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“Straight hair, straight A’s, straight forward.”
That’s how everything used to be.
A few months ago, Amity would’ve thought that described her as perfectly as she wished herself to be. But, now everything had changed. Amity’s minty hair had gone a softer lavender, she’d eased up on herself, trying to put away the self-deprecating, perfection-obsessed self of her past, and was moving forward in a better way. Not following the naive hope that the Emperor’s Coven and some fancy trophies would make all her problems go away, but instead, following more in the footsteps of one she cared for so dearly.
Luz Noceda.
The sweet girl had always believed in Amity and wished to be her friend, despite the bad things that happened between them when they first met. As her and Luz grew closer, and to the point of a relationship, Luz proved time and time again the joy that comes with living life for the reason of life itself. Not to make people exalt you as a prodigy, nor to seek approval, but instead to simply protect those you love and live life joyfully.
Luz demonstrated that Amity could be exactly who she wanted to be. Little and big alike. But now, Amity’s concerns, which had bubbled over with Luz’s aid, now shifted away from herself, and towards Luz.
It was the afternoon on a school day at Hexside as Amity wandered from hall to hall. The lavender-haired former-perfectionist’s eyes danced across rooms, her going at a brisk pace, looking for someone. The bell for lunch had already rang a few minutes prior, and Amity was beginning to grow worried.
However, in her curt dash, she accidentally stumbled into someone. Rather than a brash remark, as she would have done before, she simply says, “Oh, I’m sorry,” before looking to see if she could help up the person who she walked into. But, looking down, her eyes narrowed as she let out a sigh, anticipating a rough conversation.
“You should apologise, dimwit,” Boscha scorned, wearing her ever-pretentious grudgby jersey, as she always insisted upon doing lately now that her social hierarchy hadn’t been as strong. Amity tried to kindly offer her hand to help the rude girl, but Boscha batted it away before standing and cleaning dust off of herself. “So, where’s your little girlfriend?”
Amity glared faintly, with more a cold glance than a fiery rage. Yes, she was done with Boscha’s bull, to be fair, but she had higher priorities than dealing with her problems. “None of your business,” she stated simply before weaving around Boscha and going to take her leave.
Boscha then scoffed, “Hey! You can’t just leave! I’m still more popular and way cooler!” she barked at Amity, trying to get attention, but Amity simply kept going, leaving the grudgby captain frustrated, leading to said girl stamping her foot and trotting off.
After that, Amity kept her gaze across the halls, looking for any sign of Luz, but to no avail. Her girlfriend hadn’t been around the entire school day, so Amity’s worry was piling, but she assured herself it was just Luz getting lost around the school or using the Secret Room of Shortcuts. But, she only really used the Secret Room of Shortcuts if she was stressed and wanted to have some alone time, or if she was in a hurry, and Luz knows the layout of the school, so the Secret Room was more likely.
So, Amity decided to march off to the closest shortcut, since though she didn’t know of many, Luz had snuck her through a fair few times when Amity was feeling little, so she had a decent number of them roughly memorised. So, after faintly knocking at some nearby lockers, she then discovered which ones shifted open to a door, quickly opening the door and heading inside. As she got inside, she saw Viney, Jerbo and Barcus having some lunch. The former waved at Amity, loosely remembering her. “Hey Amity,”
“Hey guys,” she began, masking her worry with a kind smile, “Sorry to intrude, but have any of you seen Luz using the shortcuts today? Since I’ve been looking for her but am not sure if she went anywhere.”
The trio thought for a minute before collectively shaking their heads. “No, I haven’t seen Luz at all today, and we share a plants class together,” Jerbo explained, to which Amity’s smile shook a little.
“Oh, alright, still thanks anyways!” she beamed before heading out of the shortcut, closing the locker-door and leaning against it with a sigh.
Amity really wanted to make sure Luz was alright, now more than ever. Since Amity had found out that Luz was a little, it seemed Luz was avoiding her. Amity wasn’t too bothered by it at first, because she understood that Luz was stressed and might need some space, but Amity really wanted to help the girl. It'd been nearly a week and Luz hadn’t slipped since, so Amity had been planning to meet up with Luz and give her a chance at having an evening of just being as tiny as she needed to be. No portal, no worries over getting home, just time to relax and be herself. Amity had even prepared a little surprise, just to make the night that tiny bit more special.
But, Luz was nowhere to be found, and Amity’s stress began to bubble. So, determined to find Luz, she charted her way off across the hallways. She looked through each hallway a second time, being quick, so that she wouldn’t spend all of her lunchtime doing it, but found neither hide nor hair of the girl. So, frustrated, Amity took to the outside, going out the main entrance of the school and frustratedly sat upon the steps, letting out a sigh as she sat there. She’d planned all these special things for Luz, wanted to help cheer her up, but she wasn’t even at school. Where was she, to begin with? Did she stay home? Was she sick? Injured?
Amity’s mind did a small somersault before she was interrupted by a rustling in the trees. Her eyes darted up to face the noise, and the rustling was followed by Luz, who tiredly, with her uniform partly covered in dirt and leaves, flopped out of the woods with a thud.
Amity immediately got up and rushed over to Luz, trying to help lift her up off the ground, but Luz groggily grumbled before remembering herself, and she jolted up off the ground. “Oh, hey Amity,” she greeted, though she seemed more confused than anything, and was half-awake.
“Luz, where were you?” Amity immediately fretted, trying to make eye contact with Luz, though the tired girl merely looked away in nervousness.
“Oh, I was just… uh, getting some food for Hooty after I watered the plants in the house and cleaned up around the basement, but then I realised I was late for school and ran here.” she explained, meekly looking away.
Amity then grabbed at Luz’s shoulders, trying to get her attention and eye contact. “Luz, look at me, please,”
Luz then shuddered a little before looking up at Amity, afraid that her girlfriend was mad at her.
But, as she looked up at Amity, she didn’t see any anger, only worry and care. “There, thank you, now, Luz, please, be honest, when was the last time you had some sleep?”
Luz took a minute to think that through, and took a while before answering. “Not since Eda told me a story about Raine that led to me falling asleep.” she admitted, blushing at the fact that her little side made her prone to falling asleep when people read to her or told her long stories.
Amity, making a mental note to get some bedtime stories from the library, then posed another question, “And when was the last time you were little?”
To that, Luz froze, afraid of the question, hoping Amity would’ve forgotten about that whole ordeal that happened prior. Luz had been truly trying to keep up the appearance that she was fine and didn’t need to be little, but that faux confidence had been weighing on her heavily, and she’d been struggling to keep the act up. And, now that Amity was aware of what was going on, it was harder and harder to stay big and strong like she felt she needed to be.
So, to try and answer, she instead posed a question in response, “Well, uh, when were you last little?” she retorted, trying to have her caregiving nature overpower Amity’s, but that broke apart quicker than the assumption that Amity was straight.
Amity coolly responded, “Last night,”
Luz did a double take. “Oh, really?”
She nodded, “Yup, I had a stressful day so Ed and Em helped me get some relaxation time,” she explained, “So, my little side is fully taken care of, unlike someone else’s,” she followed her explanation by gently holding Luz’s hand, to which Luz blushed.
“I, well… uh, that’s good!” she stammered, “So, do you need more little time now? Since I can always take care of you if you need it-” she was quickly interrupted by Amity scooping her up bridal-style, to which Luz let out a squeak of shock.
“So, lemme guess, you haven’t been your adorable, tiny little self since I got you your otter, have you, mi batata?”
To that, Luz blushed heavily, trying to stay big, but she certainly didn’t wanna risk letting a lisp slip in her speech, so she just hesitantly nodded.
“Luz, please, I want to make sure you’re alright, and I can’t do that if you’re going to hold off your little space.” she explained, “So, I’m gonna ask you a couple quick questions, and then we’re gonna get you some time to relax, okay?”
Luz blushed further, hiding her face in the hood of her uniform, but was still clinging to being big, so she faintly said, “okay,” with the fact that she was being carried making her feel oh so small. And sure, while she’d hoped she’d be able to keep up her mirage of always being big, Luz, inwardly, was relaxing and calmed down through Amity’s words, since she had missed what few times of being little she had before.
“Alright, thank you, now, first question, how long have you known you were an age regressor?” Amity quizzed, to which Luz thought for a moment. After some hesitation, she admitted:
“A couple years, I think,”
Amity nodded, that was about how long she’d known as well, so it made sense. “Alright, now, next question, have you slipped at all since you came to the demon realm, not including last week?”
At that, Luz winced, since she knew Amity wouldn’t like the answer. So, with an ounce of dread, since she really didn’t wish to worry Amity, she hesitantly shook her head.
To that, Amity frowned and made up her mind, “Ok, one last question, do you know what your age range is when you’re little?”
Luz had to take a couple minutes to mull it over, and by the end, she meekly shrugged. “I’ve known about my uh, you know… for a while, but I haven’t, uh, been little often enough to know…” she mumbled.
Amity’s frown grew, worried over her little batata, but then nodded, and said, “Alright, thank you for telling me,” before promptly opening her penstagram.
At that, Luz got quite worried, “H-hey, what’s that for?” she stammered, to which Amity gently showed the screen to calm her down.
Luz then saw that it was a message to Edric and Emira, just explaining that Amity wasn’t going to school the rest of the day and that they should tell her teachers. “Oh? Why’d you tell them that?” she pondered, to which Amity smiled and booped Luz’s nose,
“Well, little one, we’re gonna have some relaxation time,” she explained, setting Luz down on her feet and motioning that Luz should hold Amity’s hand. Luz then blushed and quickly held Amity’s hand, to which the two smiled. “Oh, but, what about scho-”
Amity shushed Luz by putting a finger to the girl’s lips. “No worrying over school, little one, we’re gonna go to the library, but first, we gotta get a little friend,” Luz’s face was nearly fully red by this point and she then pondered, “Oh, do you mean my… uh, I mean, the otter plushie?”
The other nodded, though she remarked, “You were right the first time, it’s yours, little one,” To that, Luz got shy as she took off her backpack, hesitantly reaching in and pulling out said otter plushie. Amity cooed in response, “Aww, you brought him along to school!”
Luz meekly nodded, “Yeah, I’ve been bringing him along just in case, since having him around makes me feel a little safer,”
Amity beamed at how adorable Luz was and then joyfully patted Luz’s head, “Oh, that’s adorable! Now, do you wanna carry him as we go to the library?” she pondered, and as soon as Luz got visibly nervous at the thought of being seen cuddling a plushie, Amity responded with a fix to that issue. “I was thinking we could fly there, and that way it’d be harder for people to notice, but then you won’t be able to hold my hand while I’m steering the staff.”
Luz blushed further and said “Okay, that should b- be fine,” embarrassed at the suggestion that she would get nervous if she wasn’t holding Amity’s hand the whole ride to the library.
So, Amity happily got out her staff, sitting on it and gently patting the spot next to her for Luz to sit down. Luz meekly did so, shyly hugging her otter plush as she did. Amity then remarked, “All ready, cutie?” before Luz meekly nodded, to which Amity started flying. She went fairly slowly, so as to not worry Luz, but went fast enough so that no one could stop and stare at the adorable sight that was Luz.
So, after a couple minutes of flying, the pair arrived at the library, which was fairly empty due to it being the mid-afternoon on a weekday. So, Amity then headed inside, going through the least populated aisles so that Luz wasn’t too embarrassed about cuddling her plushie, and the two eventually arrived at the romance section. Amity discreetly, (making sure to not let anyone else see them,) pulled back one of the books, to which the secret room opened, with Amity quickly pulling Luz inside. By the time they got inside, Luz let out a big sigh, relieved that no one saw her, and Amity then went over to a corner of the hideaway, pulling out a decently sized bag. “Hey, batata, can you come here for a second?”
Luz calmed down a bit at the pet name and meekly waddle-walked over, clutching her plushie tightly as she came over. “Good girl, now, you’ve been really brave, being big for so long, but you really need some time to relax, so I got you some gifts to help you regress,” At that, Luz got excited, and happily smiled, to which Amity then sat down criss-cross-apple-sauce, “Well, somebody’s excited, so, do you wanna sit in my lap?”
Luz meekly nodded and did so, cuddling her plushie as Amity softly hugged Luz. “You didn’t have to get me anything,” she mumbled in a slightly higher voice, a lisp beginning to show in her words.
“I know, but I wanna make sure you have what you need to be little, now, do you need help opening the bag or can you do it by yourself?”
Luz shook her head and zipped open the bag to reveal the contents, and she got quite excited at what she found. At first, she saw another plushie, being an adorable reddish-pinkish bat with cute little flapping wings, and Luz beamed at this gift, letting out a happy cheer as she gave her new plush a hug.
After that, she kept looking through the bag, but before she did, she picked up the bag itself, noticing it was a nice over-the-shoulder bag that was a blue shade of purple. She also noted that on the outside, it had a couple quite cute stickers of bats, snakes, otters and star designs, along with a few based on The Good Witch Azura. “Wait, is the bag a gift too?”
Amity nodded, “It’s a little bag for you,” she explained, smiling as Luz beamed with even more joy.
“Thank you!” she cheered, looking up at Amity with a joyous smile, to which Amity gently patted her head.
“Of course, my little light, now, see what else there is,”
Luz quickly kept going, enjoying the pet name, and pulled out two onesies from the bag, recognizing one of them. “Wait, how’d you get a hold of my otter onesie?” Amity smiled, “You left it in your locker after grom and didn’t take it home, so I put it in the bag when I remembered where it was.”
Luz nodded and then looked at the other onesie, seeing it was an adorable deep blue bat onesie, which was in the same style as the otter one. “Woah! This is soo cool!” she declared, immediately getting giddy to try it on.
But, she quickly moved onto looking for the next gift, pulling out from the bag some adorable bandaids, (Luz had already gotten these for King and Amity, but another pack never hurt, and it was good for her to have a set that was just hers), and then something which piqued Luz’s interest.
She had pulled out two objects at the same time, being a pacifier and sippy cup, with both having a multicolour nature to them, being a purple, blue and pink gradient. She blushed at the objects, to which Amity explained, “I know you’re not sure of your little age, but I thought these might help, and if not, little me could use them,”
Luz then considered them for a second before admitting, “No, I think I’ll like these.” At that, Amity smiled, pointing back towards the bag,
“Alright cutie, now, before you try out all your new little things, there’s one last gift in the bottom of the bag,” Amity explained, to which Luz reached into the very bottom, finding something which immediately made her start excitedly and happily babbling as she tried to find words to voice her excitement. At the very bottom of the bag was a small picture book, being a little Azura-themed bedtime story named ‘The Good Witch Azura’s Picnic with Hecate’.
Amity then waited for Luz’s happy babbles to subside, which were followed by a very adorable, lisped baby voice. “How’d you find dis?” Luz pondered, how fully little as she looked up gleefully at Amity.
“Well, my little light, I was at your house a little while back and saw it in Eda’s piles of human stuff, so then I decided to make it a surprise!” she explained, to which Luz gave her a big hug.
“Tank you so much!!” she cheered, giggling happily, “I loves it all so much!”
Amity smiled at Luz’s excitement and reciprocated Luz’s hug, “Well I’m glad to get it for you, little one, now, how about we get you some little time?” In response, Luz rapidly nodded, so Amity executed the plan she’d been preparing all day. She’d been really hoping to have more time with little Luz, since Luz had kept her little side a secret for so long and also because she wanted to pay back Luz’s kindness that she repeatedly showed even before Luz knew she was a little as well.
So, Amity started laying out her plan. “Ok batata, so, would you wanna try on your new onesie or maybe put on your otter one?” she softly quizzed, holding up the two incase Luz was feeling like she wouldn't be able to speak. Luz then giggled and pointed to the bat one, to which Amity smiled, “Alright, sounds great! So, do you think you’ll need help getting it on?” Luz then shook her head, and Amity turned around as Luz went to change into the onesie. She struggled a bit with it because she was little, but after a minute or two she had the onesie mostly on, with the exception of having her head in the arm hole instead of where it was supposed to be. She whimpered and then Amity asked if she needed help, to which Luz whimpered again, leading to Amity viewing the sight that was Luz with her head stuck inside a onesie that was clearly not on the right way. Amity inwardly chuckled at the adorable sight but then helped her get everything in place, to which Luz then beamed with happiness.
“Aww, hey little bat,” she mused as she patted Luz’s head, to which Luz giggled and tried to imitate a bat, but was unsure what sound a bat made, so she just stood there for a second with her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in contemplation. After doing so, she let out a tiny squeak and Amity nearly fainted as she cooed at how absolutely adorable she was
“Aww, such a cutie, now… how’s about we get you a little nap?” she offered, to which Luz realised how tired she was and let out a tired high-pitched little yawn before nodding. Amity then picked up a juice box full of apple blood and poured the contents of it into Luz’s new sippy cup, in addition to getting out the Azura bedtime story. She then sat on a pretty comfy set of pillows and blankets in the corners, motioning Luz to come over. Luz then happily sat down next to Amity, leaning her head on Amity’s shoulder. She then made cute little grabby hands for the sippy cup, to which Amity happily handed her the cup. Luz then began happily drinking from it as Amity opened up the picture book, beginning to read from it.
“Once upon a time, Azura found herself in a mystic forest, not unlike ones she’d seen before,”
As she read, Luz began to get rather sleepy, with that and the sweet apple blood making her eyes flutter after a few short pages.
“... and then, Azura’s picnic was perfect! It had fruits from each of the beautiful trees and bread from a baker she’d found nearby.”
Luz’s eyes began to droop, her grogginess creeping around her as she tried to stay awake, but Amity gently rocking and her soft, soothing voice made Luz grow more and more sleepy by the second.
“By then, Azura was sure her picnic was the best around, and all her friends were so glad she’d made it. The End.” By the time Amity looked up from reading the book, Luz was already fast asleep. “Aww, out like a light, aren't cha?” she quietly mused, taking the empty sippy cup from Luz and plopping the pacifier in Luz’s mouth, and surprisingly, the girl already was naturally sucking on it as she slept. She silently cooed at the sight, but then quickly took Luz’s new bat plushie, put it in the girl’s arms, and then shifted Luz over so Luz’s head was comfortably put in Amity’s lap and Luz was laying down, sleeping calmly.
Amity was happy to see Luz finally get some rest, and Luz, despite her outward wishes to try and help as much as she could, was glad to get some time to rest as well, since she needed it desperately.
- ~ -
After a while, however, Luz’s eyes began to flutter open. By the time she’d awoken, she’d become distanced from her littlespace, and thus, woke up fully big. So, when she woke up to seeing her head in a sleeping Amity’s lap, while dressed in an adorable, comfy bat onesie, and with her plushie snuggled in her arms, her face became coated with a blush. Honestly, she was impressed. Amity seemed new to being a caregiver and already gotten her quite small, and put her down for naptime. Luz honestly thought she could handle staying big forever, but it seems she had a few more clinks in her armour than she expected.
Well, not that she hadn’t expected them, she just thought she could tough her way through it like she usually did. Luz wasn’t used to getting much time to rest, since now that everything was so hectic, she felt she needed to deal with Belos as soon as possible. She needed to get home, fulfil her promise, and make everything right. Then she’d convince her mom to let her stay in the Boiling Isles, at least sometimes, and everything would be fine.
That eventuality was what she was hoping for beyond all else. Luz couldn’t risk being little and letting time go by. Sleep could wait, people needed her, now more than ever. Amity, Eda, King, Hooty, Willow, Gus, Hunter, they all needed her to fix things. If not, the day of Unity would bring about Belos’ plans, and who knows what that could bring! And, well, she’d already messed up helping Amity with the Bonesborough Brawl, couldn’t get much from the Coven Day Parade, she was making her mom wait longer and longer by the day, she hadn’t gotten info from Phillip, other than that he was a jerk, and now, after all of that, she wasn’t taking care of Amity? Wow, and she thought she was a responsible caregiver, really.
So, all of these thoughts flowed through Luz, and finally, she decided to make a decision. She was going to make some progress, and in doing so, fix things. Amity would understand, it’ll all be fine if she just acts now and fixes it. Since that’s how she deals with problems, just go through whatever stupid trial is before her to save her friends. Getting sleep? That never did anything, taking a break? That made more problems!
Being little?
At that question, Luz hesitated.
For so long, Luz had spent her life assuming that she’d have to always keep her little side a secret. Now, she had a chance. To get that dream. To relax, not worry over how weird everyone thinks you are, to have her dozens upon dozens of problems slip away just for a second.
But, she couldn’t do that, not now. Amity would shut out her own little side just to ensure Luz was happy. So, Luz concluded, she needed to act, now.
So, she got up. Quietly, so as to not disturb Amity’s sleeping, she snuck out from Amity’s lap, (reluctantly), put down her new bat plushie, who she regrettably hadn’t named yet, and did a quiet ‘woop!’ of victory as she was nearly homefree. But, she quickly noticed how muffled her victory cheer was, and the fact that it was lisped, before realizing the pacifier that was in her mouth. After blushing and a quick facepalm, she took the pacifier out of her mouth, put it in a little carrying case, and set it down next to the plushie. She then went over to Amity’s desk, combing through it, looking for papers, until she found a small collection of sticky notes. She grabbed a pink one from the pile, along with a pen, and began to write down a quick message. Since she was going to leave, she didn’t wanna let Amity worry, so she just made a simple note: “Sorry Amity, I’ve got something to do, I’ll be right back, I promise!” She even made sure to scrawl a little drawing of herself with a thumbs-up in the corner. She then quickly stuck the note on the desk, so it was noticeable, and went to leave.
But, as she took a step forward, she forgot that she’d left the pacifier and plushie just on the floor, and happened to slip and fall because of them. She hit the ground with a thud and grumble, which caused Amity to shoot up after a second or so of groggy grumblings.
“Huh… wha- Luz, batata, are you okay?” she immediately fretted, going over to Luz, who had fallen face first onto the floor. “Oh, poor baby, come here,” she immediately scooped up Luz, trying to be gentle, and cradled her, causing Luz to blush.
“Oh, uh, hey Amity, I was just, uh, taking a uh, walk, yep!” she stammered, fully big, but still blushing quite a bit, trying to make sure she didn’t slip at Amity’s gentle care.
“Oh, sorry, I assumed you were still little,” she clarified, putting Luz back on her feet and looking around to see if anything else fell over. After a second or so, she noted the little pacifier carrying pouch Luz had tripped on, in tandem with the bat plushie, and she picked them up, “We should probably clean these up,” she declared, going to put them on the desk. But, as her gaze went to the desk, Luz quickly blurted out something, to try and distract Amity from the note.
“Uh, I got a booboo!” she immediately declared, embarrassed at how childish her first thought to distract Amity was, since she hadn’t intended to say something so little.
Amity turned to Luz, concerned, “Oh, poor thing, I’m sorry, I’ll get you a bandaid right now,” she assured, holding Luz’s hand and bringing her over to where the colourful bandaids had been kept. She then sat down in front of it, in tandem with Luz, and opened up the package. “Ok, first, where does it hurt, little one?”
Luz blushed further, trying to stay big, and pointed up to her forehead, where she had a small bruise. Amity then nodded, “anywhere else?” Luz, worried she might have a lisp and by proxy, feel more little, silently pointed to her nose, which she’d also banged a little. Amity nodded again before going to pick out bandaids. “Which colour would you like?” Luz, determined to try and stay big, simply said, “It’s fine, I don’t need a bandaid, really, I just gotta, uh-” she tried to come up with some explanation as she got up, going over to the door.
Amity, surprised, got up as well, gently grabbing Luz’s hand, “Luz…? Is something wrong?” she asked gently, concerned, since she wasn’t sure why Luz was acting so odd. The girl seemed like she was desperately holding off her little self, and that made Amity much more worried the longer Luz tried to slip away.
In response, Luz hesitantly looked away, trying to make it easier to lie. “Oh, nothing’s wrong, I just,” she hesitantly looked back at Amity, “I uh, need to… Eda had this thing, she… uh,” but, reluctantly, she couldn’t come up with anything, and tried to just turn and book it, but Amity quickly made a wall of abomination goo which stopped Luz from using the door.
“Luz, please, be honest with me, something’s worrying you, I can tell. Plus, are you really gonna go out and do whatever you ‘need to do’ in a onesie?” Followed by a blush, Luz looked down and only now noticed she was still in her adorable bat onesie, and she stammered, still unable to come up with something. So, more than a little overwhelmed, and trying to somehow see if she could fix things, she went silent.
“Luz, please, tell me,” Amity said, more than a tad frustrated, “Please stop being dishonest, I only want to help, and I can’t help if you won’t le-”
But she was suddenly cut off.
For, Luz’s eyes had become covered in tears as she began to slip.
So, Amity quieted her tone, dismissed the abomination spell and wrapped Luz in a gentle hug. “I’m sorry, little light, I didn’t mean to get loud, shh.. It’s ok…” she assured, gently rubbing Luz’s back as the girl cried.
“I’m sowry, I- I jus wan hewp.. But, but I can’ be lil if i’m- go- gonna help…” Luz whimpered, hiccups interrupting her explanation, sobbing the whole way through.
“Shhh, just breathe, little light, it’s alright, you can help mama by calming down, okay?” she soothed, to which Luz nodded, breathing slowly in and out in tune with Amity. After a couple minutes, Luz had calmed down, and Amity had given the girl her plushie and pacifier to aid in the process. Once Luz had fully stopped crying, she still looked up at Amity, seeming ashamed of herself.
“Baby, is there something you wanna say?” Amity softly quizzed, to which Luz silently nodded, pointing to the note on the desk. She then went over to the desk, feeling a little bad to have to step away from Luz while she was so emotional, but wanted to know what was going on. So, she picked up the note, and after reading it over, turned back to Luz with a look of concern.
Luz immediately got worried, but Amity quickly sat down next to her and wrapped her in a hug, dispelling Luz’s fretting. “Sweetheart, did you wanna leave because you wanna help?” Luz then hesitantly nodded, to which Amity hugged Luz tighter before pulling back a bit to look at Luz. “Little light, please, can you look at mama for a second?”
Luz then nervously looked up at Amity, expecting to be reprimanded, but was met with a gentle look of care and admiration. “Please, Luz, you don’t need to do anything to help anyone right now. You need to help yourself, and the way you can do that,” she continued, gently booping Luz’s nose, “Is by being your perfect little self, ok?”
To that, Luz nodded understandingly, but went to try and respond, “but, but I ain’ suppos’d to be lil…” she mumbled, to which Amity shook her head.
“Little one, who told you that?”
Luz thought for a moment before answering. “Nobody, I jus, I don wanna be weiwd, an you an Wiwlow an Gus an Eda need my help…”
“Batata, everyone needs time to be relax, and you relax by being your adorable, tiny little self, there is nothing wrong with that. You can always help people when you’re big, but you’re a tad too small to worry about stuff like that.” she assured, wrapping Luz in a quick hug. “All you should be worrying about is what colour of bandaid you want for your boo-boos, little light.”
To that, Luz nodded, getting up and waddling towards the bandaids, Amity followed along, with the caregiver gently opening the pack of bandaids, with Luz looking over the collection. For her nose, she decided on a light blue one with a blue jay on it, and for her forehead, a purple one with a star. Amity nodded to Luz’s suggestion, taking out the two she asked for. “Now, little one, I’m gonna get you some healing magic to help your boo-boo feel better!”
Luz clapped along excitedly as Amity got the first bandaid ready, taking off the tabs on it and drawing a spell circle around the bandaid. (Thankfully for her, she’d been preparing to be a caregiver, with Emira’s help, and learned a basic healing spell along the way). She then, after doing that, gave the bandaid a tiny kiss before placing it gently on Luz. Luz then happily giggled, to which Amity smiled, glad to see her little girl happy.
“There, now, ready for the other one, baby?” she asked, to which Luz joyfully nodded. Amity then put on the other bandaid, giving it another kiss, before giving Luz one final kiss on her forehead, not for healing magic purposes, but just to make the little one feel better, which it did. After that, Luz had mostly calmed down, and Amity decided to get out a couple toys, since her little one needed some time to relax and play, though Amity made sure they both had some lunch before playtime, (with Amity opting to cut up a sandwich Luz had packed for herself, to make sure it was in small bite-sized pieces). After their quick lunch break, however, Luz got excited for playtime.
So, Amity had spread what toys there were, being Luz’s new plushies, some picture books, a couple plush blocks, (courtesy of Amity’s little bag and the fact that Edric and Emira did like to spoil her from time to time,) and an Azura-themed colouring book Luz had brought in her backpack, which she had saved for incase she was ever little. So, with the selection that was available, Luz decided to play pretend.
Her otter, who she’d christened as Otterton, was to be a valiant hero, in tandem with Battanya, her bat, and they went around the kingdom, learning magic of ancient origin. For the first scene, Luz found herself playing out the two going on a journey through the mountains. She started stacking up a pile of blocks, making them akin to the mountain, but found herself without an equivalent for snow. “Mama?” Luz gently asked, to which Amity, who was a tad distracted doing some practice on smaller abominations, immediately turned. Though she’d referred to herself as mama, Luz hadn’t called her it until this moment, so Amity was thrilled, and let out a happy squeal. So, she immediately dropped her abomination to the desk and went over to Luz.
“Yes, my little light, what do you need?” she pondered, a smile coating her face.
“Um, does we have any b’ankets we can use to look like snow on tha mountain?” Luz politely asked with her tiny, adorable voice, to which Amity nodded, heading over and retrieving a gentle, furry white blanket.
“Here you go, batata!” she cheered, handing the blanket over to Luz, “Now, what do we say?”
Luz caught on, happily saying, “Tank you!”
In response, Amity cooed at Luz’s adorableness, gave her a little kiss on the forehead, and then posed: “Good girl! Now, do you need anything else, maybe your paci? Or a sippy cup of water?”
Luz thought for a moment before shaking her head. “Nu tank chu,”
Amity nodded, “Alrighty, if you need anything, just say, mmkay?”
Luz gleefully nodded before going back to playing. She then proceeded to play out the scene of Otterton and Batanya going through the mountain, giving them voices, with Amity watching along, happy to be the audience to the little one’s show.
“The mountain’s too high, we can’t get over it!” Otterton bellowed in a deep voice, the brave otter being hit with a slick of snowfall.
“What if we go around the mountain?” his faithful companion responded in a shrill voice, also being hit with a wave of snow, which bothered her due to her innate lack of proper sight.
In reply, Otterton was shocked at the revelation, glad he had such a wise friend with him. “Oh, why yes, thank you, dearest companion, that suggestion could save us!” he cheered, to which the two gladly went onwards, around the mountain, which allowed them to avoid the snow. See, the two had been in search of a magical artefact, which they could only get if they had the five magical cookie crumbs. With the five magical cookie crumbs, they’d open the choccy milk door, and then, they’d be faced with the challenge of-
Luz’s long winded, baby-talk explanation of her very in depth lore was interrupted by an adorable tiny sneeze, partly ruining her exposition. Amity then, in response, quietly got a tissue for the little, trying not to interrupt her playtime further. Luz, in response, made grabby hands at the tissue, so Amity gently cleaned up Luz’s face and the sleeve of her onesie she’d sneezed onto. After that, Luz went straight back into her story, which to her, sounded as fantastical as her favourite book series, but to Amity, sounded a bit more like this:
“An then, when they, uh, when they got the cookie crumbs an open the choccy milk door, they got’a fight tha big bad evil dark chocowate demon!” she explained, though she quickly added, “he’s not weally evil, he jus’ doesn’ have fwiends so dat’s why he gua-” she was interrupted by another sneeze, which broke her precious immersion enough to the point of distraction.
“Mama, can I has watew in a sippy cup?”
“Of course, little light,” Amity assured, getting Luz’s water bottle, pouring some of its contents to the sippy cup, and then handing the sippy cup to the girl. Luz gleefully babbled in thanks before going back to her playtime.
After about an hour or so, however, Amity looked to her watch, noticing she had to be home soon. “Hey, little one,” she gently began, catching her ever-imaginative little’s attention.
Luz, who had been playing with Otterton while sucking on her paci, looked up to Amity. “Mmhmm?”
“Aww, you’re so cute, you know that?” she beamed, patting Luz’s head, before explaining: “Well, little light, I’m sorry to say it, but I think we gotta get you home soon.”
Luz whimpered at the thought, but, knowing it was coming, nodded, trying to get more mature and big as she pulled the pacifier out of her mouth. “Okay…”
“Sorry again Luz, but still, I can come over to your place tomorrow and you could have more playtime, or maybe we could visit Ed and Em if you’d want to then,” she offered, to which Luz nodded.
“That sounds nice, I’d be glad to have more little time,” she smiled, her voice now mostly big, though still having a bit of trouble. Following that, she gave Amity a crushing hug and kiss on the cheek, “Thanks for all of this,”
Amity blushed at the kiss but joyfully hugged back, “Of course, after all the times you’ve taken care of me, it’s the least I could do.”
Luz then pulled away, looking at Amity with a sombre gaze. “No, seriously Amity, I really needed this.” she clarified, finally more sure of herself, so that she could fully explain. “I really haven’t been, well, taking care of myself as much as I should be, and I haven’t really been that little in… more than a few months.”
Amity’s interest peaked, since she had hoped to get as much info on little Luz as she could. “Oh?”
“Yeah, well… I found out about me being little a while ago, since I heard about it on the internet, but with how weird I was already seen in school and by my mom, I didn’t wanna risk standing out more.” she admitted, rubbing her arm and looking aside. “My mom already had enough stress raising me by herself, so I didn’t wanna cause her more trouble with little me, so I just… kinda, shut it off…”
Amity started to put the pieces together more and more, adding, “And then when you learned when I was a little…?”
“Well, yeah, when I found out you were little too, I decided to shelve it even more. I didn’t wanna risk you finding out and taking care of me, so I just hid it and hoped it wouldn’t come up, but with how dangerous things have been getting…”
“You’d slip instinctually.”
Amity, knowing the exact same feeling, already hit the nail on the head. Both had tried to suppress themselves to not risk others’ opinions, just to make everything seem alright. But in doing so, it only made things worse.
Knowing Amity understood, Luz nodded, “Yeah, that’s about what all happened.”
Now fully understanding, and ready to help Luz, Amity took Luz’s hand, “Well, don’t worry,” she began, “I’ll always care about you just the same, little or big, and will take care of you whenever you need it, alright?”
Luz nodded, “Just so long as you make sure you still get to be mi petit nena when you need it,”
Amity blushed a tad, “Of course, but you’re still my little light when you need it too,”
And, satisfied, the two had one last hug before they began to head home. They delicately packed away all the little supplies, with Luz bringing hers home, and after Luz changed out of the onesie, the two departed from the library, hand in hand.
And, after all they’d been through, the struggles they’d both faced, they were glad. They’d both achieved their dreams. They both got the little lives they desired, and each got a powerful girlfriend who they’d defend in a heartbeat. And so they walked off, hand in hand, the sunset of the boiling isles on the horizon. Now, at each other’s sides, they were content to know,
They’d each always have a loving girlfriend to back them up.