A/N: How many times can I start a chapter by saying "This story is long, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter" Before it gets dull? Because I've been editing these back to back to back and I'm getting sick of it. I'm gonna change it up!

I hope you hate this chapter, and have a terrible day!

… no, wait!

Saturday came quickly for Lucia, despite the first week back of school. In that time, nothing had happened, at least. She hadn't needed to pick any fights with students over Luz yet, giving her some hope that maybe a few of them had matured past making fun of people different from them, or at the very least learned their lesson from all the other times Lucia had been made to step in.

There hadn't been any monsters either, or at least none that Amelia had run into on her own patrols. Lucia had only managed to sneak out once to join her, when her Mom and Luz had both fallen asleep on the couch watching animal documentaries together in the early evening on Thursday. Even then, that had been uneventful, but still nice to spend some quality time alone with her girlfriend.

Today was a date, technically. It made Lucia realize they hadn't actually gone on that many. Neither of them had a job, and Lucia only made a meager allowance doing chores at home. She wasn't sure about Bane's situation, either. Maybe she should see if Amelia likes sappy things like picnics in the park? Those were cheap, if a bit stereotypical. Since this was a date, though, she did her best to look nice, wearing clothes that weren't covered in wrinkles, even if they weren't any fancier than what she usually wore. She left the beanie off her head as well, and tried to do something with her hair, though she wasn't sure if she succeeded, just putting it into a standard ponytail.

Amelia, ever punctual, was already there and waiting, sitting in the same spot as they'd shared last time. She'd put a bit more effort into her appearance, wearing a casual pink dress with leggings underneath, still adorned with her usual accessories that stood out like a sore thumb against it. Her black, spike studded bracelet especially. Her face was done up with a bit of makeup, and her usual lip balm had been replaced with a dark, almost black red lipstick that made her look irresistible.

Lucia didn't stop to wave or flash her a greeting, and just made her way to the table and said hello with a kiss, tasting Amelia's lips. If her girlfriend was gonna doll herself up, she was gonna show her appreciation for it. As she broke away, sure she had at least a bit of Amelia's lipstick on her own lips now, she smiled, "You look amazing today. Yummier than any burger."

A faint blush shone on Amelia's face, "I've seen the way you eat, I'd prefer you ravish the burger." She teased.

"Afraid I'll make a mess of you, Bane?" Lucia retorted, wiggling her eyebrows as she took her own seat across from the girl.

They talked for a bit, before the manager behind the counter started glaring at them for loitering. Then they loitered a bit more before heading up to the counter to order before they could be asked to leave. A messy meal later, with Lucia stealing most of Amelia's fries, and it seemed like the date was coming to a close.

Lucia was noisily sipping on her drink, not wanting to get up for a refill but still wanting that tasty, syrupy soda at the bottom, when Amelia reached out and took her hand across the table. Lucia set aside her drink, understanding from the look on Amelia's face that she was about to say something she felt was important.

"I, uh, had a reason for asking you out today." Amelia confessed, squeezing her girlfriend's hand for assurance. "I know it probably doesn't count, since you didn't know I had asked you out at the time, but… today marks two months since the first time we came here together."

Lucia chuckled, playing with Amelia's fingers, "That's why you dragged me out here today? Not that I don't mind. And it's alright, I was pretty dense for not realizing you were hitting on me all those times. You didn't strike me much as a two monthiversary kind of person though, should I have brought a gift?"

Amelia smirked and shook her head in exasperation, before her expression faded, "No, I'm not that kind of person, really. But, that's mostly because I- Well, I- I haven't ever made it to two months with someone before."

Lucia blanched, taken aback by this new information, "Wait, but all of those other girls you dated at your old school-"

"Usually didn't last more than a week or two." Amelia confirmed. "I think the longest was about six weeks? And only because she was a hell of a kisser. Nothing on you, though."

Despite her playful comment, Lucia could see that Amelia was feeling very self conscious right now. "Do you… want to talk about it?" She asked carefully.

After a moment's hesitation, Amelia nodded. "Yeah. I want you to know more about me, so… I want you to know about that too."

She sat up in her chair, still not breaking physical contact with Lucia's hand. "I told you before that since I was so popular, and everyone knew my story at my old school, no one bothered to try to get to know me when they started dating me. And that was true, for a few of them. I guess the first few really made an impression on me, and kinda painted a bad picture for the rest of my love life, huh?

"Looking back, I think the truth is that after the first few didn't bother to get to know me, I'm the one who stopped trying to get to know the people I started to see after that. I stopped taking an interest in them as people, and just saw them as time killers. Pretty to look at, lovely to kiss, to keep me from being bored."

"Not all of them were great, sure. I dated basically anyone and everyone in my old school who was lesbian or bisexual, so there was bound to be some crappy people in the mix. But there were a few, who if I had given them the chance, could have made me as happy as you make me now." She lifted Lucia's hand up and pressed a soft kiss against her knuckles, nuzzling it to her face.

"And you do make me happy. I know it's cheesy, but I want there to be a third month, and a fourth month, and as many as I can keep adding to it. I'm happy to know you. And I want to keep getting the chance to know you." Lucia melted at those words, feeling her heart go pitter patter as she finally let go of Amelia's hand, so she could caress her face instead.

Lucia hummed, closing her eyes as she grazed her thumb across Amelia's cheek, focusing on the feeling. Opening her eyes, she leaned in, and brought Amelia close for a kiss, and whispered huskily, "What do you want to know?"

"Anything," Amelia murmured. "Everything."

Pressing another kiss to her lips, Lucia smiled. "Well, I can think of a few stories I could tell, but only if you tell me everything about you in exchange."

"Deal."

Lucia walked home from her lunch date, entering her home well after dinner had been served and the sky was looking dark. Her throat was sore and her voice hoarse from all the talking she'd done that day, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. She felt like she knew Amelia ten times better than she had before, and that Amelia knew her far better as well.

Stomach growling, she pulled open the fridge to see if she could find any leftovers from dinner, finding a plate that her mother had wrapped in tin foil for her and she smiled. Closing the door, she nearly jumped out of her skin to see Luz standing beside her. "How was your date?" She asked, curiously.

Lucia thought about her answer for a second, "It was… informative."

Luz didn't look satisfied with that answer, pouting a little, but perking up with a sassy smile, "You've got something on your face."

Lucia took a swipe at it with her hand, but it came back clean, so instead she looked at her reflection in the microwave, and turned beet red to see she still had some of Amelia's lipstick on her lips.

One of the perks of having a girlfriend with a palisman was that Luz never had to walk anywhere anymore if she didn't want to. Not that she didn't enjoy going for long walks, it was good exercise and there was always something new to see even on the same beaten paths she always took back and forth from school, but it did give her more time to do the things she actually wanted to do. Like hang out with said girlfriend.

Luz still had no idea what she wanted her palisman to look like, the block of magical wood sat alone in the corner of her room, not untouched, as she had picked it up and tried to imagine what it could be someday every single night, but it still remained uncarved. The possibilities were endless, and just choosing one seemed nigh impossible, and every time she did think she'd come up with an idea and would pick up her wood chisel and hammer to begin, she'd suddenly freeze up, her anxiety about if it was the wrong choice keeping her from starting.

Luz had no idea how Ghost had come so easily to Amity. Maybe it was a witch thing she couldn't understand because she was human? It did seem kinda stereotypical of a witch to have a cat familiar, though at least Amity had avoided it somewhat by having a white cat instead of a black one.

The two girls rode on Ghost to the Owl House, where Luz and Amity had planned a study date. Luz needed all the help she could get with all of her classes, and Hooty was certainly no help. King was pretty good with demonomics, which in turn assisted Luz in Beast Keeping, and Eda… Well, Eda being helpful was a crapshoot, a toss up between her being an actually decent tutor with an understanding of magic beyond what most other witches could comprehend, but also with a rebellious streak that tried to convince Luz that her homework was a scam for suckers and she was better off burning it and submitting the ashes.

Luz was beginning to understand why Eda never graduated from Hexside, and she was pretty sure the Owl Beast curse had nothing to do with it.

"Hoot Hoot, what's the password?!" Hooty screeched upon them approaching the front door.

Luz pretended to ponder the answer, then playfully suggested, "Is it 'I love you, Hooty?'"

Hooty gasped in amazement, "How'd you guess?" He then opened the door, allowing Luz inside, but slamming it shut behind her before Amity could follow.

"Hoot Hoot, what's the password?" Hooty repeated for the lavender haired witch.

"Hooty, come on, can't you be helpful just this once and let me through?" Amity asked through gritted teeth. Despite being a primary reason behind getting her and Luz together, her relationship with the house demon was still strained.

"I promised to never be helpful again, Hoot!" Hooty reminded, and he always kept his promises… to the best of his ability.

"Fine," Amity sighed, then with all the effort she could manage, spit out the words, "I love you, Hooty."

She found herself entangled in his neck, and fought back kicking and swinging her arms in a desperate attempt to escape his clutches, "I love you too, best buddy! Come on in!"

The door opened and Amity found herself plopped down on the wooden floors of the Owl House in a tangle of limbs and seething anger. "I swear I'm going to kill that bird tube someday…" She growled.

Luz offered her a hand up, "Aw, but how could you do that after you just told him you loved him, Amity?" She teased.

Amity grumbled, but took Luz's hand anyway and rose back to her feet. Together the two made for the couch, intending to get a start on their Abomination homework when something caught Luz's eye.

On the sofa was Eda's lute, sitting up casually against one of the cushions. Luz hadn't seen it since Eda had helped Luz prepare for her date with Amity, and now that she was seeing it again, it was calling her name in a sweet, seductive voice.

Picking it up, Luz inspected the instrument. She'd never played a lute before, though she'd had a bit of practice with a ukulele in the Bard Track classes. One of the many things she was jealous of witches for being able to do was just… learn things magically. Graduates of the Bard track, in only a few years of schooling, were granted magical access to the knowledge to play any and all instruments. A talent which Skara had shown off plenty of times since her family was wealthy enough that she brought new instruments almost every day to play with. Meanwhile, Luz was the only one in her class who could only play one.

Bards themselves were immensely interesting to Luz as well, being a more supportive style of magic, but also incredibly flexible with their creative minds. It was a lot like Illusion magic in that way, at least from Luz's observations. But instead of using your imagination to create images, you used it to create music in which to act with. Lifting items, granting them life, buffing your or an ally's power. As long as you had the mind for it, you didn't really have limitations for what you could do.

Luz gave an experimental strum of the strings, of which there were a lot. Ten strings, all magically pre-tuned, or maybe Eda had been playing it recently enough that it didn't need to be fiddled with. "Hey, Amity, I know we were going to focus on Abomination stuff first, but mind if I do Bard homework first?"

She winked at her girlfriend, "I'll serenade you if you want?"

That was all Amity needed to hear, "Yes, please, go ahead." She said quickly, sitting down and folding her hands in her lap to watch Luz play.

Luz tinkered with the strings for a moment, checking their individual notes, then strummed them all. She wasn't a slow learner, but this was very different from the four strings she was used to on her Ukulele, and doubly so for the banjo the song she had in mind was originally played on, which Luz was just as clueless on how to play. She sighed in disappointment when her strumming didn't cause a reaction in the environment like her school instrument did. It was powered a lot like a practice wand, since otherwise she couldn't make the magic happen, but of course Eda's Lute wouldn't need an external power source.

After a little experimentation, Luz was ready, or as ready as she would ever be, and began to play a few notes. She slipped up a bit, but the more she played a familiar song, the less she messed up. Then she opened her mouth to sing.

"Why are there so many

Songs about rainbows

And what's on the other side

Rainbow's are visions

But only illusions

And rainbows have nothing to hide

So we've been told and some Choose to believe it

But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it

The Rainbow Connection

The lovers, the dreamers

and me"

Luz's voice started out shaky, a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks since she had an audience, but the more she sang, the more confident her singing got, until she was fully absorbed into her song. If Kermit the Frog could sing it, then so could she!

Amity watched as her girlfriend played, eyes shimmering, as if Luz had placed the very stars in the sky. She fidgeted in her seat, rubbing her hands together, and with Luz so focused on singing the girl didn't notice when Amity began to inch closer, until their legs pressed together side by side and the gap between them was closed.

Luz continued, wrapping up the second verse, when Amity laid her head on Luz's shoulder. The two glanced at each other lovingly, Amity humming along to the tune of a song she'd never known she'd wanted to hear so badly before. Luz strummed, so taken in by Amity that she almost forgot to keep singing, finally wrapping up the song.

"The lovers, the dreamers

And me

La la la le la la loo

La la de la de da doo"

Amity breathed out slowly, mouth inching closer to Luz's lips. She was going to do it, she was finally going to kiss her girlfriend. And she wasn't going to pass out over it either. It seemed Luz had the same idea, eyes darting between Amity's lips and her eyes, and she uttered out softly, "C-can I kis-

"Hoot Hoot, what's the passw-" The door was then kicked open, the frame of the door filled by Eda's boisterous form, home from whatever errands she had to run today.

"Heya, kid! I'm home, hope you didn't break anything while I was gone, you know I hate to miss a good tim-" She stopped, seeing Luz and Amity in a compromising position, but only having eyes for her Lute.

Her eyes glazed over, and suddenly she wasn't seeing Luz and Amity on her sofa, but herself and Raine, out on their hilltop where they could both get away from the world. For a long time, it had just been the two of them, no King, no Hooty, just Eda and her Rainstorm, playing their songs and stealing kisses.

Until they had broken up. Until Raine had been taken.

And suddenly she was back, her eyes focused again and suddenly there was a bit more space between Luz and Amity that hadn't been there before. Luz held on to her Lute guiltily, holding it out to her, "I'm sorry Eda, I should have asked first."

"It's alright, kiddo, no need for that. I'm the one who left it out." Eda answered, forcing a smile to her face. Despite her words, she still took the instrument back, clutching it tightly in her arms. "I- I'll be right back, you two just make yourself comfortable."

She took for the stairs, pausing only to snark with a crack in her voice, "Just not too comfortable now!"

Eda quickly bounded to her room, shutting and locking the door behind her just as the tears broke free and started to fall down her face. She had to keep up the hope that Raine was still alive. They had to be! The Emperor was too much of a show off to not have a traitor publicly executed or turned to stone.

Eda had checked the prisons. The first thing she'd done was break the BATs out of their cell in the conformatorium, much to their relief. With her haste, it didn't even seem like Warden Wraith had realized they'd even been dropped off there yet. Amber still visited her "Mama Eda" every once in a while, because she was a good kid, but without their leader, the Bards Against the Throne were laying low.

But she hadn't found Raine. No trace of them in the Conformatorium, or any of the other prisons she knew about. All she could hope for was that they'd made an escape, and not that Darius had cut them to pieces and fed them to Eberwolf or something.

She clamped a hand over her mouth to silence any sobs that burst from her at the thought.

Rustling from her nest caught her attention, and to her horror, King rose from it, stretching and smacking his lips, before his glowing eyes landed on her. "Eda? Eda, what's wrong?!" He scampered over to her, tripping on the lip of her nest in his hurry to get to her side.

She batted him away, "I-it's nothing, King. I'm just not having a good day. What are you doing in here?" She choked out, desperately vying for some control over her tears, but only losing that fight as they wracked her even more.

"I always nap in your nest when you're not here!" King said as if it was obvious, worry painted all over his face, "And don't lie to me! We're a family now, you can't keep secrets from me anymore!"

"Just- just some bad memories, that's all." She insisted, trying to ease her adoptive son's worries. Sniffling, she wiped at her face, "Don't tell Luz, okay?"

King wrung his claws nervously at the prospect of not telling Luz something, "Okay, I promise I won't tell her. But only if you let me help you when you're like this from now on. D-do you want a hug?" He offered, spreading his arms out wide.

Eda nodded wordlessly, and let her little demon onto her lap to cling to her, who hoped his affection could stave off her agony.

The second week of classes was the same as the first, unrelentingly dull, but Lucia was still on a bit of a high after her and Amelia's relationship had deepened. It helped that she got to use school as a reason to see her girlfriend every single day, which made it feel like less of a hassle.

She was actually on her way to meet with her girlfriend when a sight she'd been hoping not to see again this school year began to play out in front of her. Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, she marched right up behind a familiar girl, who made the unfortunate mistake of pining her sister up against a locker to taunt her.

"Your teacher's must consider you an incredible disappointment, Crane, seeing as you never seem to learn your lesson." She spoke with deadly intent.

Cindy Crane, one of the girls who usually bullied Luz, and the one who Lucia had tripped and got suspended for it, turned to face Lucia. "This isn't your business, do you have to always butt in?"

"I think it's my business what you do to my sister," Lucia sneered. Glancing around, she smirked, "What, did your lackies finally outgrow this behavior? Or did you decide to turn this into a solo act?"

Crane was without her usual entourage of followers, who liked to tease and berate Luz while Cindy did the tormenting. It usually didn't lead to anything physical, bruises were evidence after all, but they'd made Luz cry often enough Lucia couldn't find it in her to ever forgive them, even if they gave it up.

Cindy seemed to come to the same conclusion Lucia had, that she was alone, in a hallway, with the only other person to speak on her behalf if Lucia decided to throw down being Luz, who would defend her sister to the death and deny everything. Lucia leaned in close, "I'm just gonna say this once. Scram. And don't bother my sister again."

Crane took a moment to consider, before making the wise decision to turn tail and leave. As she walked away, Lucia couldn't help herself and called out, "I like the nose. Crooked works good for you."

Cindy flinched at the reference to their last encounter, but kept on going. Lucia waited until she was around the corner before turning her attention to her sister, "Are you alright, Luz?"

She inspected Luz, looking for any injuries, but other than her obvious distress, and a few stray tears at whatever the girl had said to her, she seemed fine. "Come on, let's go." Lucia said, wrapping a protective arm around her sister's shoulder and leading her away.

"I thought you were going to punch her for a second there." Luz finally muttered a minute later, leaning her weight against her older sister.

"I considered it." Lucia admitted, and she meant it. The brat deserved it, but after hunting and killing all sorts of supernatural entities over her summer, socking a fourteen year old in the face seemed kind of beneath her. And for once in her life, she enjoyed being at school, if just to see Amelia. She didn't want to face suspension again and miss out on that.

Instead, she led Luz down the hallway leading to the Principal's office, a place both were more than overly familiar with by now. He had his blinds down, so Lucia couldn't see through the door's window and announce herself that way, so she instead opted to pound on his door.

After a moment, a muffled "Come in," was heard, giving the two students permission to enter, and upon seeing them he raised a brow in surprise. Not at seeing them in his office, he was used to that, but that the two had come here on their own volition.

Principal Hal seemed to be in the middle of a phone call, but as Lucia ushered her sister into a seat, she could hear him talking, "I've got to go, Sweetie, something came up. I'll see you tonight, love you, buh-bye."

He hung up, and looked at the two girls, who stared blankly back at him. He gestured to the phone with a finger, "It was the missus. We're having Salisbury steak for dinner tonight."

The two Noceda women glanced at each other, earning a mild scoff from their principal, "What, are neither of you fans of Salisbury steak? Vegetarians, maybe? No?"

They shook their heads at his awkward attempts to make small talk. "Alright, alright. What can I do for you two? You staying out of trouble, Noceda? Ah, the elder, Lucia?"

Lucia rolled her eyes, "If you're asking if I've punched somebody yet, the answer is no. But I came close, which is why we're here."

Hal leaned against his desk, "Go on?"

"I was walking down the halls, minding my own business, when I found Cindy Crane tormenting my sister. Again."

Hal pursed his lips, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And do you have any proof of that?"

Lucia seethed, and clenched her fists tight enough her knuckles began to pop. "Proof? Do you see my sister? Do you see how upset she is? I found her in tears after I drove that jerk off."

She stood out of her seat, and got right up in her principal's face, leaning up against his desk. "You said you'd start doing something about this if I left it to you. I didn't hit no one today, so I'm keeping my end of the deal. Now, I'm asking you to please fix this."

The two stared each other down, daring the other to break first. After an eternity of eye contact, Hal backed down with a sigh. "Okay. Alright. But I'm gonna need to know what she said, and then I'll call her mother into the office."

Lucia internally cheered, and turned back to Luz, who was looking incredibly uncomfortable about having to repeat what her bully had said to her. Lucia leaned down beside her, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Hey, it's alright. Take your time."

Principal Hal looked at his watch, and looked like he wanted to argue against that statement, but a warning glance from Lucia had him tighten his lips before he could speak.

Luz seemed to be working herself up, trying to find her courage and speak aloud what had happened. "I was putting some stuff in my locker, and then C-Cindy showed up. She closed it on me, and then wouldn't let me leave."

Hal scribbled this down, and looked at her to continue. With a gulp, Luz continued, "Sh-she called me a loser. Sorry, Luzer, using my name. She thought she was being clever. And then she-"

She suddenly clammed up, not looking like she wanted to speak anymore. Luz choked as she opened her mouth and forced herself to talk again, "She said I-I should be thankful that she gets me sent to the office so often... Because it's the only time my Mom will pay attention to me."

Lucia bit her lip to keep from cursing in front of her principal, and stood up from Luz's side, pacing angrily back and forth. She should have hit the brat.

Hal gave Luz a sympathetic look, "is there more?"

Luz nodded shakily, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "Is it okay if I write it down instead?"

Hal took his pen and paper and slid it to the other end of the desk for Luz to reach, "I just need a statement, any way you're comfortable giving."

Luz took the pen and wrote for a minute, her writing wobbly and messy from her emotional state, but otherwise still readable. When she was done with her list, she slid it back to her Principal, who reviewed it, then gave a nod. "Alright. This should be all I need from you. I'll contact her mother and I hope to put an end to this, and then I'll call your mother and let her know what's happened. You're free to resume your classes, as soon as you're ready."

The two girls nodded in understanding, and rose from their seats. Lucia wrapped her arm back around her sister's shoulder, intending to keep her like this until she could get her to her classroom after she'd composed herself.

As the two walked out, Principal Hal called out, "And Ms. Noceda, er Lucia? Thank you for trusting me on this,"

Lucia sighed, muttering a few curses in Spanish under her breath, "Just get it done."

When school wrapped up, Lucia and Luz were mildly surprised to see their mother waiting outside to pick them up. On seeing them approach, Camila exited the car, a stern look on her face that usually spelled trouble for the Noceda siblings.

Instead, Camila threw her arms around her youngest and held her tightly. "The Principal called me earlier today, and told me what a brave girl you were. I'm sorry you had to go through with that, but he promises things will be better."

Lucia shifted her weight as the two tightly embraced, resisting the urge to grumble out, 'things better be.'

Camila pulled out of the hug, looking Luz in the eye, "You know I love you very much, right? None of those nasty words that terrible girl said are true."

Luz nodded, sniffling, "I love you too, mom."

Camila took a handkerchief from her purse and used it to gently wipe away at Luz's tears, pressing a kiss to her daughter's cheek. "Come on. Let's get you home, and we'll do something fun together. Are you up for a board game, maybe?"

"That does sound fun," Luz smiled through her tears, and with a pat on the back climbed into the backseat of the car while her mother turned her attention to Lucia.

"You know, for a second there, I thought you were gonna be mad at us." Lucia admitted, scratching the back of her head and rearranging her beanie.

Camila shook her head, "I was furious, mija, but not with you. Your Principal told me everything that girl said to your sister. I don't approve of you hitting anyone, not ever, but if she'd said it in earshot of me…" Camila's hands clenched tightly as she shook with barely contained rage.

Breathing the anger out with a sigh, Camila placed a warm hand on her daughter's shoulder, "You were a good big sister today. You did the right thing, and I'm very proud of you."

Lucia didn't know what to do with that information, instead cracking a grin and doing what she usually did in these types of situations, "does that mean I can get out of family board game night?" Ah, good old sarcasm.

"Not on your life, Lucia."

Hunter whistled a jaunty tune as he made his way through the castle, Rascal hiding under his white Emperor's Coven cloak. Today's lesson was a good one, incredibly informative. Luz made a surprisingly good teacher when she put her mind to it, despite her odd idioms and comparisons to human pop culture he had no way of understanding.

He passed by Steve, giving him a friendly wave, and weaved around the hallway towards his room. As he did so, he curiously passed Kikimora, who he gave a curt greeting to, while making an equally rude gesture at her with his hand under his cloak.

She'd merely glared at him in return, which made him smile smugly.

Making it to his room, he began to fish out the key from his pocket, looking forward to relaxing with a good book, or maybe watch something on his crystal ball. He deserved a chance to relax. Between his lessons and his duty as the Golden Guard, he was getting even less time for himself than he already did.

He stuck the key into the lock, but to his confusion he found that it wouldn't turn. Giving a twist of the knob, his door fell open, revealing that someone had tampered with it, and let themselves into his room.

Looking around, the place was still the same as ever on the surface, but he knew that everything in the room was off. His plush dolls had changed places, his books were ordered by the title, and not by the author. His bed was entirely too well made. This was something done sloppily, and quickly, during hours they knew he'd be out.

He shut his door quickly, growling and pulling at his hair. Kikimora! That's why she'd been over in this part of the castle! She'd come in search of something, but what?

A chirp made his pointed ears twitch, and he turned to his palisman, Rascal, who had exited his cloak and was now perched on his desk, looking at him questioningly.

"Someone's-" He stopped, worried that if someone had been in here, they might have placed a listening gem to hear his conversations. Lowering himself down to the wooden cardinal, he whispered as low as he could go, "Someone's been in here, Rascal. And I think they were looking for you. Or evidence of something against the Emperor, like you."

He opened his window, beckoning to the bird, who hopped onto the windowsill.

"It's not safe for you right now," Hunter murmured, "You need to get to Luz, stay there, stay safe, okay?"

Rascal tweeted, giving Hunter a look with his single eye that said he didn't want to go. "Look, I know, you're my partner now, but you need to stay safe. Now get out of here, go!" He hissed, shooing the bird away.

Rascal took to the air, hovering sadly a few feet away from Hunter's window, which the young man quickly closed on the off chance his palisman changed his mind and came back in.

Hunter's eyes went wide as he realized just how compromised his room could be now, and he quickly began to tear the place apart, piece by piece, looking for anything that could be used against him.

A/N: I've been wanting to do this ending scene, and the scene that will follow it, since I started writing this fic. And once again, ending on kind of a cliffhanger. I have an addiction, I need help.

The song used is "Rainbow Connection" From the Muppet movie. I love that song. The idea of someone in the bard track serenading someone actually came from a song fic idea I came up with for a Skarllow fic, where Skara is trying to find a good song to play for Willow, and settles on "Tiptoe through the Tulips" after getting the suggestion from Luz. I wasn't super invested in writing the fic, so instead borrowed the concept to not only include fluff, but angst when Eda walks in! I'm brilliant!

The bullying scenes are always so hard for me to do, I hate hurting the characters, but sometimes it needs to be done for the sake of the story. Bad hands for writing it, very bad hands!

Comments always make me feel better, so write me something nice and positive!