Work Text:
Space can be boring sometimes. The Collector had thought he made the right decision to spend some time back among the stars. To grow up after everything they did at the Boiling Isles. Admittedly though, he was coming up with reasons to visit more often than he thought they would. Then again, it was hard to keep track of Earth time when he was away from it. Really, they were lucky he didn’t come back years later.
So, he wasn’t sure what to expect when they came back to the Boiling Isles since leaving. There were certainly a lot fewer reparations finished than he expected. Really, how did itty bitties handle doing things so slowly? It sounds so boring to spend so much time cleaning up.
He floated around above the Isles for a bit, trying to find a good place to land and see their friends. His castle was still on top of the Titan’s skull where they left it, which made sense. But nobody was around it though.
Finally, he saw some friends in front of the Owl house. King was in the front playing. Eda was standing behind him chatting with someone. They looked like that puppet the collector had who seemed to have come to life. Who the Collector later learned was possessed by Belos at that time. Raine, he thinks their name was?
The Collector floated down towards the trio.
“King!” He exclaimed as he landed in front of them. King paused and turned to face him.
“Collector!” King exclaimed back. He then ran forward to give the Collector a hug. The Collector returned the hug, blinking as their eyes got a bit misty. Gosh, he missed his friend.
The Collector pulled back and then waved behind them.
“Hi, Eda!”
Eda smiled at him with her fang sticking out.
“Welcome back, Collector. You were missed.”
Raine, who had their arm wrapped around Eda, nodded at him.
Just then, some of the other kids Luz was friends with started to walk up to the Owl House. They paused when they saw him.
“Collector? Gosh, it’s been a while.”
The Collector smiled and waved at them with both hands.
“Hiya! It’s good to see everyone again. Space is lonely. And you all are more interesting.”
More of them smiled at his enthusiasm.
The Collector looked around though when he noticed someone was missing.
“Where’s Luz?”
The others exchanged looks with each other at that.
“She’s in the human world,” King said.
The Collector wilted a bit at that.
“Oh,” They said, “Does she spend more time there now?”
“Yes…” King said, seeming hesitant.
“But there’s a specific reason today.”
“Oh?” The Collector tilted his head. “Why’s that?”
The others paused again.
“Today is an anniversary of sorts. She usually spends the day with her mom.”
“Oh. Well, I really want to see her. Do you think it’s okay for me to join at least for a moment to say hi?”
King hesitated.
“You should probably at least ask her if that’s okay.”
The Collector frowned. “O-okay,” It would still be a chance to see her after all.
“She’s going to be at a specific place in the human realm this time. Probably one you haven’t been to yet,” King continued.
Then Amity stepped forward.
“I’ll take you there. She’s shown me where it is before.”
Amity lead him to a type of place the Collector hadn’t been to before. It was a fenced-in area of grass that had carved gray stones interspersed throughout. They almost resembled tablets. Besides many of the stones were flowers. The Collector squinted his eyes as he looked around. Why would Luz be at this place? It didn’t look like there was anything to do.
“What is this place?” The Collector asked as they looked up to Amity. Amity pressed her lips together as she looked ahead. Her expression was a bit hard to read.
“This is a cemetery,” She said.
That sounded familiar. She looked around and then started to walk along the path. The Collector followed. After going up the hill a bit she stopped. Amity pointed ahead and to a bit to the left. It looked like the backs of Luz and her mom standing in front of one of the carved stones.
“You can go ahead. I want to give them some space. If Luz doesn’t want to visit right now, please respect that, alright?”
“…okay.” The Collector was still confused about what was going on, but he didn’t want to upset Luz.
He carefully walked forward, with more caution than he usually moved with. As he got close, they noticed Luz and her mom talking quietly with each other.
“…uh, Luz?”
Luz jumped. Then she and her mom both turned around with wide eyes.
“Collector!?” Luz exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
The Collector rocked in place slightly.
“I uh, I was visiting the Boiling Isles and noticed you weren’t there, but I wanted to see you and at least say hi. Your friends told me where you were, but not to disturb you if you wanted space,” He said. Then he pointed to the way he came. Luz looked over to see Amity still where she had stopped earlier. Amity waved. After Luz nodded to her, Amity turned around and started to walk back down the hill.
“Can I ask what you’re doing?” The Collector asked, “Everyone’s being weird about it and I don’t understand.”
Luz sighed and waved him forward. He came to her, and she kneeled to be at his level.
“This is the anniversary of my dad passing away,” Luz said. She pointed to the stone in front of them. The Collector looked and saw that it said the name Manny Noceda, and listed the years of his life.
“Every year my mom and I come to visit his grave.” Luz looked up as her mom held her hand and squeezed it a little.
“We set flowers here to honor him. And then my mom and I spend the day together.”
The Collector looked back over at the gravestone. He didn’t really know what human lifespans looked like, but Luz did seem young to not have a father anymore.
It was strange to picture that his friend’s father was apparently laid to rest here. Years meant it had been some time for them, for the dad to be gone like this. Death was still a concept difficult for the Collector to grasp. It had clearly affected his friend directly though. He only got a glimpse of that feeling when Luz had died. It was horrible. And he hadn’t even known her that long yet.
He didn’t really have parents in the same way mortals did, as a being born from the stars. But he knew it was a significant relationship to them.
“Can I ask what happened to him?” The Collector asked.
Luz sucked in a sharp breath and then looked down to the side at the flowers still in her hands.
“He got sick.”
The Collector nodded. He wasn’t sure he fully understood still. But he wanted to. Even if this was not a fun mortal experience he would want. It was still affecting her after all.
“…can I join you in honoring him?” He asked.
Luz blinked seeming surprised. Then she nodded.
“Yeah, sure.”
Luz’s mom knelt in front of the grave and brushed her hand against the stone.
He looked at the flowers Luz was holding. Then they twirled their hand to create three flowers for him to hold as well. Except these were purple flowers from the Boiling Isles.
“So how do we honor him with these?” They asked.
“I’ll show you,” Luz said. She bent over and laid her own flowers in front of the grave. Her mother did the same next to Luz’s.
“Hey Dad,” Luz said. She began to update him on things going on in her life. With the Boiling Isles, going back to human school, and having a girlfriend. She also said that she missed him, and thinks about him all the time.
Wasn’t he gone? Why was she talking to the stone like it was him?
“Why are you talking like he can hear you? I hope I don’t seem rude, I’m just confused,” The Collector said.
Luz gave them a sad smile.
“I’d like to think he can, where he may be. A lot of people talk to their loved ones who have passed. Sometimes it’s a way to help us deal with the grief. It’s easier to think some part of them is still here, just not in the living world anymore. I have now met someone who wasn’t quite dead, in the in-between, so it seems possible to me.”
“Hm…can I say something to him too?” The Collector asked.
Luz nodded.
“If you want.”
The Collector placed his flowers by Luz’s, and looked at the stone, trying to picture he was looking at someone. Maybe an older, man version of Luz.
“Hi, Luz’s Dad…I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but I felt like I should say something. Um, you don’t know me, but Luz has become a very special friend to me. She helped me understand some things I hadn’t before. Which lead me to be able to help her and many other people. You should be very proud of her. Thank you for helping to bring Luz into this world. That alone means you’re important to me too, even if I never met you.”
The Collector nodded to themselves, satisfied with the sentiment. He turned back to Luz who was looking back at him with a stunned expression and misty eyes. The Collector smiled at her hesitantly and stepped up to her.
“Can I give you a hug?” He asked.
Luz gave him a trembling smile and nodded. The Collector went up to her and wrapped their arms around her. She hugged him back and sniffed a bit. When she pulled away, she wiped her eyes and stood back up.
“Come on,” She held a hand out. “I usually give Mama a moment alone with him.”
The Collector took her hand and followed her to a bench that was near the path.
“Thank you for trying to understand what I’m going through,” Luz said. “I know how this is a bit of a foreign topic to you.”
The Collector shrugged.
“It’s important to you. Besides, I wanted to understand better anyways.”
He stood up.
“I won’t encroach on your time with your mom for the rest of the day. I just wanted to be a part of this.”
Luz looked conflicted, like she was going to argue about him leaving, but then nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
The Collector nodded.
“Yeah,”
He floated away a bit slowly in contemplation. This was a lot to process. He wished his friends didn’t have to go through such awful things as grief. Hopefully, he and their friends could be there for her. And make spending time with each other good even amidst such awful feelings.