course Luz had managed to get herself banned from a magical demonic school, and because it figured that Eda would frame such a thing.

And then, finally, Camila went to the Wanted poster that had scared her so much the last time she’d been in the house.

She still wasn’t sure what to feel about it. It scared her, if she was honest with herself. However, this time it was not only because of Luz, but because of its implications, and what it must have meant for Eda to be wanted for...what? Camila didn’t know, but she resolved herself to ask before judging. She didn’t believe for a second Eda could have done anything that would turn Camila away from her, but, well. It was also a risk that she had to take, like jumping from a cliff and hoping someone would catch her.

A commotion coming from inside the house startled Camila out of her thoughts. A door opened somewhere, and Camila had only had the time to take one step forwards before Hooty loudly announced:

“Eda! Camila is in the house!”

“What!?” Eda’s voice answered. Quick steps were Camila’s only warning and then Eda was there, looking startled, and ah.

It truly didn’t matter.

Camila looked at her, and felt no fear. Eda was disheveled, hair wilder than usual, and she had the air of someone who had been working outside. And nothing mattered, because in that moment Camila felt nothing but longing, deep and sweet, and if she hadn’t been sure of what she wanted she would have known it right then and there.

“Camila?” Eda asked, alarmed. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no!” Camila managed to say, and it felt unbelievable that Eda could not hear her heart beating. “No, nothing’s wrong. I...is this a bad time?”

“Of course not!” Eda answered, way too quickly to be true, and Camila didn’t fail to notice that she had hidden something behind her back.

A flower pot, Camila realized, and god, how was it possible to feel so much for another person?

“Huh…” Eda cleared her throat, and by now Camila knew her enough to recognize the embarrassment. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Camila smiled. “No, I just wanted to see you,” she said, amazed at how easy the truth came to her.

Eda, however, made a small, choked sound, and looked away, the tips of her ears turning red.

A couple of seconds of silence passed between them, awkward and heavy, but Camila was too busy staring at Eda to care.

“...aren’t you angry?” Eda asked, at last, finally raising her eyes. Gold and grey.

Camila took a second to think about it.

“A bit,” she answered, the truth. “Yes. I’m still mad, mainly for the danger you put Luz in, but...I missed you,” she repeated, and swallowed. This was it. “And I know we have a lot to discuss but I was also wondering if maybe-- you’d like to have dinner? Sometime?”

This was not what Camila had planned. It was not what she had come to say --discuss--, but suddenly it occurred to her that it wasn’t important. They had time. Things didn’t need to happen all at once.

“Yes,” Eda answered, and how she managed to look vulnerable, hopeful and defiant at the same time was a mystery to Camila. “I’d--yeah. I mean. I’d like that.”

“Good,” Camila said. She felt like laughing, and also like a fool because it was not like she hadn’t known her affections were requited. So she grinned instead, bright and full of joy, delighted.

Eda looked surprised for a moment before her own expression gentled, her own grin fond and affectionate. It made butterflies flutter into life in Camila’s stomach, and she was a grown woman for god’s sake, so what was about Eda that made her feel young and inexperienced again?

“Guys! Awkward!” Hooty announced from where he was peeking through the window, and Eda groaned loudly before narrowing her eyes at him.

“Shut up, Hooty!”

“Ah, well,” Camila managed, chuckling to try to hide the way her heart was trying to beat out of her chest. “My shift actually starts in,” she checked her clock. “Two hours. So...I’ll let you know the details?”

“Sure,” Eda accepted, half pouting and half still glaring at Hooty.

Camila chuckled again at her expression. “Okay then,” she nodded, and it was all she could do not to close the distance between them and do something incredibly embarrassing.

Honestly, it took her a beat too long to actually turn around to leave. In truth, she didn’t want to, which was unexpected, because it had been long since she had last wanted to ditch work --everything-- to just hang out with someone she loved.

Pull yourself together, she scolded herself, blushing brightly at her own feelings and fiercely glad that the magic door meant that in three seconds she was back in her living room.

“¿Y bieeeeen?” (2) Luz asked, sly and curious, from where she was sitting at the stairs obviously waiting for her.

Camila laughed. But this was something she was used to, so she teased Luz by not telling her anything yet, amused to hear her beg for an update (as she called it) and by the way Luz followed her from room to room, like a little bird, something she had not done since she’d been very little.

The happiness carried Camila through her shift that day, and when Josefa raised an eyebrow at her, she pulled her away to tell her what had happened. And when she returned home, it was to a white flower --the same one Eda had been hiding behind her back earlier that day-- and the customary letter waiting for her in her front step.

It was only then, after she had made sure Luz was in bed, that Camila sat on her own bed with the letter and allowed herself to blush and laugh and generally behave like the lovesick fool she felt like.

Planning a date turned out more stressful than Camila had expected, for several reasons.

First or all, although it was not directly related to it, and she was pretty sure she knew what her answer would be, because before anything happened with Eda she had to check in with Luz.

“¿Qué opinas?” (3) she asked, after she sat Luz down the next day to explain her intention to date Eda.

“¿En serio me estás preguntando?” The exasperated look Luz gave her made Camila smile. “¡Es genial! Eda es muy rara, pero es una buena persona y la quiero mucho. Y te adora.” Luz smirked, obviously pleased with herself when she managed to make Camila blush. However, after a bit, her smile softened and she climbed on Camila’s lap, hiding her face on her mother’s shoulder. “Me da mucho gusto por ti, mami.”

At fourteen, Luz was already too big to comfortably sit on Camila’s lap. She was too tall, too heavy-- and she was also Camila’s child and there would never be a time when she wouldn’t cuddle her when she had the chance.

“Gracias, corazón,” Camila mumbled into Luz’s hair, pressing her daughter close to her heart and willing the love she felt for Luz to flow into her, so she’d always feel loved and never doubt her place in the world again.

That, however, had been the easy part. As the days went by, Camila found herself at a loss as to what to do for Eda-- because the truth was that she wanted to do something for her. Nonetheless, the fact remained that she didn’t know much about the Boiling Isles, and she didn’t want to make the mistake of doing something insensitive (not that she thought Eda would be offended even if she did, it was the principle of the thing).

In the end, she decided to ask for help, and that was how she ended up in her garden, surrounded by four teenagers (and King) that were looking at her with several degrees of interest.

“Ahem!” Luz cleared her throat, standing up to get the other’s attention. “I have summoned you here for a purpose. The mission: Help Mom Plan a Date with Eda.”

“Oh, god.” Camila groaned, resting her head on the wooden table she had in her backyard, and wondering if it had been a good idea to get the kids involved.

“Don’t worry Mrs Noceda,” Willow comforted her, the sweetheart. “We know Luz, and we won’t let her get too over her head.”

“Hey!” Luz protested. “I never get too over my head!”

“You did get banned when you pretended to be my abomination,” Willow reminded her.

“Also, there was that time you took Owlbert without permission,” Gus chimed in, and Camila raised her eyebrows.

Luz groaned and turned to Amity.

“Amity?” she pleaded.

“You did challenge Boscha to a grudgby match when you had never played before,” Amity answered, apologetic, and Luz pouted.

“Not a word,” she snapped at King when he opened his mouth to contribute to the list. He shrugged. “Okay, first of all, the abomination thing was not completely my fault, and second, that’s not even the point!”

“Yes,” Gus agreed. “The point is that we’re going to help your mom plan a date that doesn’t include anything weird.”

“I mean, it is Eda who she’s going out with,” King pointed out, helpfully.

“Yes, but first dates are important!” Willow chimed in, and Camila, because she was starting to understand what the dynamic was between them, was suddenly very grateful that Willow was Luz’s friend.

“They are!” Gus said. “When dad met pops, he took him to a grudgby match. Eda played at Hexside, didn’t she? Maybe something like that?”

“Mmm, I don’t know,” Willow intervened. “Something lively does seem to suit Eda, but...what do you think, Amity?”

Amity startled. “Me?”

Willow nodded. “Well sure. Your parents are more...traditional.”

“And are we sure Eda would like traditional?” Gus asked, disbelieving.

From where she was sitting a little bit apart, just listening to the conversation, Camila hummed in agreement. In truth, she felt she had a pretty good grasp of who Eda was from the letters, and just generally having been around her, and indeed traditional was not something she’d ever peg her as.

And then, to everyone’s surprise, King spoke up.

“No, no,” he said. “Traditional has merit. Let’s hear it.”

“Well, if it’s a courtship,” Amity began, and Camila’s heart skipped a beat. “Then they would go to a garden, you know… flower stuff.” Both Gus and Willow nodded, but Camila only stared forward in disbelief, because surely Eda wouldn’t…?

“Flower stuff?” Luz asked.

Camila barely heard Amity’s explanation over the loud sound of her heart. She could barely breathe. There was a loud roaring in her ears, because King had said--he had said love, not-- not--

When she finally was able to move, she found that King was looking straight at her, his strange yellow eyes sharp and intelligent.

Oh, god, he had known.

Camila didn’t know who she was going to kill first, if Eda for being incredibly cryptic, or King for generally being a conniving little demon.

By the end of Amity’s explanation, Luz’s eyes were wide. Thankfully, she said nothing: Amity, Willow and Gus had not been inside the house yet, and thus they hadn’t seen the flowers.

“Oookay,” Luz whistled. She looked stunned. “So, what do you want to do, mom?”

Go find Eda and kiss her and then strangle her, Camila’s mind supplied helpfully. With a sigh, she slid up her glasses to rub her eyes, tiredly, torn between laughter and exasperation. It was not like she hadn’t known Eda was a handful beforehand.

“Let’s...let’s go for something a bit traditional,” she decided, still unable to get over how dumb Eda was. “We can put a twist to it.”

“Okay!” the kids chorused, and dutifully started to brainstorm.

With the kids busy, Camila took an extra moment for herself, a moment to gather her feelings together and tuck them back into her heart.

Amazement.

Aggravation.

Joy.

Affection.

Camila shook her head. “That woman,” she sighed again, but it was indulgent, fond.

Finally, shaking her head and feeling both excited and hopeful for the future, Camila turned her attention to planning.

Eda finished buttoning up her black shirt and looked at herself in the mirror, critically.

Thoughtfully, she smoothed her hands down the front of her shirt and took a step back to look at herself in the mirror. If she was honest with herself, she looked good. Eda had always been confident in her looks --had learnt to be-- and the tailored black trousers and the shirt looked good on her. With her high heeled boots, she knew she’d look amazing.

And yet…

“You look great!” Luz offered from where she was unobtrusively sitting in a corner of Eda’s room, watching her get ready for her date, and Eda smiled, trying to tame her nerves.

“I always look great, kid,” she grinned, and saying it aloud helped her boost her confidence. Luz rolled her eyes, so naturally Eda had to go to her and ruffle her hair, affectionately. “But thanks.”

Luz giggled, eyes mischievous. “Mom and Eda sitting under a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” she sang, teasing.

Eda blinked. “What’s that?” she asked, sitting down on a wooden chest to put her boots on.

“Oh, I forget you wouldn’t know.” Luz thought for a moment, and apparently she gave up on explaining because she shrugged. “It means you want mom to like you.”

“She already likes me,” Eda pointed out. It was an incredibly embarrassing thing to say, but it was also the truth. If Eda’s heart still skipped a beat at the thought, if she was still unused to the joy of her feelings being reciprocated, she was not going to tell a soul.

“She sure does!” Luz agreed, like it was natural, and Eda had to bite her lip not to swoon like a schoolgirl.

“IT’S TIME!!” Hooty screeched from just outside the open window, and although Eda had been expecting it, still she flinched at his voice. “IT’S TIME!!! TIME!!! IF YOU DON’T LEAVE NOW YOU’LL BE LATE!!! T I M E !!!”

“We already heard you, Hooty!” Eda snapped.

Hooty pouted. “I’m only trying to help! Hooot!”

“You helped, Hooty,” Luz soothed him. Eda sighed, loudly and over dramatically, but still she went to the chair to get the maroon suit jacket and put it on.

She looked at her reflection one last time in the mirror before she turned to Luz.

“Well?” she asked, and Luz grinned, giving her thumbs up.

“Perfect,” she declared. With ease, Luz jumped out of the stool she’d been sitting on and, full of an energy that was contagious, dashed out of the room and down the stairs. “Come on!” she yelled at Eda, and her excitement made Eda chuckle, soothing her nerves.

When Eda made it to the living room, Luz had already opened the door, bouncing in the ball of her feet in excitement. On her shoulder, Owlbert cooed, and Eda smiled gently at him.

“Thank you,” she answered him, and pressed him against her cheek when Owlbert flew over to be cuddled.

Luz held the owl staff upright for Owlbert to lock back into. He did so, obediently, and his eyes shone golden as the staff extended its wings, ready to fly.

“Your ride is ready, ma’am,” Luz curtsied, and Eda huffed, secretly enderaded.

It was strange to have Luz flying her staff. It was not something witches did, to use someone else’s staff, but Eda found she didn’t mind. The fact that Owlbert would protect Luz, regardless of Eda having magic or not, was comforting. Furthermore, Luz was getting good at flying, and that also made Eda feel warm, proud of Luz’s achievements.

They didn’t fly for long. The sun was barely touching the Boiling Sea when they arrived at their destination.

On top of a cliff overlooking the Boiling Sea, among the forest, there was a clearing. It was somewhat big-- a break into the trees, a sea of grass, wild flowers swaying gently in the breeze. There was a table in the clearing, floating balls of light gently illuminating everything with their golden light.

And there, beside the table, a woman, waiting for her.

“Ta-da!” Luz said, flawlessly landing them in the center of the clearing.

“About time,” King commented from where he was sitting on the ground by Camila, and although Eda wanted to retort something witty, she found herself speechless at the sight of her date.

Camila was wearing a forest green dress. The long sleeves were made of lace, delicate and elegant, the skirt flowing around her knees. Eda swallowed. Camila had her hair up in an elegant bun, and she had white flowers in her hair.

“Hello,” Camila greeted her, eyes cast down, and it took Eda only a second to realize that Camila was blushing. Emboldened by that fact --it was a relief that she wasn’t the only one that was about to die with nerves--, she stepped forward and bowed, kissing Camila’s hand in greeting as she had seen in some of the movies Luz had made her watch in preparation.

“Hello to you too,” Eda answered, delighted by the way Camila’s cheeks grew redder still.

“Urgh,” King commented, sounding like he wanted to throw up. Impishly, he made his way to Luz, voice unnecessarily loud as he announced, “We’re going! We’re leaving the two you alone! We don’t want to see any more nauseating romance!”

“King!” Luz scolded, although her voice was heavy with mirth.

Eda snorted. “Well, then scram,” she answered, raising her eyebrows at King when he stuck his tongue out at her.

“Eda,” Camila scolded in the exact same tone, and Eda grinned at her, unrepentant.

“We’ll be going now!” Luz announced, “Mom knows what to do when you guys want to go home!”

Eda and Camila watched Luz and King fly away, into the forest, and Eda allowed a couple of seconds to pass before she turned to her date. “You know what to do?”

Camila smiled, mysteriously. “I have my ways.”

Then, as if it had dawned on both of them that they were finally alone, they broke eye contact at the same time, suddenly unable to look at each other. Tension flared up, almost a third presence between them, electric and alive, and it took Eda by surprise because she had forgotten this was between them also.

Eda swallowed, nervous once more.

It was Camila who got the nerve to talk in the end.

“Do you want something to drink?” she asked, waving at the neatly set table, and Eda relaxed a little.

“Sure. Show me what you got.”

To say Eda was surprised was an understatement. What Camila turned out to have was an assortment of drinks native to the Boiling Isles. None of them were alcoholic, which Eda didn’t mind, but it included elderberry juice, which was a childhood favorite.

There was also the fact that Eda had included that tidbit of information in passing in one of her letters, and she felt her heart flutter because, one, Camila had apparently read her letters very carefully, and two, it was obvious she was making an effort.

Eda drank a couple of sips of her juice, trying to get her heart to settle down. During her life, she had had her fair share of dates, some better than others, but she had never felt so touched by such a small detail as she did right then.

“It’s quite good,” Camila said, after tasting the juice, breaking the silence once more. “Not that I thought it wouldn’t be, but the way you described it...I don’t know. I thought it might just be sugar.”

“My grandmother liked it,” Eda managed to answer, finally able to look at Camila again. She could have a normal, non-awkward conversation. She was an adult. “So I had it a lot when I was a child.”

And, indeed, after that conversation it was easy. Eda had almost forgotten how easy it was to talk to Camila, but soon they were talking about Luz, or about inconsequential things, Camila laughing at Eda’s attempts of humor.

They stayed like that for a while, just talking and enjoying each other’s company. In the middle of nowhere as they were, surrounded by the sound of the wind and the sea, it was like there were only the two of them in the entire world. So they talked, and Eda guided Camila through some of the other beverages the woman had brought with her, and then encouraged her to try a few combinations she had loved as a child.

It was nice. It was better than nice, and Eda wanted things to stay like that forever, in the easy warmth of each other’s company, with Camila laughing and looking at her like there wasn’t anyone better in the world.

But…

“The sunset is beautiful in this world too,” Camila commented, looking at the sky. The sun had already set behind the Boiling Sea, and the sky was already shedding its golds and reds in favor of the dark blue of the night.

The temperature had dropped a bit, but not enough to be uncomfortable. However, Eda shed her jacket and placed it over Camila’s shoulders without a word, taking the opportunity to move her chair next to the woman instead of across from her.

“Thank you,” Camila said, softly, her voice tender between them.

They watched the sky for a while in comfortable silence, and the first stars were already shining in the sky when Eda finally dared to speak her mind.

“Hey, so…” she trailed off, swallowing before she tried again. “I don’t know if I apologized, but I’m sorry. For putting Luz in danger. I’m sorry I was an idiot. Back then, it was...it was different. Which doesn’t mean it was right! I also shouldn’t have lied to you, that was a terrible idea...” and then she shut up because Camila was looking at her with surprise clearly written across her face. “...and so this might not be the right moment for this so I’ll shut up now.”

Camila looked at her a couple seconds longer, in silence, before she placed her hand above Eda’s with an ease and confidence that Eda frankly envied.

“No...thank you for apologizing,” Camila said. The wind, although not strong, made a few strands of hair dance around her face and Eda couldn’t tear her eyes away from her, enchanted. “I think I understand. The lying, at least. As for the rest...well. I have to work through that.”

Eda nodded, and before she could second guess herself, she turned her hand under Camila’s so they could hold hands.

Camila smiled, but said nothing. She lightly squeezed Eda’s hand for a second, as if in acknowledgment, and Eda had to fight the insane beating of her heart.

A couple more seconds passed, in which they watched the stars in the sky, before Camila spoke once more.

“So...flowers?” she asked, conversationally, and Eda was glad it was dark because, despite having fought it all evening, there was no way the blush hadn’t finally shown in her face.

“Huh…”

“Are you going to tell me what they mean?” Camila pressed on, and Eda couldn’t look at her but she could hear the humor in her voice as clearly as she could see the Light Constellation in the sky.

“I think you already know what they mean,” she answered, grimacing.

Camila chuckled. “Well, perhaps I want to hear you say it.”

Which was a completely fair request, because it things had gone as tradition dictated, Eda would have been writing about the flowers’ meanings in an attempt of convince Camila of her feelings, and not just dumb stories of her childhood and youth.

“Blue means devotion,” Eda explained. It was hard to speak, because it is always hard to bare one’s heart, but all through the spectrum of Eda’s feelings, Camila held her hand, and it was that, more than anything, that made Eda able to finish.

“A courtship,” Camilia repeated, suddenly looking just as flustered as Eda felt. “Courtship, not dating.”

Eda closed her eyes, unable to answer for a second.

“How did you know?” she asked in the end, dread touching her spine with a single cold finger, because the game was up, and although she had wanted to tell Camila of her intentions all along, she hadn’t intended for it to be so soon.

“That’s...” Camila stopped, voice choked, and it took Eda a second to realize she was chuckling. “Actually, it was Amity who told me,” she confessed, much to Eda’s horror. “Although I don’t think the kids realized. Other than Luz, that is.”

Eda groaned, resting her head in the tablecloth to hide her face on the crook of her free arm. She very pointedly didn’t let go of Camila’s hand.

It took Eda a while to recover from that, but once she was fairly sure her face wasn’t bright red, she braced herself for a different, way more difficult thing.

“About the…courtship...” she said, because it was too soon, and too sudden, and totally crazy, but she had to know. “If you don’t want….”

“Don’t be daft,” Camila interrupted, startling Eda enough that she finally looked at her again. “Are you going to tell me how to accept?”

Eda stared, open mouthed. She would have thought Camila was being flippant, except that there, under the golden glow of the light balls that were surrounding them, her expression was dead serious.

And it was strange, because even as Eda finally understood what Camila was offering, even as hope and joy rose in her chest, there was another more insidious feeling growing strong along them: doubt.

She couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t that she had doubted Camila’s feelings, but...Eda had never met anyone who had ever accepted her so fully and without hesitation. And that small part of her heart, the one that still was a scared little girl being chased off after transforming into a monster in front of a crowd, couldn’t help but be afraid. There had to be a catch. It couldn’t be that easy.

“There’s a lot about me you don’t know yet…” Eda began, warningly, only to startle again when Camila moved, her hand leaving Eda’s.

For a terrible, devastating moment, Eda thought this was it, and she had somehow made Camila reconsider. Her hand felt oddly cold, and she pressed it against her body, against her heart, an instinctive gesture of self-defense.

However, contrary to Eda’s fears, what Camila did was to stand in front of Eda and take her face in her hands, lifting it up so Eda couldn’t look away anymore.

“I know,” Camila told her, and there was such fire and determination in her eyes that Eda couldn’t do anything but stare, breathless. “I know there are a lot of things we don’t know about each other, that there are a lot of things we still have to sort out. I know we’re very different, and we literally live in different worlds. I also know that you’re infuriating, and chaotic, and you don’t make sense to me half the time, but I... I have thought about it, and I want it. All of that. Because it includes you.” Eda swallowed, disarmed. Above her, Camila’s expression was beautiful, she was beautiful, and Eda hadn’t thought she’d wanted to hear those words from someone but she did. She had. “I want...this,” Camila continued, gently caressing Eda’s cheeks with her thumbs. “To talk like this, and probably argue again; to cook together, and laugh, and just...live. I want all that. If it’s you.”

Eda closed her eyes once more, for a long moment unable to accept the feelings that were freely being offered to her. She swallowed against a knot in her throat that she was pretty sure was her heart trying to leave her-- not that it had been completely hers for a while now.

And patiently like the moon, Camila waited. Her hands on Eda’s cheeks were warm, and her touch grounding and reassuring. So, because it was what Eda needed, she tentatively leaned forward to rest her forehead against Camila’s chest and was endlessly relieved when the woman understood and hugged Eda, tightly.

The position was awkward, because Eda was still sitting and Camila was basically standing between her legs. It made the hug embarrassing. It was strange, and awkward, and unfamiliar because Eda hadn’t been hugged like this since she and Lilith had their falling out, and it was also so wonderful that Eda felt greedy for it, greedier still than she usually was for freedom or money.

“Corazón,” Camila whispered, and Eda didn’t need to know the meaning of the word to understand the endearment.

The hug went on for a bit longer, but there was so much vulnerability that Eda’s heart could take.

“...you’re the most embarrassing person I have ever met,” Eda mumbled, voice hoarse, both because it was true, and because she thought she might combust if Camila spoke her mind anymore than she had.

Camila chuckled. “You love me.”

If Eda had thought it was not possible to blush brighter, she was proven wrong right then. She knew her face was red as she hid in Camila’s embrace, and she felt very exposed, heart bare, and it was scary but it was also sweet.

“I’m sorry, dear,” Camila apologized after a heartbeat, almost as if she could sense Eda’s vulnerability. “I should not tease you about that. Not yet, at least.”

Eda groaned. Her face was set in a grimace as she finally looked up at Camila. “Urgh, can I please kiss you now?”

Camila laughed once more, the sound lovely in the silence of the clearing, and Eda felt it was a positive enough reaction that she finally stood up. Immediately, Camila’s laughter died away, and Eda felt like melting from the way she was being looked at.

Slowly, as if giving Camila plenty of time to pull away if she so wished, Eda cupped her face in a mirror gesture of the way Camila had touched her before. The space between them was almost non-existent, but still Eda didn’t move until she had Camila’s permission.

“Yes,” Camila whispered, the word sheltered between them.

It was tentative at first, sweet and gentle, the shy kiss of two people that don’t know each other very well. They kissed again after that, and then again, and it became as intense as it was sweet because Eda was nothing if not a fast learner, and she had wanted to kiss Camila for months now.

When they pulled away, Camilia looked dizzy.

“I...that...that was…” Camilia stuttered, further flustered by Eda’s cocky and self-satisfied smirk.

“Yes?” Eda teased, delighted that she could fluster her as much as she flustered Eda.

“You’re a cheater,” Camilia accused, weakly.

“You liked it,” Eda purred, kissing behind Camilia’s ear without any shame. “Would you like another demonstration?”

Camila licked her lips, and Eda traced the movement.

“Yes, please,” she answered in the end, voice laced with embarrassment even as she slid her arms around Eda’s shoulders.

However, their lips had barely touched again when a rustle came from the bushes at the edge of the forest, just at the other end of the clearing from where they were.

Surprised, they turned to the noise, and Eda had already a piece of paper with the fire glyph on it --not what she would have preferred, but it would have to do-- when they heard a familiar voice cut the silence of the night.

“Guys, I really think--” the familiar voice cautioned.

“Be careful!” another familiar voice yelled, and that was all the warning Eda and Camila had before a pile of teenagers --and a small demon-- fell out of the bushes and on top of each other.

“Oh, god,” Camila moaned, hiding her face in Eda’s shoulder, and Eda was unreasonably pleased by the fact that Camila hadn’t felt the need to pull away. It was just as well, as there was nothing in the world that was going to make Eda let go of her now that she had her.

Unimpressed, Eda stared at the kids as they tried to untangle themselves in the ground. In other circumstances, Eda thought she might have been irritated at the interruption -- the little shits had been spying on them. However, at the moment she was too happy for anything to cloud the feeling.

They didn’t know that though, so she did her best to narrow her eyes at the kids, all with Camila still in her arms.

“Well?” she asked, in the scariest voice she had, and if she didn’t ask how long they had been spying it was only because she didn’t want to know the answer. Nonetheless, was amused when at her glare all of them --King included-- scrambled to their feet.

“Huh, congratulations?” Luz offered, and although Eda tried her hardest, she couldn’t help the grin that broke through her mask of prended anger.

“Thanks, kiddo,” she answered, and looked down at Camila, who apparently had gotten over the worst of her embarrassment and could face the world again. “Is this your ride home?” Eda asked, teasing just because she could.

“Of course not,” Camila sighed. “I have the key to the magic door.”

“I see.” And then, turning to the kids, who were still awkwardly in a line --Amity looking mildly horrified, Gus very uncomfortable, and Willow deeply apologetic-- said: “Well, since you’re here, you might as well help with the clean up.”

No one dared complain, although King did grumble a little, and soon everything was packed, the clearing bathed only by the silver light of the moon and three golden balls of lights that they were using as lanterns.

“I’m sorry about…” Camila said, gesturing at the kids who were playing with one Luz’s lights, throwing it around like a balloon.

“Ehh, it’s okay,” Eda shrugged. She leaned into Camila’s space and took her hand, also because she could. “It’s not like we’re not doing this again.”

Camila raised an eyebrow, playfully pushing Eda a little. “Oh?”

“I’m planning this time though,” Eda announced.

“Well, if you have already decided…”

Eda looked at Camila. Her hair was starting to come out of its elegant bun, and she looked somewhat tired, but the way she was looking at Eda was the most beautiful thing Eda had ever seen in her life.

Eda had always been a selfish person, and she had never let go of something she wanted.

“I have,” Eda told her, softly, leaning down at the same time Camila tilted her face, their lips meeting midway in a gentle kiss.

And like that, hand in hand with the moon shining over them, they turned towards the kids, ready to go home.

Chapter Text

It was already past midnight when Camila made it home.

At first, busy as they were with the game in front of them, neither Luz and King looked up. Eda did, though, because she had enough advantage over Luz and King that she could look away and still win the race.

Indeed, the sound of her character crossing the finish line could be heard over the door closing and Luz and King’s bickering.

“Hey!” Luz complained, as in the TV Bowser hit Yoshi, nearly sending her character into space.

“All’s fair in war and races!” King cackled, deftly avoiding the green shell Luz threw at him in retaliation.

Eda didn’t mind them anymore, and wasn’t paying attention as the race finished and Roy Koopa came up in first place in the general ranking. Instead, she went to Camila, intent on helping her out of her winter coat but generally just happy to see her.

“I’m so sorry,” Camila said as soon as she saw Eda. “I…it was an emergency-- a car accident-- and I couldn’t...”

“Hey,” Eda interrupted her. Camila looked exhausted, eyes almost haunted, and Eda was selfish but not selfish enough to begrudge her missing their date for a work emergency. “Have you eaten?”

Camila blinked, as if startled by the question, and when she looked at Eda there was surprise in her face. She blinked a couple more times, and Eda was reminded of a person that has barely woken up and has suddenly realized where they are.

“We put aside some dinner for you,” Eda said, guiding Camila away from the door when she didn’t move. “You should change into something comfortable while I heat it up for you.”

For a second, Camila looked like she was about to argue, but Eda raised an eyebrow at her and she seemed to think twice about it.

Camila ate in silence.

Eda was happy to keep her company, but it was obvious to her that Camila was upset, wound up and tense, although if this was because of her job or because the date she had missed, Eda didn’t know yet.

It was another sign that something was wrong when Camila hovered by the couch instead of immediately sitting next to Eda. King and Luz had paused their game enough to greet her --Luz giving her mom a hug-- and were once again absorbed in the race, which Eda had warned was the last one because she had to be a parental figure sometimes.

Eda looked at Camila, questioningly, and sighed when Camila avoided her eyes.

“Okay, come here,” Eda mumbled, and easily maneuvered Camila into her lap, amused by the woman’s small squeak of surprise.

“Urgh, do you have to do this now?” King complained, although he was a hypocrite because he hadn’t even looked away from the TV.

“You’re welcome to go to bed if you’re so grossed out,” Eda shot back.

“I am the King of Demons!” King declared. “I have no bedtime!” and then groaned when Luz’s red shell hit him, sending Bowser into a pit of lava.

Luz giggled, and if she had been within reach, Eda would have patted her head.

Soon, however, they were done with the race --Luz barely having emerged victor-- and went upstairs, talking about organizing a tournament with Willow, Gus and Amity.

Eda listened to the sounds of King a Luz getting ready for bed for a second, letting the silence surround her like a comfortable blanket. She would have enjoyed the moment more, however, hadn’t Camila been so tense in her arms.

“I’m sorry,” Camila repeated, still not looking at Eda, and Eda couldn’t let that stand.

“It’s fine,” she tried to reassure her. “It’s just a date, we can have another anytime. I understand.”

“No,” Camila insisted. “It’s...it’s an awful thing. You shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

Eda frowned.

“Put up with what?” she asked, because she honestly wasn’t sure what this was about, and both of them were still navigating how to communicate properly, especially when one of them was upset.

Camila stayed silent for so long that Eda thought she was not going to answer.

“...with me,” Camila said at last, and as if that admission had made a wall inside her crumble, she finally curled against Eda, accepting comfort at last.

Eda hugged her, kissed the top of her head. She was still unused to freely giving and receiving physical affection, but Camila (and Luz) had done their best to get her used to it. Eda was still not used to it, and she didn’t think it was something she’d ever take for granted.

“Why?” she asked at last, because this was obviously something they had to discuss.

They were so close that, even if Eda couldn’t see her face, there was no way for Camila to hide anything. She felt her swallow, press herself closer to Eda, and Eda tightened her hold, trying to convey that it was safe, that things would be okay.

“It’s like this all the time,” Camila finally said, and the way her voice trembled broke Eda’s heart. “I...if there’s an emergency I have to answer. I have to help. I know...I have missed so many of Luz’s important events because of it,” she confessed in a whisper. “But I still won’t quit. She doesn’t deserve this. You don’t deserve it either.”

Eda closed her eyes. It hurt, Camila’s words did, but they hurt not because of what the confession meant for Eda, but because of how much pain it must have caused Camila through the years.

Eda didn’t know what to say. She was out of her depth, having avoided emotional conversations for most of her adult life. She was new to words like these, soft and soothing, but she wanted to try because she loved Camila, and she hadn’t walked into this relationship blindly either.

“You once asked me where home was,” Eda began, and it was random enough that she could feel Camila’s confusion. Of course she wouldn’t remember. “It was a while back, and you didn’t mean the question like that, but even then, I knew the answer.” Gently, Eda untangled herself from Camila enough that she could sneak a hand between them and place it over Camila’s heart. “Here,” she said, and then looked up to the second floor, where Luz and King should already be asleep, to include them in her confession. “I have never expected you to be perfect. It’s enough that you’re you. That you're here.”

With me, she didn’t dare say, but it hung in the air between them, sweet and also a bit scary because Eda was revealing a lot of herself.

But the embarrassment, the vulnerability, all was worth it because she got to watch the way Camila’s expression wavered, eyes bright and full of emotion.

“You sap,” she accused, weakly.

“Hey!” Eda protested, faking offense for a second before smiling slyly in the way she knew never failed to fluster Camila. “I learned from the best.”

Finally --finally!-- Camila smiled. She looked more like herself as she traced the edges of Eda’s face, as if the ghost had left and she had become a person again.

“Thank you,” Camila whispered, kissing Eda, softly.

They didn’t talk after that. Camila curled in Eda’s arms like a cat, finally relaxing, and they stayed like that for a long time, taking and giving comfort in the silence of the night.

Soon, Camila was asleep, the exhausted sleep of someone that has finally come home after a long, grueling day, and although Eda knew she would have to wake her up to take her to bed shortly, she allowed herself the happiness to stay like that for a while longer, holding in her arms someone she loved that loved her back as fiercely.

Home.

Yes.

She was home.