Luz ran out of the bedroom in a nervous sweat, her chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. It had become an almost weekly occurrence at this point. When the world darkened from her eyelids falling, she would be met with a horrifying nightmare that was impossible to escape.
She would find herself back in the Boiling Isles, at The Owl House; her home away from home. However, as she walked through that familiar doorway, Eda and King would be gone. She desperately searched around the halls looking for them to no avail. Looking through the sunset-colored glass panes of the eye of the Owl House, her whole world went dark. She would be met with Eda, her friends, everyone's power being drained right out of them, dropping to the floor and wailing in pain as Belos appeared by her side, a prideful look in his eye. She was apart of his plan that whole time.
The torture she had put everyone through weighed heavily down on her conscious. What crushed her was what she had put her family through, those who took her in as a curious witch apprentice with child-like wonder. But because of this, the entirety of the boiling isles was left in danger. This horrific nightmare taunted her dreams, even something as peaceful as sleeping became just another opportunity for her mind to punish her. As if it didn’t get enough opportunities to do that enough throughout the day.
She dashed into the bathroom to recollect herself, gasping desperately for air. The pit in her stomach grew and grew and it became hard to breathe. How could she let herself put so many innocent lives in danger and for what? To live out her Good Witch Azura fantasy? She desperately grabbed her chest as she fell to the floor, uncontrollably sobbing her eyes out. How could you HELP belos meet the collector? You ruined everything… you’re a failure… failure… fail-
“Luz?” a curious voice beckoned out as the door creaked open. Navy blue socks with yellow crescent moons on them hesitantly opened the door. “Luz!” Amity dropped to the floor to comfort her, Luz wrapped her arms around Amity’s waist and held on tight, continuing to sob into her shoulder as Amity rubbed her back. She didn’t fully know what was going on. I mean, how could she? Luz had bottled all this pain and endless guilt up in her consciousness throughout the entirety of their summer. She didn’t want to worry them, especially since they had enough weighing on them being separated from friends and family.
Her heart rate gradually went down to a normal pace and her breathing leveled out, Luz pulled away as they met touching foreheads. Tears lightly trickled down Luz’s face.
“God, I’m a mess” Luz giggled to herself, little hiccups of tears breaking their way seamlessly through at each chuckle.
Amity lifted her hands towards Luz’s face, wiping away some of her tears and moving her delicate curled bangs out of her face. She knew Luz was having a rough time since coming back to her home, but she wasn’t aware of just how bad it had gotten. “Luz. Talk to me. What’s going on?” Amity pondered, lifting up one of Luz’s hands as she stared into her sorrowful eyes.
“It’s nothing, you don’t have to worry about me, really!” Luz assured Amity, forcing a smile hoping that it would bring some form of consolation to Amity.
“Please, you don’t have to lie to me, Luz.” As Amity began to get more emotional, she lowered her head down. She hates how Luz always feels the need to hide what she’s going through. She wants to her her shoulder to cry on. She wants to be there for her girlfriend. Amity recollected herself and stared back into her brown eyes. “Look, there's nothing that you could tell me that I would ever hate you for. I will always be here for you, but it’s hard for me to do that when you don’t tell me anything.”
“I want to… I really do. But what I’ve done is just-“ Luz said before being interrupted.
“Luz!” Amity exclaimed as she gently put her hands on her soft cheeks. “I’m here for you, always and forever. And nothing could ever change that.”
Luz took a deep breath. She gazed up into the fluorescent bathroom lights and looked back at the girl she loves the most. “You know that day I disappeared after learning all that bad stuff about Belos?” Luz asked, Amity signaled an agreeing nod. “Well, I found out that Belos is Phillip, you know that jerk from way back, and I-“ she stopped hesitantly, Amity rubbed her thumb over Luz’s hand, telling her that everything was going to be okay. After letting out a final deep breath, she let it out. “I helped Belos meet The Collector. I’m the reason he can do the draining spell. And I’m the reason you’re all trapped here in the human realm” Luz blurted out shamefully, lowering her head. “I understand if you hate me now.”
Amity helped lift up her head, staring back into those big brown eyes. Those same kind eyes that saw the best in her even when she couldn’t see it in herself. And those same compassionate eyes reassured her when she finally stood up to her mom. Finally, Amity said the words Luz had always needed to hear. “Look at me.” Amity said, Luz’s head slowly rose up as Amity placed her hands on Luz’s cheeks, “It’s not your fault.” Luz collapsed. That realm-sized weight on her shoulders had been lifted, and she fell into her lover's arms. Amity ran her hands through Luz’s hair, feeling a different kind of relief. Knowing that Luz now had a little less weight on her shoulders brought her some peace of mind.
They sat there silently holding each other for a while, long enough to lose track of time. Eventually, Luz lifted up from Amity’s chest and stood up, lending out both her hands to help up her girlfriend. As they walked through the halls, hand in hand, walking past Luz’s family photos from her childhood, the world seemed to disappear. They turned to each other, their fingers intertwining, Luz rubbing her thumb along Amity’s and staring into those sparkling, golden eyes.
“I love you Amity” Luz expressed without any hesitation. A red blush lit up Amity’s soft cheeks. The corners of her mouth rose up slightly, smiling back at her.
“I love you too, Luz” Amity responded. She gently kissed Luz’s lips. And in that moment, despite the chaos of the portal door, the stress of the collector and Belos, the rest of the world seemed to evaporate around them. They were all that mattered to each other.
They went back to Luz’s bedroom, Luz heading to her bed while Amity returned to her sleeping bag. Luz laid her head back down on her soft bed, looking up at her glowing stars and moon before adjusting to her left side to see Amity already drifting off into sleep on her sleeping bag. How did I get so lucky?