Had this idea in November. The fic sat half-finished in my drafts folder for half a year. Then the Season 2 trailer dropped, and I had to finish this before June 12th. Hope you like it!
Huge thanks to notbirdofprey on AO3 for betareading!
Epilogue(s) will come tomorrow.
Luz had done everything she had wanted to do in the Boiling Isles. She had become a witch, complete with an honorary magic bile gland button. She had compiled a spellbook recording all the glyphs she knew or had learned, with copies for Eda and Lilith and maybe the library. She had defeated Emperor Belos and overthrown his evil regime (well, she was pretty sure she had) with the help of her friends. And she had a girlfriend!
The door was back in the right hands. But it was damaged. It was open now, but once closed, it would never work again.
And now summer was at an end. Luz had to return home.
There was no other option. She hated knowing she would never see the Boiling Isles again. It was her second home, the home of her first real friends and her first girlfriend (!) and her second family. But she missed her mamí. She missed Earth, mundane as it was. She wanted to go back home.
It was the evening of August 23rd in the human realm when the door opened again. Luz had been grateful for the presence of Wi-fi. She had been moderately less grateful for the backlog of texts from her mom, including one from earlier that day which read, "I so look forward to seeing you home from camp tomorrow! ¡Hasta pronto!"
The door couldn't remain open for more than 24 hours. Luz had to leave tomorrow, or she'd never be able to leave at all.
She texted her mom, "I'll be home by 3. :D"
She packed her possessions. It wasn't much, just a backpack with her camp luggage, a sack full of the stuff she had snuck out of her house via the door those first few weeks, and two books: Ruler's Reach, the one she and King had co-written; and her spell tome.
She decided to enjoy what time she had left in the Boiling Isles.
The next morning, on waking up, King surprised everyone by cooking pancakes (or at least something vaguely resembling pancakes) for breakfast. They were… surprisingly good, albeit very chewy. He explained that they were his aunt's special gristlecake recipe. Luz was accustomed to such oddities by now. She polished off her stack without complaint.
Eda convinced Luz to let her teach her how to play Hexas Hold'em. Luz lost, hard and often. "Don't worry about it, kid, you'll get the hang of it eventually," the Owl Lady consoled her.
"And when will that be?" Luz responded.
They shared a bitter laugh.
She went upstairs. Lilith hadn't come down for breakfast. Odd, since she was normally an early riser. Luz knocked on her bedroom door. No answer. She opened the door, and nobody was there. Not even a note. Was she at the palace?
Her right hand twinged, a brief shock of pain. It was in a splint. How had that happened? Where was Lilith?
Luz spent a while just sitting on the couch and playing fetch with King. She was sad to be denied the chance to spend time with the elder Clawthorne sibling; she'd grown fond of her over the past couple of weeks. Then again, time spent petting the King of Demons was time well spent.
Before Luz could leave to hang out with Willow and Gus and Amity, Hooty roped her into going bug-hunting. It was surprisingly fun. Hooty was surprisingly quiet.
"Are you feeling alright, Hooty?" she asked.
A long pause.
"I'm fine," he lied.
So, before Luz left the Owl House, she gave Hooty a tight, mucus-y hug. "I'm gonna miss you, you know."
"Miss you too, Luz."
"You don't always have to be so happy all the time, you know."
Hooty just smiled ruefully. "Looks like I fooled you, too. Love you, Luz."
"Love you too," she managed.
With a heavy heart, Luz walked to Bonesborough. She dropped off her bags at the doors of the palace and went into town.
As soon as Willow saw her, she darted over and gave her a bone-crushing hug. Gus joined in shortly thereafter.
Luz enjoyed their comforting embrace for several moments. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Amity, standing awkwardly off to the side. She beckoned her over. "Come on over, Amity! There's room for you, too!"
Amity took a few hesitant steps over, then joined in the group hug.
"Luz the Human?" said an overly dramatic voice from behind. Everyone started. "I hear you're skipping town?"
Luz turned around. Edric and Emira were standing next to each other. It was the latter who had spoken. They wore identical insincere grins.
"They insisted on following me," Amity whispered as an aside, rolling her eyes.
Edric continued, "You thought it was a good idea to leave without saying goodbye?"
"I didn't-" Luz began, but Emira interrupted her.
"Jilting your giiiiirlfrieeeend without uttering a word to her vindictive siblings?"
"We can't have you abandoning our baby sister like this!" exclaimed Edric.
"It's irresponsible of you!"
"Cruel!"
"Inconsiderate!"
"Appalling!"
"Reprehensible!"
"Bad!"
Luz couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous good-natured nature of it all.
"Why are you laughing?" Emira asked, feigning horror. "How can you find such a thing amusing? You sick, twisted abomination!"
"Hey, maybe that's why Amity wuvs you so much!"
"Oh yeah, maybe! I almost feel bad for you, Luz, being puppeteered around by her like this!"
"She's a rotten little so-and-so!"
"Can't blame you for wanting to escape her clutches, eh?"
Edric turned his attention towards his baby sister. "Amity, Amity! Shame on you, controlling your giiiirlfrieeeeend like this!"
Willow and Gus stood off to the side, busting a gut from laughter. Amity just stood in place, grimacing at her siblings' antics.
"Yes, what a shame!" Emira continued. "We've taught you better than this! You've got to treat a woman right to keep her; you know that!"
This remark, at last, broke Amity's stoic façade. She wheezed. "I'm treating her right! I swear! Luz, tell them!"
Willow and Gus were doubled over. Luz responded in a monotone, "Yes. Amity. Is. Treating. Me. Properly."
"No! Not like that!"
Edric illusioned up a set of guard clothes for himself. "We're taking you away for domestic abuse!" He grabbed Amity's arm. Emira took the other one, and they started to drag her away.
Amity wrested herself away from the twins and ran to Luz, melting dramatically into her arms, much to the human's astonishment. She seemed determined, for once, to continue the mad charade. "Luz! Darling! Protect me from the evil, uh… those guys!"
Luz snorted. She took up a determined, self-assured stance, like the love interest guys in all those old black-and-white movies. "Fear not, my lady! I shall defend thee, even at two-to-one odds against this double trouble, should it cost me my life!"
Amity shrank back, in fear of the impending battle. "Wait! No! Don't kill yourself!"
"Don't tell me what to do, woman!" Luz shouted back at her. "I shall kill myself whether you like it or not!" She charged into battle. "LEEEEROOOOY JEEEEENKIIIIINS!"
The battle was joined! Well, it wasn't much of a battle. It was just Luz and the twins flailing at each other.
Gus separated the combatants with his flags. "Hold it! Hold it! Let's go do something that won't involve you guys hurting yourselves! I think we've had enough near brushes with death for one weekend!"
Unhappy memories threatened to surface in Luz's mind, but they subsided as quickly as they had risen. She briefly wondered about the splint on her hand. Lilith would meet her at the palace, right?
The gang had lunch (the twins covered the tab) and got ice scream at a kiosk. They hiked through the Murmuring Mangroves. They climbed a tree or two. They played Ding-Dong Ditch at Boscha's house. They laid down in the grass and pointed out cloud shapes and chatted.
Eventually, Edric and Emira had to leave. They explained that they had a big test coming up, which was odd because classes had been cancelled for the foreseeable future. (She couldn't quite recall why.) Luz assumed that they simply didn't feel like sticking around any longer. She couldn't relate.
So they bid her farewell, and Luz had to contend with the fact that she was leaving.
"It was a pleasure for you to be made our acquaintance!"
"Don't believe anything anybody else says; you really are cool!"
"Don't take quests from strangers!"
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
"Don't you…"
"... synth chord..."
"... forget about us!"
Emira's expression turned serious. She put her arm around Luz's shoulders. "I know we might jest a lot-"
"Almost constantly!" Edric duplicated the gesture.
"- but we really are grateful for you being in Amity's life. I don't think she could have picked a better girlfriend. You're a wonderful individual, and you deserve all the good in the world."
"Well, maybe not all of it… leave some for me!" Edric joked. Emira shot him a glare. He grimaced and backtracked. "Y-yeah, Emira's right. I can't put it any better than she did."
Luz smiled sadly. "Thanks, guys. You both deserve the world, too."
She hugged them both, and then they were off, still spouting off quips as they went.
"Which world do we deserve?"
"How are we going to split it?"
"How about I get this world, you get the human one?"
"Ew, no, you should get it!"
The four friends looked at each other as the twins faded into the distance. "So…" began Gus, "what do you guys want to do now?"
After a beat, Luz replied, "Anything that'll distract me from having to leave."
Everyone turned solemn. Was it just her, or did some color fade from the sky?
Before anyone could speak, Luz added, "Before you say anything, I know, I know I have to go, eventually, in an hour or so. But, but I'd rather not think about it. Not yet."
They understood. None of them wanted to think about it either.
"If you do want to talk," Willow assured her, "we'll be more than happy to listen."
"No, no, I want today to be a happy day, not a sad one."
Gus and Amity exchanged a look. "We've had enough sadness for a lifetime," Gus added. Amity nodded in agreement.
So they had fun.
Soon, too soon, it was half past 2. Time to head to the palace.
"Hey, kid!" Eda descended from the sky, riding her staff. King was perched in front like the figurehead of a ship. It was hard to look at them, but maybe that was just because Luz had the sun in her eyes. "You ready?"
Luz nodded, once, then turned to her first friends for the last time.
Gus hugged her first. "Oh man, I wish I could go with you."
"So do I, but you've got classes to breeze through, you little genius." Luz flicked him on the temple. "I'll bring you some cool human trinkets if- WHEN I come back."
Gus pulled away, one hand still on her arm. "Hey, uh... thanks, Luz. And the rest of you, too." Sheepish, he gestured to Amity and Willow. "I, uh, I didn't have many- any friends before you guys, cuz I'm so young, you know? So, uh..." He looked at Luz, sober as a stone. "You'll find your people. I'm sure of it. There are friends waiting to be made in every world."
He gave her one last pat on the shoulder, then Willow took his place. She pulled Luz into a bear hug, tight enough that she could almost feel her ribs crack. "Don't get into too many antics without us, Luz," she said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.
"I'll try not to. But if I do, I'll keep you posted."
"How?"
Luz thought for a moment, then made a noncommittal gesture. "Somehow, I guess. I'll find a way." She tried to put more confidence in her bearing than she felt.
"Hey... listen." Willow put her hands on her shoulders and looked right at her. "Even if we don't find another portal, even if we never see each other again... I think I speak for everyone here when I say that you're a very important part of our lives."
Luz flushed despite herself. It wasn't every day you got a compliment like that.
She continued, "Whether you come back or not, that's not gonna change the impact you had on us. And, I hope, the impact we had on you."
"Oh, you guys have had a HUGE impact on me! Who are you kidding?" Luz hugged Willow again, burying her face in her shoulder, wishing the moment would never end. But, like all moments, it did.
Eda pulled a horn out of her voluminous hair and honked it, startling both girls out of their reverie. "Meter's running!" She tried to grin, but it wasn't quite carefree.
Finally, Luz turned to her girlfriend (!). Amity stood there, watching her. She was strangely distraught, lacking even a trace of her usual unflappability.
"You can't stay?"
Luz was tempted to dish out a snarky reply like "Wow, you're clingy". Instead, she closed the distance between them and took her hands. "I can't. I have to go home, Amity."
"I understand. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, though," Amity admitted.
They stood, hand in hand, not quite sure what to do. Luz could feel her heart going a mile a minute.
Amity cleared her throat and spoke first. Her cheeks were flushed. "So, uh... are we supposed to, uh..."
Luz tried to look anywhere but at her girlfriend's (!) face. "Y-yeah, like, like at the end of all the movies, how the hero uh, kisses the love interest before departing for parts unknown?"
Amity quirked an eyebrow. "Why, where am I going?"
They both laughed, some of the tension drifting loose into the wind. But then it got awkward again.
"Um, let's see..." Luz's face felt like a red-hot poker. "Where do I put my arms?" She tried putting her hands on Amity's waist. Nope, nope, that wasn't right. "Can you help me out here?"
The two hapless teens tested various arrangements of limbs before settling into a pose that reminded Luz of their Grom dance. She was all too aware of how close their faces were to each other.
And now for the hard part. For too long of a moment, they stood there, unsure of how to start. Then they both tried to move in for the kiss at the same time, but their noses bumped into each other. "Ow!" Luz exclaimed, holding her nose. "¡Todas las palabrotas!"
Amity stepped away. "Y-you know what, let's not. I, I probably would have been too scared to, uh, kiss you anyway." Her ears were red.
Luz scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, I've always thought kissing was kinda weird. Like, it looks like they're trying to eat each other's faces."
Amity grimaced. "You should see how the people WITHOUT mouths do it."
Luz was about to ask, then decided she didn't want to know. She spread her arms. "Hug?"
"Wait. First..." Amity reached up and removed her left earring. She held it to Luz. "Here. To... to remember me by."
Luz was touched. She fumbled with her own earring, handing it to Amity in turn. "Fair trade."
They donned their newly-swapped earrings, then regarded each other for a moment. Luz swept up her girlfriend (knowing that she had one would never cease to be a ! moment for her) in a hug. She found herself crying.
Amity clutched her like a little kid would cling to a security blanket. "Please don't forget, Luz… please remember…" Luz felt tears land on her shoulder.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, mi querida," she consoled her. "I could never."
"All right, kids, stop being sappy and let's go," Eda called. "We don't have all day!"
Reluctantly, Luz let Amity go. She ran to Eda and King and climbed on the back of the staff. Buoyed by a chorus of farewells, they rose into the air.
"Consider yourself lucky that you two didn't smooch," Eda remarked after a moment of quietude. "If you had, I'd have had to kill you both."
Luz chuckled, staring down at the landscape of the Boiling Isles. It was breathtaking from high above. It almost made you forget how dangerous it could be... no, no, it was still shaped like a dead guy. But just because it was macabre didn't mean it wasn't majestic.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" King observed. Eda slowed Owlbert down and threw her leg over the side of the staff.
"Absolutely."
They sat there, watching the scenery pass below. After a minute, Eda broke the silence.
"Wanna drive, kid?"
"Would I ever!" Luz scrambled her way to the front of the staff.
Five minutes and several near brushes with death later, Eda landed the staff in the Emperor's former palace. King hopped onto Luz's shoulders and curled up into a ball. She picked up her bags and set forth.
They walked wordlessly through the barren halls. Each step fell more heavily than the last, like a game of hot and cold played by putting lead weights in her shoes.
Signs of magical damage were everywhere. Broken pedestals, torn tapestries, scorch marks… were those dead bodies, sprawled against the walls? Luz shuddered involuntarily. How had that happened? Someone was missing, wasn't there?
The thoughts passed from her mind, though, when they reached the dais atop which stood the door. It was propped ajar with a slab of roofing tile and protected with several rings of spells. A large crack ran through it. The eyeball was bloodshot.
Luz stared at the door. Then she took out her phone and stared at the messages. Her mind was made up. Under her breath, she said, "Voy a casa, mamí," and smiled.
Seeming to understand, King clambered around, digging his claws into her shirt and aggravating bruises that Luz hadn't realized were there, and snuggled into her chest. Luz held him. Oh, he was so dang soft! And oddly quiet, too, now that she noticed.
She set him down and touched her forehead to his. "I'm gonna miss you, little buddy."
"I know," King replied.
Luz half-smiled. "What? No irritable comment about being little?"
"No, not today." King sighed, then padded up to the Owl Lady's leg, which he curled himself around.
Finally, Luz turned to Eda. No words were necessary. She clung to her, not willing to let go. Eda rested her chin on her head.
"Goodbye," Luz said at long last.
"No. No. Don't say that." Eda pulled away from her, holding her at arm's length.
"Why not?"
"My… my grandfather never said goodbye to us. He always said, 'So long'. But he said goodbye one day, though… and the next day, we learned that he had passed away. So no, Luz, it's not goodbye, and it won't be until one of us is about to die. Remember: it's not goodbye, just so long."
Eda wiped the tears from her eyes. With renewed determination, she continued: "We'll find a way back to the human realm. I won't stop looking until I do. I mean-" she chuckled - "it's kind of my primary source of income. But also for your sake."
Luz grinned, her eyes brimming over. "Yeah, wouldn't want to deprive you of your hard-earned material wealth, would we?"
Eda laughed, then clapped her on the shoulder. "Of course not." She hesitated for a moment before speaking. "... And, Luz? You know… I love you, kid. Go kick a giraffe for me, will ya?"
Luz wept and hugged her again. After a few moments, Eda had to push her away, blinking back tears of her own. "Go on, kid. It's time." Owlbert hooted a sad farewell of his own.
Luz took the knob and, reluctantly, opened the door wide enough to pass through. She shouldered her backpack, grabbed her sack, and put a foot across the threshold. She didn't look back.
She hesitated for long enough to say, "So long."
She stepped through.