Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 Darkness.

That was all Amity could see around her. Nothing but a black void laid beyond the young witch.

"Where am I?" she muttered. "Mom? Dad? Ed? Em? Anyone?"

Silence.

With no response from the endless abyss around her, the brown haired girl started walking forward. Amity wasn’t sure how far she walked, all the blackness around her made it impossible to judge distance. Heck, she wasn’t even sure if she was moving to begin with. 

Suddenly, the quiet was interrupted by crying from behind her. Amity turned around to see Willow on the floor, sobbing.

“Willow!” the youngest blight called out, happy to see a familiar face, but she got no response. Upon closer inspection Amity noticed that Willow had been hurt. She was bruised from something, though what had hurt her wasn’t exactly clear, “Willow what happened?” Amity called out. Again, no response. Amity started to take a step towards the crying girl until she was interrupted.

“Amity Blight!”

Amity turned around to see her parents standing there. Both had uncaring looks on their faces. Amity could’ve swore they were also taller than they usually were. 

“Mom? Dad? What’s going on? Where are we? What happened to Willow?” Amity fired off question after question towards her parents to no response before her mom spoke up.

“Amity, what did we tell you about talking to Willow?” Odalia’s voice was that same stern voice Amity couldn’t stand. Whenever it was used it meant Amity was most likely being sent to her room without dinner.

“Mom, she’s hurt, we can’t just lea-”

“Why do you care if she’s hurt?’ Alador spoke up, “She’s beneath us Blight’s, it is not our concern what happens to her.”

“Now come along dear, we have more important matters to attend to,” Odalia motioned for Amity to come over to them.

“No!” Amity yelled, “I can’t just leave Willow here, she’s hurt, it isn’t right!”

“Right!?” Both of her parents said in unison, anger now covering their face, “We decided what is right! Leave her!” Both Odalia and Alador’s eyes turned pitch black as they extended their hand out to grab Amity.

“No! I have to help her I-” Amity turned around and attempted to run towards Willow but was stopped by her parents' hands grabbing her. Their touch stung like it so often did, “Let me go!” Amity shouted as she started to struggle to no avail as she was pulled backwards. 

“Willow! Help me!” Amity yelled in a desperate plea to get the girl to finally acknowledge her. To Amity’s surprise it worked as Willow slowly turned around. This brought Amity little comfort as she soon realized Willow’s eyes had also gone completely black. Her expression filled with no emotion as she stared back at Amity.

 “Why would I want to help someone as awful as you?” Willow said in a scornful tone.

 Upon hearing that Amity lost all her will to struggle against her parents as tears began to leak down her face. “I’m sorry!” Amity blurted out through her sobs but it just caused Willow to turn around and walk away as her parents continued to drag her away.

Emira quickly jolted awake as her brain tried its best to process what exactly was going on. After a few seconds she finally was able to determine that she was woken up by the most blood-curdling scream she had ever heard in her life coming from down the hall.

“Em, what’s going on?” Edric asked as he sat up in his bed. Emira sat for a few more seconds before she could figure out exactly what had made the scream. Then it hit her.

“Mittens!” Emira practically leaped from her bed to dash towards her baby sister's room. Her brain could only imagine the worst was happening.

 Did a spell backfire?

 Did someone break in? 

Was she being hurt?

Emira approached Amity’s door and swung it open. The good news was that Amity was, in fact, not being murdered and was very much alive. The bad news was everything else. Emira saw Amity sitting on her bed, choking out sobs, shaking uncontrollably, with her arms wrapped tightly around her, looking absolutely terrified.

Running on pure instincts, Emira ran over towards Amity, “Mittens what happened?” Amity didn’t respond as she just continued to sob. Emira wasn’t sure if Amity even realized she was there. Emira then attempted to place her hands on Amity’s side, hoping to ground her and provide some amount of comfort. This backfired as the moment Emira made contact with Amity she violently shook her body away from the touch. 

“Okay, no touch, I got it,” Emira said, letting her sister know she got her message.

“What’s going on in-” Emira turned her head to see Edric standing at Amity’s doorway, his hand covering his mouth as he looked on at the scene, “Em, what’s wrong with Mittens?”

“If I had to guess she had a nightmare,” and as if to confirm Emira's assumption, Amity began to sob even harder than before. This was bad. Really bad. Amity was starting to hyperventilate and Emira knew if she didn’t do something to stop it Amity would end up throwing up and the last thing Amity needed was their parents getting mad at her for throwing up in her room (for once Emria was glad their parents had placed their rooms on the other side of the mansion so they weren’t close enough to have also been woken up).

“Mittens, honey, I need you to breathe,” Emira watched Amity but seemed to get no reaction from the brown haired girl, “L-like this,” Emira took a deep breath in through her nose and proceed to let it out through her mouth, hoping Amity would at least follow her example. And to her surprise, she did. Amity began to mimic Emira’s breathing, “Good job Mittens, keep going,”  and Amity she did. She continued breathing in and out.

“Ed go get Mittens a glass of water,” Emira ordered to her twin.

“On it,” Edric said as he left the room. Emira continued to watch Amity as her sobs grew quieter with every deep breath she took. She still continued to shake however.

“It’s okay Mittens, Ed and I are here, you’re safe here,” Emira softly said to Amity. The last part was a lie, of course. Their parents were in the house and if they had been woken up and saw this, they would somehow find a way to punish Amity for the simple crime of being a child scared of her nightmares.

Edric returned rather quickly from his mission and handed Amity the glass of water he poured for her. Amity took it and quickly downed the whole thing before handing the glass back to Edric, “Are you feeling any better?” he asked.

Amity didn’t speak, instead she just shook her head, “Is there anything we can do to help?” As he said this Edric attempted to place a hand on Amity’s shoulder before Emira grabbed his arm and shook her head no at him. Edric got the message and pulled his arm back.

Emira sat there silently as Amity continued to shake. This wasn’t the first time the twins have seen Amity unable to talk, but it was the first time it wasn’t followed by their mother chastising her for not speaking (once again, Emira was grateful their parents were still asleep). 

After thinking for a moment, Emira got an idea, “Mittens, would you like to come sleep in my bed tonight?” Amity enthusiastically nodded her head at Emira’s question, “Great,” Emira gave her baby sister a smile as she got up and motioned for Amity to follow her to her and Edric’s room. Amity obliged as she got up and followed Emira, Edric followed behind his sisters. 

The walk back to the twin’s room was quiet. No one said anything and perhaps that was for the best. It gave Amity a couple moments to hopefully calm down more and it gave Emira a moment to contemplate why she and her brother were the ones comforting Amity after a nightmare and not their parents. She decided it best to tuck the tinge of resentment she was feeling for their parents away for another time as it was more important that she helped Amity.

When the three arrived at the twins' room, Emira guided Amity over towards her bed as Edric walked over to his bed, keeping his eyes on his sisters the whole time before placing the glass he had given Amity to drink out of on his nightstand and climbing into his bed. Amity climbed into Emira’s bed and Emira followed her. Amity was laying on her side, away from Emira and towards the wall. Emira decided to take it as a sign that Amity still wasn’t ready for contact and decided she would lay on her side, facing away from Amity. Before she did that, Emira made sure to pull her blanket over herself and Amity, covering Amity’s shoulder like she always liked. Emira’s bed wasn’t exactly big so their backs touched slightly which caused Emira to feel that Amity was still shaking.

Despite the mild discomfort it was causing, Emira was more than happy that Amity agreed to her suggestion. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Amity alone in her room, especially in her current state. Emira could almost hear what her mom would say to that.

Just leave her there, she needs to learn how to handle nightmares herself.

“Mittens, dear,” Emira began, “If you need anything please don’t be afraid to ask,” once again Emira got no response from Amity but she was sure she heard her. Emira quietly sighed and closed her eyes. It was up in the air if she was going to be able to fall back asleep but she figured she should at least try to. Edirc managed to fall back asleep as his light snoring filled the air.

“Em…” 

Emira’s eyes shot open, for the first time that night Amity had spoken, “What is it Mittens?”

“Do,” Amity sniffled, “Do you think I’m a bad person?”

That definitely was not the question Emira was expecting.

“Of course not Mittens, why do you ask?” worry tinged the older girl's voice. That isn’t something a kid Amity’s age should be asking.

“Willow was in my nightmare and she called me awful.”

Oh, that’s why.

“And I just,” Amity’s voice was getting shaky, “I keep thinking about what happened at my birthday party. What I did was awful wasn’t it? I know mom and dad keep saying it was the right thing to do but I don’t think so. And I just keep thinking about how awful of a person doing that must make me, and I-,” Amity was starting to cry again.

“Hey, hey, shhhhhh,” Emira said as she flipped around so she was looking at Amity’s back, “You’re not an awful person Mittens, please do not ever think you are.”

“But what I did was bad, right?” 

Emira paused for a second before responding, “No.”

“What?” Emira could hear the shock in her baby sister's voice.

Emira closed her eyes as if Amity had eyes in the back of her head that Emira just couldn’t look into, “I don’t think what you did was bad, it…had to be done.”

But what she did was bad. Kicking your best friend out of your birthday party that YOU invited her is bad. Telling her you can’t be friends with her anymore because she’s bad at magic is an awful thing to do and your friend has every right to call you awful after that. But how do you tell a kid who’s terrified, not only of what her parents would have done her friend, but herself too, that? How do you tell your baby sister that you swear you’re raising more than your parents  some days, that?

How do you tell a kid who woke up sobbing from a nightmare who is currently lying next to you, still shaking in fear, that, yes, the contents of your nightmare are true and you are an awful person?

You don’t tell her that. You lie. Because doing otherwise would destroy the kid.

And the lie worked. Amity wasn’t shaking as hard anymore.

“You really think so?” Amity asked, her voice noticeably less shaky.

“Yeah I do,” Emira lied, again, “Now please, stop worrying about it Mittens and get some sleep, we have that company presentation tomorrow.”

“Oh right,” Amity’s voice dropped as she was reminded of what awaited her in the morning, “Goodnight Em, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Emira replied, “And goodnight, Mittens,” Emira turned back around and closed her eyes once again. It wasn’t long before Emira noticed that Amity had fallen back asleep. Emira just hoped that her lie was enough to make her sleep less nightmare filled.

Emira didn't sleep.

Most of her night was spent just staring at the ceiling deep in thought and guilt before her alarm went off. Beside her she heard Amity sit up and stretch with a yawn, "How are you feeling Mittens?"

"A lot better," the young witch replied with a smile that made Emira's heart melt, "Thank you so much Em."

"You're welcome," Emira smiled back at her sister, "Anytime you have a nightmare you're more than welcome to sleep in my bed if you're too scared to be alone."

"You really mean that?" Amity asked and Emira couldn’t help but notice the absolute glee in her sister's voice at such a simple act of kindness.

“Of course, now go get dressed, we have a long day ahead of us,” Emria said as she moved aside so Amity could crawl out of bed.

“Okay,” Amity said as she got out of Emira’s bed and left to go get ready for the day. A few moments of silence followed before it was broken by her brother.

“Well you look horrible,” Emira looked up to see Edric walking over to sit down on her bed next to her, “Amity keep you up?”

“No,” Emira said as she rubbed her eyes, “I was up all night just thinking?”

“That’s new,” Edirc chuckled.

“Oh shut up,” Emirs responded as she pushed him lightly, “No I was just thinking about something I told Mittens last night. She asked me if what she did to Willow was terrible.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“I said no,” Emira sighed, “And I can’t stop thinking about it because that was a lie, what she did was awful, I know that, you know that, mom and dad even probably know that. But what was I supposed to do? Tell her the truth and make her feel even worse?”

“Em,” Edric placed his arm around his twin, “Mittens didn’t exactly have a choice in that situation, mom and dad would have-”

“I know what dad and especially mom are capable of,” Emria interrupted, “But what Amity did was still wrong and I just told her it wasn’t,” Emira placed her head and her brother's shoulder, “What if I’m a bad sister?”

“Em,” Edric gave a sympathetic look to his sister, “If it means anything I think I would have done the same.”

“You think so?” Emira stifled a sniffle.

“Yeah, and I also think you’re a great sister,” Edric smiled at Emira, “You managed to calm Mittens down and get her back to sleep. So please don’t beat yourself up about what happened, you did the right thing.”

Emira pulled away from her brother and let out a sigh, “For Mittens’s sake I hope to you’re right.”

“When am I not?” Edric said with a confident smile. Emira just rolled her eyes.

Chapter Text

Amity took a deep breath. A very deep breath.

The deepest breath she had ever taken in her life.

Amity Blight was scared. The most scared she’d ever been in fact. More scared than before a big test. More scared than before one of her parents' weapon showcases. More scared  than she was before almost being sewn into a book. But she vowed to herself that she was going to overcome that fear. 

She was going to ask Luz out on a date.

Speaking of Luz, there she was: standing by her locker, talking with Willow and Gus. Now was the perfect time to ask. Amity slowly made her way through the noisy hallway and walked up to the group. “Hey guys,” Amity said with a smile, trying to hide her nervousness, “How are you all doing today?” The three just stared blankly back at her. Even Luz, who was always talkative, just stared back at Amity. 

It was actually Gus who spoke up first, “What do you want, Blight?”

Amity could swear that there was a hint of contempt in his voice, but she wasn’t very sure. She never was good with getting peoples’ tones, so she just assumed she was thinking too hard about something. Again.

“I wanted to ask Luz something, actually,” Amity replied to the young boy, turning her gaze to look at Luz, just not in her eyes, she was too nervous to even attempt that right now.

Luz…sighed? Luz never sighed. Was she tired? Amity didn’t have long to think about it before Luz started speaking, “Make it quick Blight.”

“Uh ok,” Amity was now sure something was wrong, but she came here to do something, and she wasn’t about to stop. Amity took another deep breath and grabbed a hold of the bottom of her school uniform as she prepared what she was going to say, “Luz, I was wondering if you’d like to maybe go on a date with me?”

Silence.

The trio just stared back at Amity who was now questioning if she somehow offended Luz, “It’s uh, fine if you don’t want to, I just think you’re pretty cool and there’s a new restaurant in town I wanted to check out and thought maybe you’d like to go with me.”

Silence.

Amity couldn’t even hear the hallway anymore. It was at this moment the young witch realized that everyone in the hallway had stopped moving and were staring at her.

Silence.

And then laughter.

Laughter from Luz, Willow, and Gus. Hysterical laughter that was echoing through the halls. 

“Can you believe this, Luz?” Gus spoke up through the tears of his laughter, “Awful Amity Blight wants to go on a date with you.”

“I can hardly believe it,” Willow finally said for the first time since Amity walked up to the group, “You really think someone as awful as you deserves to go out with Luz?”

“What?” was all Amity could manage to get out. Even at her worst bullying days Willow never spoke to her like that.

“Let me make this easy for you,” Luz said in an annoyed tone, “I would never go out with someone as awful a person as you, Blight.”

“You all think I’m awful? But I thought we were all friends?” 

“Friends?” Gus scoffed as the three were growing taller. Taller to the point where all three of them were towering over Amity. Even Gus, the smallest of the group, now towered over her, making Amity feel smaller than ever.

“Like I’d ever be friends with you again after what you did to me,” Willow’s voice was echoing through the hallways now.

“I thought we were in the process of making up!” Amity was trying to back away from the three but eventually fell down and was now sitting on the floor, making her feel even smaller.

“You can’t honestly believe that, can you?” Willow asked rhetorically.

“Honestly, Amity,” Luz spoke up again in a voice Amity barely recognized. It was so full of anger and hatred instead of the excitement and love it usually carried, “Are you so stupid you believe you deserve forgiveness after all you’ve done? Not even just forgiveness, but love?”

“I-I,” tears were running down Amity’s face, “I’m sorry, I’m trying to be better. I-”

“It’s pointless,” Luz’s voice at this moment was the loudest sound Amity had ever heard, “You always have been and always will be a terrible person, Amity Blight.”

Amity shot up in her bed, drenched in sweat and hyperventilating. Amity tightly gripped her blanket while she attempted to get her breathing under control. As she did, the green haired  witch scanned her surroundings to confirm that she was back in her bed at Blight Manor and no longer in the hallways of Hexside. Eventually, Amity managed to get her breathing under control. She was old enough now that she no longer woke up screaming and crying from nightmares, but they still left her in a state of extreme emotional distress.

Amity laid her head back down on her pillow to go back asleep. The problem was that her heart was still racing and she was still scared. She knew in the back of her head she wouldn’t be going back to sleep, at least if she stayed in her room. And she really needed that sleep. After spending the better part of her afternoon inside Willow’s mind with Luz fixing her mistake, she was simply exhausted.

I could go to-

No, you’re too old for that!

But she did say I could.

You’re better than this, Blight.

But I’ll never get to sleep if I stay here.

After a few more moments of quiet contemplation, Amity let out a sigh and got up from her bed and began to slowly walk over to her siblings' shared room. Amity slowly pulled the door to their room open, cringing when it started to squeak (the twins had asked their dad if he could fix it multiple times but he was always too busy with work to take the time and fix it). Once inside, Amity slowly approached her sister's bed, forgetting to close the door, until she was right beside Emira's bed. Emira was currently laying on her side facing Amity (she got a rare look at her older sister’s pimple covered face, something their mother always made her hide). Amity once again considered going back to her room and riding out her nightmare alone like she’s done for at least two years now, but decided it was too late to turn back now.

“Em…” Amity whispered, trying her best to not wake Edric up (who had always snored rather loud, but weirdly Amity never minded that when she would sleep in here, it was honestly a bit comforting), as she moved her hand to Emira’s shoulder. As soon as her hand made contact with Emira the older girl's eyes opened and they took in the witch that had caused them to open.

“Mittens? Did you need something?” Emira said, very sleepily.

“I, uh, had a nightmare,” Amity mumbled out, “I was wondering if the offer to sleep in your bed was still valid? If not, I can just go back to my bed. You don’t have-”

“No, no,” Emira said as she sat up in bed and moved her body to let Amity crawl to the other side of her, “You’re more than welcome to sleep here tonight.”

“T-thanks,” Amity replied with a slight smile as she crawled onto Emira’s bed.

“You’re welcome, Mittens,” Emira said with a yawn as she moved her body to once again lay down. The two sisters were now in a familiar position. Back-to-back, Amity facing the wall and Emira facing away to the rest of her shared room with Edric. Emira had gotten a much bigger bed since the last time Amity was here, big enough that their backs no longer touched, despite both girls being much taller than they were the last time they did this. 

Upon setting her head down on the pillow, Amity instantly felt more relaxed. In all honesty she really missed this. Just the knowledge that someone she loved was right next to her, protecting her, gave her more comfort than she could describe in words.

Of course, Amity couldn’t let a quiet, comforting moment pass.

“Hey Em,” Amity said softly, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Mittens,” Emira still sounded sleepy.

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” There was that question once again. The question Amity asked Emira all those years ago. The question that Amity asked herself every single day since breaking up her friendship with Willow. The same question that no matter how much she argued with herself, the answer in her head always came out to be a yes.

“Of course not, Mittens, why do you ask?” again that same answer from Emira. Even the worry in her voice was the same.

“I had another nightmare about Willow and a few others,” Amity rubbed Emira’s blanket between her left hand’s pointer finger and thumb, “They said I would always be a terrible person for what I did for Willow.”

“Mittens, that was years ago and-”

“And what,” Amity snapped, “Are you going to tell me it was the ‘right thing to do’ again? Don’t bother. And even if it was, I just keep doing bad things.”

“Like what?” Emira asked, very clearly at a loss for words at her sister's sudden outburst.

“Like today,” Amity began to explain. “Willow had her memories taken out in photo class, and I saw the photo of my birthday party and I tried to burn it. But the fire spread to all her memories. I almost ruined all her memories and for what? So I wouldn’t be embarrassed that I was her friend?” Tears were forming in Amity’s face now, “If it wasn’t for Luz, Willow would never be the same. How am I supposed to live with the knowledge I almost permanently damaged Willow like that? No good person does that!”

“Mittens…” Amity could have sworn Emira sounded like she was going to cry, “You’re right, what you did to Willow all those years ago was bad.”

“Then why did you tell me it wasn’t?”

“Because,” Emira sighed, “I was afraid telling you would have broken you. You were already a wreck that night, you were just so scared and you kept shaking, I was afraid telling you the truth would have made you so much worse, and I just couldn’t do that to you.”

“So you admit I’m a bad person,” Amity responded.

“No,” Emira replied, “You never wanted to do that to Willow in the first place, mother and father made you do that.”

“I should have fought back more.”

“No, you should never have been put in that situation, Mittens,” Emira took a deep breath in, “Listen, you did something bad. You’re old enough that you can hear that now. But the fact of the matter is, you’re acknowledging what you did was bad, and a bad person wouldn’t do that.”

“But what about what I did today?” Amity continued to rub Emira’s blanket between her fingers.

“Yes, that was bad,” Emira stated, “But let me ask you this, was Luz the only one to help fix Willow?”

“No, the Owl Lady did as well.”

“Did you help?”

“...Yes.”

“Would a bad person help fix their own mistakes?”

“No…” Amity tilted her head down slightly.

“That’s the important thing,” Emira flipped herself over so she could look over to her sister, even if it was just her back. “You’re going to mess up in life, Mittens, but the important thing is you acknowledged that you messed up and worked to make things better.”

“But a good person wouldn’t do those bad things to begin with,” Amity retorted. 

“What about me and Ed?”

“What about you two?”

“We’ve done bad things,” Emira stated matter-of-factly, “We tried to post your diary across the school and almost got you sewed into a book, do you think we’re bad people?”

“...No…”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you acknowledged you did something wrong and are working to fix it.”

“Exactly,” Emira said with a smile, “Frankly Mittens, the fact that you’re worrying about if you’re a bad person or not tells me you are a good person.” Amity went quiet for a few moments as she contemplated her sister’s words before her thoughts were interrupted by Emira, “Now, what happened after you fixed Willow’s memories?.”

“Well,” Amity began, “It’s a bit late to tell you everything, but I think Willow and I could become friends again. I’m not sure if we’re quite there yet but Willow said she was open to it.”

Emira’s eyes opened wide with shock, “That’s a bit unexpected to hear.”

“Again, it’s a very long story.”

“Well I think that’s a good thing,” Emira smiled at her sister again, “You were always much happier with her than your current friends, so if you can rekindle that friendship you should. Now, would Willow want to try and be friends again with a bad person?”

“Probably not,” Amity responded, “But what about those years of bullying I participated in? Doesn’t that make me a bad person?”

“That was bad,” Emira’s face went back to a neutral expression, “But here’s the important question: Are you going to continue the bullying?”

“No, I want to stop,” Amity sighed, “Let me guess, ‘a bad person would continue their bad behavior instead of working to stop it.’”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, Mittens,” the room went silent once again, “I hope that resonated with you, Mittens.”

“It did,” Amity continued to stare at the wall, “I think I just need time to think about all of it.”

“And that’s fine,” Emira flipped back around to be facing away from Amity once again, “I’ll always be here if you ever want to talk more about it.”

A couple minutes passed with no words from either girl. There was something else Amity wanted to ask Emira about, something more fitting for sisters to talk about. Something Emira had also said they could do. Something that had been on her mind since she woke up from the nightmare.

Why did she ask out Luz in her dream?

“Hey Em…” Amity whispered.

“Yes, Mittens?”

“How do you know when you like someone,” a blush formed on Amity’s face, “in a romantic sense.”

Those were all the words it took for Emira to shoot up in her bed and look over to Amity once again, “Mittens, do you like someone?” There was a huge amount of excitement in Emira’s voice now.

“No! Yes! Maybe! I’m not sure!” Amity replied, her face turning an even deeper red “I just need you to tell me what it’s like so I’m sure.”

“Well,” Emira looked up as she searched her head for what to say, “I guess a good sign is if you can’t stop thinking about her.”

Oh no.

“Another sign is if you get pixies in your stomach everytime you see her.”

OH NO.

“And for me, a good sign is when just being around her fills you with joy. Like just being in the same room makes your day better.”

“Oh no.”

A teasing smile crept onto Emira’s face, “Awww, my baby sister's first crush!”

“Sh-shut up,” Amity’s face had gotten even redder somehow as she pulled the blanket over her head to hide her embarrassment from her sister.

“So who is she?” Emira could hardly contain the joy this revelation brought her..

“Like I’d tell you.”

“I promise I won’t tease you about it!” Emira was practically begging to know at this point.

Amity pulled the blanket down from over her face and turned her head to finally look at Emira again, an annoyed expression on her face, “Don’t lie to me again Em.”

“Okay find I will tease you,” Amity sighed and flopped back down on the bed, “Will you tell me Mittens? Pleeeeease?” Emira pleaded, sounding the most desperate she ever has.

Against Amity’s better judgment, she decided to let her sister know who it was, “It’s Luz.”

“Ha! I knew it!” Emira said, loud enough to threaten to wake up Edric.

“What do you mean, you knew?” Amity whined.

“Please, it was so obvious you were starting to crush on her at the Knee,” Emira wore a smug smile on her face, “I know when a baby lesbian is about to get their first crush. Believe me, I’ve been there.”

“Hmp,” Amity pouted as she crossed her arms.

“So, are you going to ask her out?” Amity could just hear the huge grin Emira had on her face, “Oh, Grom is coming up! You should totally ask her to go with.”

“I don’t,” Amity let out a sad sigh, “I don’t know.”

“Why?” Emira cried out, “Even if you get a no, Luz is way too nice to not let you down easy.”

“Because,” Amity went silent for a moment, she debated if she should tell Emira her reason. But she figured since she was already pouring her fears of being a bad person out to her sister, she might as well let it all out.  

“What if I don’t deserve love?”

Silence.

Then a sniffle from Emira.

“Mittens,” Emira spoke with a serious tone she hardly ever spoke with, “would you mind looking at me?” Amity sat up and turned around to now be facing Emira, making sure to avoid eye contact as much as possible. Amity could barely make it out with the only light source being the moon outside and the light from the hallway, but Emira had tears running down her face. 

Tears for her baby sister.

Tears for Amity.

“Mittens,” Emira began, “Never, ever for a moment think you are undeserving of love. Everyone deserves love, especially someone as wonderful as you.”

Tears were now falling down Amity’s cheeks as well, “What if I don’t think I’m wonderful?”

“But you are wonderful, Mittens,” Emira was really struggling to hold back her tears now, “You are a wonderful and smart young witch who deserves all the love the world can give you, and who is way too young to have such questions clogging her mind.” Emira moved in and wrapped her arms around her baby sister. Amity usually wasn’t one to be held, it never really felt right.

But right now?

She needed this. She wasn’t sure if she deserved this. But she needed this.

So Amity wrapped her own arms around her sister and allowed herself to feel loved.

After a few minutes, both sisters stopped crying and pulled away from each. Emira took the sleeves of her pajamas and wiped away Amity’s tears before cleaning off her own tear stained face. Emira smiled lovingly at her sister when she was done and Amity smiled back at her.

“I think we should go back to bed,” Emira suggested, “But please think about everything I said to you tonight.”

“I think so too and I’ll think about everything, I promise,” as if Emira’s words triggered something in her Amity let out a big yawn that soon spread over to Emira as she too let out a big yawn. 

Silently, both girls went back to their usually sleeping positions, backs to each other.

A few moments passed before Emira spoke up again, “Mittens?”

“Yes, Em?”

“I really do think you should ask Luz to Grom, you’d have fun.”

“I’ll consider it.”

“And Mittens?” Emira called out once again.

“Yes?” Amity responded, starting to get annoyed.

“I love you.”

Amity smiled softly, “I love you too, Em.”