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Amity had always known that loving Luz Noceda was a risk. For someone to burn as brightly as she did, to have such a drive to help those around her - it was all too easy for Luz to spread herself thin in the name of kindness or justice, and it was up to Amity to keep her from falling apart. To keep her coming back to herself, at the end of the day.
Now the two of them were here, Luz in her trademark jacket, searching tirelessly for any new arrivals who would need shepherding into the building that had become home, these past few years. Thankfully, as had become routine, the tirelessly beating sun reaching it's apex marked Luz's time for a break, her boots unleashing a cavalcade of heavy creaks and rumbles as they stepped onto the warped wood that made up the porch.
Amity slipped off her stool near the doors as Luz enters, the two walking together to the bar that stands open in perpetuity for the guests - all routine, bar the book that the youngest Blight holds in her hands, the deep purple leather standing out against her pale skin and peachy dress. Still, it goes unseen by Luz as she sits, taking a long sip from the glass before her before she notices that Amity remains standing behind her.
Luz raises an eyebrow ever so slowly, the rest of her body going still. There's a single deep breath, and then-
"Are you not going to join me, Amity?" Luz doesn't say it loudly, but in the quiet stillness of their home it cracks like lightning, and Amity cannot help but flinch ever so slightly.
The witch sets her shoulders, and puts the book she's clutching down on the bar next to her partner. "I can't do this any longer, Luz. I'm sorry. I've been talking to the ferry's captain and he says I can't bring this with me if I want passage from him - and I do."
Luz scoffs, her eyes staying glued to Amity's as she braces for another death blow, and Amity obliges.
"We've been here for YEARS Luz! I understood when it was people we knew, when it was our family that we were helping but it's strangers!" Amity's breath hitches for a moment, the last of her thoughts resisting being dragged out for as long as they could, before burning their way up her throat and out. "Don't you want to rest, my love? We deserve it, after everything. You deserve it."
Tears carve tracks down a despondent face. A pale hand is extended, one last desperate attempt to reach her love. "Come with me, Luz. Please. We've done enough for ten lifetimes, wouldn't you agree?"
Tan, callused fingers slowly wrap around Amity's, holding them as they begin to shake. The two stay like that for minutes that feel like hours, cloaked in oppressive quiet as silent sobs wrack Amity's body from within, every last modicum of hope being scoured from her body.
At last and altogether too quickly, Amity exhales and steps back, getting some distance despite the fact that her hand was still trapped in Luz's own. Golden eyes track dust mites swirling around the feet of her former love, unable to look further up for the weight of the moment.
“We have two guests upstairs.. They should be ready to keep moving by tomorrow, but it might take an extra day for the boy to work up his nerve, so be patient with him please.” Delicate hands wring themselves ragged, brief flashes of immaculate black nails always being covered rapidly. “You know - “ the words get stuck in Amity’s throat for a moment, a brief swallow helping to dislodge them. “We’ve been doing this a long time, Luz - you know the details of my part in this, right?”
Luz’s right foot scuffs the floor lethargically, any energy in the motion rapidly getting stolen by the ancient planks she runs into. “You encourage them to tell their stories, to unburden them before the ferry takes them downriver, I know, I know.” Silence, for a moment, and then Luz’s voice comes out at a whisper. “Is that something that you need, now? Do i need to-“
Amity huffs out a wet laugh, interrupting the wild ride that Luz’s train of thought was on. “It’s okay, darling. That’s what I wrote that book for. I hope, for you, it is enough. I cannot remain with you, but you will always have a record of my love for you - no matter how long you stay."
Eventually, Luz's hand relents, opening up with glacial slowness before dropping to her side in defeat. "Then I guess this is, uh." She pauses, her hands clenching into fists as she steadies herself. "This is farewell then, hunh?"
"Yeah, I guess it is." Amity turns away, looking out the doors once more to the river where her transport awaits, lengthening shadows bringing a modicum of urgency. "Farewell, Luz the human. I am unspeakably glad that you were in my life, and I hope you find peace."
There is a strangled sob from behind her, but Amity's feet carry her forward regardless - it is too late to do anything but move forward.
When Amity finally boards the ferry, she cannot help but look back one final time - an achingly familiar silhouette standing watch as she takes her next steps. She waves once, her wrist weakly flopping to the side, before turning away and firmly looking to the twilight horizon, away from the shattered remains of her love that mark her path for the scant few minutes of the day that remained.
“It is for the best, dear heart.” A gravelly voice states from beside her, rolling over her like a tidal wave. “With what she has become…. I’m sorry to say, she might not ever be able to leave this place. Too much of her heart has taken root among these muddied banks, and it doesn’t easily let go."
Amity's mind races - surely asking this directly is taboo, but courtesy is for the living, is it not?
"Is that what happened to you, Charon?"