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Luz watched her flowers drift further away into the night sky as they joined the stars. It was nice. Everything was so quiet and she was finally able to relax.
Amity laid against the trunk of their grom tree and held Luz with her chest pressed to the human’s back. She had been absently playing with her girlfriend’s hair for who knows how long, and the witch held her head as it was tucked into her shoulder. Occasionally, Luz would let out a sigh, and Amity responded by showering her in her affections with gentle squeezes and soft kisses to her forehead. Luz really needed this, she had been dreading this day for weeks.
A while back, Luz became aware of the fact that the anniversary was coming up when she was checking the calendar on her phone. The girl felt a sting in her heart.
What am I going to do? Luz felt horrible. She definitely wouldn’t be home in time, meaning that Luz would be away from her mami during the most painful day of the year.
She remembered how every year, Luz would sleep in her mami’s bed at night, and her mom would gently cradle her daughter in her arms while she read to her parts of the Good Witch Azura. It was a very touching gesture, and those books being something her papi gifted to her, they were very dear to the child's heart. In some ways it provided a form of comfort to her, it’d be like he was there with them. Luz would get so lost in those books, and in her mind, she’d be snuggled up with her mom and dad while she went on adventuring in her own magical world. Her mom would just keep reading until Luz fell asleep with a full heart. She loved those nights.
Throughout the day they’d be celebrating her dad’s life, and of course, they would allow themselves to cry their hearts out whenever they visited his grave, and it always left them feeling so raw. Ending the day with that warm comfort was the perfect way for both of them to wind down and put a solemn smile on Luz's face.
But as she told Amity, this time she wouldn’t be with her, and she wouldn’t have that comfort she always needed when she went to bed on this day. The thought shattered her, and Luz sighed as more tears spilled from her eyes. Her girlfriend noticed and moved her hand to gently hold and wipe them away with her thumb, then she pressed another gentle kiss to her human’s forehead.
“Luz?” Amity broke the silence.
“Yeah?”
“It’s getting really late batata,” she sighed, “I have to get home.”
The human nodded in understanding and slowly sat up. Amity took her girlfriend’s hand and pulled her up on her feet. The nearby bushes ruffled, startling the girls. But the two relaxed when Eda appeared slowly walking towards them. Luz smiled when she noticed the woman had a snoozing King peacefully tucked in her hair.
“Ready to go kid?” Eda’s voice was so gentle it hurt.
“Yeah,” she sniffed, “sorry.”
Amity scrunched her face in suspicion, “Were you there watching us the entire time?”
“Eh, only for the past hour,” the woman smirked, “wanted to give you lovebugs some space.”
Both girls blushed at the comment. Amity sheepishly grabbed the hem of her dress and turned to Luz, “I’ll see you at school?” She responded with a nod.
The young witch smiled and looked at Eda. She wore a soft smirk on her face but Amity could tell that she was very worried about her human. She leaned in to wrap Luz in a hug, “Talk to Eda, 'kay?” she whispered. She felt her girlfriend nod and Amity pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Amity said her goodbyes and Luz followed Eda back to the owl house, her movements were still sluggish and slow, but this isn’t something she could just not think about. In fact, it’s the only thing she thought about all day, the walk back would be no different. Luz was so deep in thought that she didn’t even notice that they got back home until Hooty started screaming.
“Heya Eda! Heya Luz! I missed you both sooooo MUCH!”
Luz winced at the sudden noise. Eda groaned, “Not a good time Hooty.”
The rest of the night was uneventful, which Luz was grateful for because she definitely couldn’t handle anything more in her current state. Just as she was about to crawl into her sleeping bag, something in her chest cracked, and Luz found herself crying again. Tears fell on her bag and she used the back of her hand to muffle the noises coming from her harsh breathing. She couldn’t take it, everything hurt, Luz could’ve sworn she was being ripped open.
With eyes swollen and red from her fresh cries, Luz wiped away her tears. She swallowed the dense air that had built up in her throat and grabbed the hem of her shirt, using the underside to clean the mucus that gathered under her nose. Luz slowed her breathing in an attempt to calm herself down and stood with those annoying jelly legs. She sheepishly left her room and tried to find Eda, which might be hard with a body threatening to shut down, and her steps were so soft the human could’ve been mistaken for a ghost.
Eda still sat wide awake in her nest and had been spending the night away on her scroll. The witch smiled when she found a picture of Boots on Penstagram from a certain Blight, who posted about how proud he was for his daughter winning the Bonesborough Brawl.
Hah. Cute.
“Not bad Blight,” she chuckled, and like every other night since the Coven Parade, Eda would later send Raine another text before bed. Though, that changed when the witch noticed Luz from the corner of her eye.
“Everything okay kid?” Eda knew that today was hard for her apprentice, so she had been giving the girl her space. Though, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried.
Luz stared at the floor. She hadn’t thought this far, what was she supposed to say? Swallowing another harsh breath, “Can… Uhhh, can I talk to you about something?” she softly asked.
Eda nodded and patted a spot next to her. Luz climbed into the nest and shifted around in whatever the heck it was made of. The human didn’t say anything and just sat quietly while hugging her knees.
“What’d you want to talk about?”
“Uhh..” Luz’s voice cracked. This was going to be harder than she thought, but when Eda put an arm around her to rub her shoulder, she relaxed.
“I’m right here kid, whenever you’re ready,” The witch assured, she had a feeling that Luz wanted to talk about whatever was bothering her the whole day. Judging by how she’s acting, it’s clear that it was a very touchy subject, so she tried not to pry.
But then the teen sighed, “Today… T-t-today’s the anniversary of…” the poor girl took another deep breath, “my dad, he uhh… Today’s the day he p-passed away.”
Eda felt her heart drop and she slowly pulled Luz onto her lap to hold her in a hug.
“My mami and I would normally spend the whole day together. And we’d pick flowers and visit his grave…” more tears reappeared in Luz’s eyes, “I’d do stuff with my mom. Like getting donuts from his favorite shop and going to the park because he used to take me there to play… Then at night, she’d read to me until I fell asleep but-” Luz choked out a sob.
“Oh Luz,” Eda gave the poor kid a squeeze, “I’m so sorry hun…”
“I’m not with her this year, I’m not home with my mom so…”
The witch nodded as she put two and two together, she can’t even imagine how upset Luz must’ve been. Hell, she’s still upset. Eda ran her fingers through the kid’s soft hair.
“He was good,” she quietly continued, “he told me stories and we used to play pretend together. He showed me how to even make things more dramatic in our games. And he gave me the Good Witch Azura books and…” Luz’s throat suddenly felt tight and she whined, “I really miss him, Eda.”
Her breaths sped up again and became short and quick. She let herself cry into the older woman’s embrace as more tears fell freely and pained sobs left her lips. Screw it, she had been holding this in for way too long. She wanted her dad back.
After a while, Luz’s cries had slowed to soft breaths.
“Your old man was the one who gave you those flowery things,” Eda chuckled.
Luz laughed softly at the joke, “Yeah, my mom would actually read them to me until I fell asleep. I don’t know, it kinda always made me feel better after a whole day of sad stuff, you know?”
Eda suddenly shuffled Luz off her lap to stand up, “I’ll be right back,” and gave her kid a soft smile. With that, the witch left the room, and as promised she came back a few minutes later. Once again, Luz felt herself on the brink of tears when she spotted the first Good Witch Azura book in her hands. Eda returned to her spot in the nest and pulled Luz into a hug. She rested Luz’s back against her chest and the girl instinctively tucked her head on her shoulder.
She wasn’t entirely sure if Luz would be comfortable with this, “Is it okay if I...?” Eda gestured to the book in her hands. It took a second for Luz to connect the dots, but she eventually nodded, silently giving her permission. The witch gave her kid another reassuring squeeze and opened to the first page.
An hour later, Eda noticed Luz softly snoozing with a small but sad smile. She guessed that it was the least the woman could do for her. She closed the book and gently set it down next to the nest. With her other arm now free, she’s able to properly hold her kid. One hand lightly scratched the back of the sleeping child’s head, and the other soothingly rubbed her back, before she knew it, Eda was drifting to sleep herself.
We’re gonna find a way to get you home. I promise.