Chapter 2

Amity felt very foolish at the moment. What's more, she also felt very afraid. She didn't make mistakes very often, but when she did they were usually big ones. This time was no exception. Amity had regretted summoning her abomination the moment Luz's mother had shrieked and almost fallen off of the couch. She dismissed it instantly and blurted out an apology before fixing her gaze down onto her feet.

For the next minute things were very uneasy for everyone in the living room of the Noceda household. The only sound was of Camila's heavy breathing as she tried to recover from the scare she had endured. Vee and Luz had gone to their mother's side and Luz took her hand, speaking to her softly in Spanish. Amity didn't know what she was saying, but Mrs. Noceda was replying with a shaky voice. Luz said something back and joined Amity, tapping her on the shoulder. When Amity looked up, Luz gestured for her to follow.

Luz took her into the kitchen where she turned on one of the stove's burners and began heating the kettle. While waiting for it to start whistling, Luz leaned back against the counter by the stove, resting her elbows on the surface. She gave Amity a smile, but Amity couldn't return the gesture. She was still mentally berating herself for her blunder.

"So…" Luz began. "That could have gone better."

"I'm so sorry!" Amity said, her eyes shut tight as if afraid to look at her girlfriend. "I don't know what I was thinking! When you told me to show your mother something cool with my magic, I just went with my abomination! I wasn't trying to frighten her, honest!"

"Easy now. I know you weren't trying to do anything like that." Luz said, placing her hand on Amity's shoulder. "She got a bad scare and she needs a little time to process what she saw. So let's figure out how to handle things when we go back out there. Okay?"

"Is she going to make me leave?" Amity asked, her voice ripe with worry. "She won't forbid you from seeing me anymore, will she?"

"What? No, no… uh, actually…. Maybe?" Luz said with a shrug and giving Amity an unsure look.

Amity groaned, covering her face with her hands. Things had gone in a very different direction than she had wanted. Her first impression had been not so great and she ended up tarnishing her image with her foolish attempt to impress Mrs. Noceda with her magic. All that was missing was a snarky comment from her older siblings and her failure would be complete.

Luz gave her girlfriend a pat on the head. "There, there, Am-Am. I know things look bad, but my mom will get over it soon enough. She dealt with learning that I was missing and that a demon had been impersonating me. All she needs is a little time and she will learn to love you like another daughter."

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely!" Luz told her with confidence. "Now, we're going to make her a hot cup of tea and go back in there to talk it out. Okay?"

Amity nodded and remained silent while they waited for the water to heat up. After the kettle whistled and Luz poured the hot water into a mug, she steeped a bag of tea leaves and then mixed in a bit of honey and a splash of lemon juice. As a final touch, Luz blew a kiss at the hot beverage and passed the mug to Amity before ushering her back towards the living room.

When they reentered the room, Vee looked up at them and gave Amity a surprisingly harsh glare. Amity flinched, some of the hot tea nearly splashing out of the mug as she stepped back. Having someone with Luz's face look at her like that was unsettling, wearing away at her already lowered confidence. Vee's gaze softened after a moment though and she looked away from Amity, focusing on her still frazzled adopted mother.

A sharp pang of guilt hit Amity when she noticed how shaken Mrs. Noceda still seemed to be. Luz gave her a gentle nudge and she hesitantly stepped up to the woman, holding out the mug for her. Camila accepted it, sipping the hot liquid and sighing a little as it helped to soothe her nerves. Amity took a step back and let her head hang in shame, her eyes closing tight.

"I am so very sorry for what I did!" She blurted out, her voice becoming meek afterwards. "Please don't make me leave. I finally just got to see Luz again after so long… I… I don't want to be separated from her again. If there's anything I can do to make up for my mistake, I'll do it."

Camila let out a laugh, surprising the girls. "Amity, you already said you were sorry. What more could you possibly expect me to want from you?" She said, smiling at the young witch. "It's a little silly that you seem more frightened than me right now after what happened. Especially since I should get a little of the blame for not choosing my words more carefully. I did say it would be interesting to see anything after all."

She let out another small laugh and sipped from her mug again. Then she slowly stood up and took a deep breath, inhaling slowly through her nostrils and letting it out through her lips. After another sip of her tea she seemed to have bounced back from her scare and looked at the three teens in the room with reclaimed confidence.

"Alright, today has been very surprising. Some surprises a little more difficult to handle than others." She admitted with a nervous chuckle. "But all of that aside, I think we should celebrate a little. Let's order something nice for lunch. That is if you can join us, Amity."

"I'd love to!" Amity replied, smiling in relief. "Thank you so much!"

"Thank you for coming by when you did." Camila said in return. "Luz has been so down ever since she came home and I just couldn't cheer her up no matter what I did. It means so much for me to see her smiling again and it's because of you, Amity. You are welcome to visit anytime you like, as long as your parents give you permission."

A slightly nervous look came to Amity's eyes and she forced a smile. "Oh, of course. That should be no problem at all…"

"Good. Now, what would you girls like to eat for lunch?" Camila asked.

"Ooh, ooh! Let's order from Tati's Kitchen!" Luz suggested, bouncing on the balls of her feet and raising her hand up high. "We can get the family sized beef stroganoff!"

"What's a stroganoff?" Amity queried.

"It's a dish of sauteed beef in a thick sauce made with a sour cream base." Camila explained. "It's very tasty and Tati's Kitchen makes their sauce dairy-free, so my Luz can eat it without worrying about any tummy trouble."

Luz smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, except for the time they messed up and didn't use the dairy-free sauce. That wasn't fun." She said with an awkward giggle. "Anyway, while we're waiting for the food, can I bring Amity up to my room so we can catch up?"

"Of course, Mija. I'll let you know when the food gets here. But keep your bedroom door open, okay?"

"Okay!" Luz said, taking Amity by the hand and rushing up the stairs. "Come on Am-Am, we've got tons to talk about!"

Amity happily went along with her, mildly excited by the idea. Her visit to the human realm had been a flurry of emotions so far and getting to spend time with Luz was appealing enough. Spending time with Luz in her room… it was like a dream come true. The moment they stepped inside she couldn't help but look around wide-eyed at the new and somewhat strange surroundings.

Inside of Luz's room was a two shelve bookcase with various books, many being manga. Over by one of the windows was her desk with a rolling chair beside it and assorted fantasy miniatures set about around one side with her laptop sitting on the other. A corkboard was on the wall behind the desk with many drawings pinned to it, all of them which Amity recognized as characters or locations from the Azura books.

Luz went over to the bunkbed and grabbed a pair of beanbags that were sitting on the floor between it and the wall. She dragged them over to the center of the room and set them down on the rug, plopping down on one of them, patting her hand on the other one to invite Amity to join her. Amity looked over the strange object for a moment before slowly seating herself, her eyes widening as she sank into it.

"Um, wow… this is… different." She noted, adjusting herself to the new sensation. "But in a good way."

"Cozy, isn't it?" Luz asked. "This is the best way to enjoy a good read."

"I don't think I could argue with you on that." Amity replied, continuing to make herself comfortable. "I definitely could use something like this for when I have to do a longer study session at home. I get so stiff sitting at my desk for hours at a time."

"Why not use your abominations? They seem like they'd be squishy enough." Luz pointed out. "They could even cuddle you if you wanted!"

Amity giggled. "I can see how you'd think that. But that's not going to happen. I don't even want to think of how badly my siblings would tease me if they saw me doing that."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point. Anyway, I can't help but wonder… how did you know where I live?"

"I didn't, not at first that is." Amity replied. "I used a locator spell I learned recently. All I needed was something that belonged to you to cast it and you did leave a lot of your things at Eda's. It was pretty convenient that your house was so close to where the new portal leads into your realm."

"Do you mean that old, abandoned house in the woods?" Luz asked, getting a nod in reply. "That is so cool! Just like the old one. I wonder if that place has some kinda connection to the Demon Realm or it it's just a coincidence that you ended up there." She pondered out loud before shrugging. "Meh, I guess it doesn't matter as long as we have a working portal again. So, what's everyone been up to while I was gone?"

"Let's see… Eda has been trying to keep her potion business afloat while still laying low. After she helped you destroy the portal, they increased her bounty again. She's at the top of the Emperor's wanted list. The Golden Guard has been making a nuisance of himself by confronting her for her crimes any chance he can get. But she hasn't made it easy for him."

"Sounds like Eda alright." Luz said with a giggle. "And everyone else?"

"Lilith has been living with her again and is helping protect the Owl House. King is… well, being King."

"What about Hooty?"

"What about him?" Amity asked. "He's the front door, just how interesting could a day in his life be?"

"Well… okay, fair enough. What about Gus and Willow? How have they been doing?"

"A lot has happened with them." Amity replied. "Gus has been working with Eda to get her stand set back up. Now that she can get things from here again, she wants to restock as much as possible. As for Willow… well, this is definitely going to surprise you. She's officially a member of the Banshees now. She's been in every game for the past two months."

"She is?!" Luz asked, eyes going a bit wide. "Wow, Boscha must hate that!"

"You'd think so, but not entirely." Amity said. "Skara convinced Willow to join and Boscha did very little to resist the idea. After a couple of practices, even Boscha couldn't deny that Willow has talent. They even work well together on the field. But the rest of the time things don't go so smoothly. Boscha isn't picking on Willow anymore, but Willow obviously hasn't just forgotten about all the times that she has in the past."

"But they're kinda getting along better?"

"For lack of a better term, yes, they are 'getting along' just fine." Amity answered. "I will admit it's nice that there's a little less drama between them. Aside of Grudgby, they usually give each other space while at school."

"I've missed Hexside like crazy! I wish I could go… hang on..." Luz said, trailing off as something crossing her mind. "I'm still technically a student there, right?"

"Well, yeah, I would think so." Amity replied.

"So….. if I happened to drop by for a day or two just to sit in any old class… that would be okay?" Luz asked.

"I'm sure that Principal Bump wouldn't mind letting you come back. But unfortunately it would need to wait. Classes have ended for the year for winter break."

"That's even better!" Luz exclaimed. "I'm starting a break from school too! I have a whole week off for Christmas!"

Amity blinked. "Is that a human holiday or something?"

Luz nodded. "Yup! A pretty major one too! My vacation will start the Monday after next. Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Am-Am?"

Amity let out an excited gasp. "We have plenty of free time to spend with each other again!"

"Aaaand you can spend Christmas day with me!" Luz added, practically bouncing in place with excitement. "Ooh! Maybe you could even come over on Christmas Eve and spend the night! I'm sure my mom won't mind."

"T-that's alright." Amity replied, blushing a little. "I wouldn't want to impose. And besides, it wouldn't be appropriate since we're a couple."

"Aw, come on." Luz begged. "Pretty please?"

"Luz, no! I'm sorry, but it's not appropriate." Amity stated firmly. "Even if your mother was alright with allowing me to spend the night, my mother would not. What would I even tell her? That I'll be going to the human realm to stay overnight with my girlfriend?"

"I guess you're right." Luz admitted, pouting a little. "Do you think you can at least visit on the holiday so we can enjoy it together?"

"That I can manage." Amity said, sounding confident. "When does this Christmas take place again?"

"The Saturday of my week off from school. The night before is an important part of the holiday too." Luz told her, before pausing a moment. "And, this Friday… there's a dance at my school. Would you want to go with me?"

"What kind of ridiculous question is that?" Amity asked in response, seeming mildly annoyed. "Of course I want to go with you! What time does it start?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that." Luz admitted with a sheepish laugh. "I wasn't paying too much attention when they announced it, so all I know is that it's on Friday."

"Do I need to dress in a specific way? I don't really know anything about this holiday, so I wouldn't want to show up wearing something that didn't fit the occasion."

Luz opened her mouth to begin explaining Christmas to Amity, but then something suddenly crossed her mind. She sat back and began to think, tapping her finger on her chin. After a minute she smiled as a plan started forming in her head. Then she got up and grabbed a pen and a pocket sized notebook from her desk. As she sat back down she began to write out a list, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth while she worked.

"What are you doing?" Amity inquired.

"I had a great idea. Since there's no school on the boiling isles for a while, I say we take advantage and have some fun. I want to share a few of my human holiday traditions with everyone, including the Banshees. It'll be a great way to catch up and spend some time together. Who knows? Maybe I can finally get Boscha to be my friend!"

Amity smiled. "I wouldn't get my hopes up. She's still Boscha. It seems unlikely she'd try to get along with you."

"Once upon a time I thought the same about you." Luz countered, scooting right up beside Amity. "And now look how close we are."

Luz pulled Amity in for a side-hug to emphasize her point. She topped it off with a gentle nuzzle of her cheek against Amity's, mildly surprised to find Amity returning the gesture. Amity relocated herself to Luz's beanbag, wanting to get closer to her to better enjoy the contact. Deciding not to question it, Luz just basked in the moment, a warm feeling filling her chest now that she had her girlfriend back in her life.

The next several minutes for them were blissful. Luz kept her arm around Amity, who was resting her head on Luz's shoulder. She kissed her girlfriend's forehead, eliciting a happy sigh from the witch. Luz nestled her face against Amity's silky hair and closed her eyes, quietly wishing the moment would never end.

It wasn't much longer before they heard Luz's mother calling them down, informing them their food had arrived. The couple ended their embrace reluctantly and went down to seat themselves at the kitchen table. Amity found herself sitting beside Luz and across from Vee, once again dealing with the odd situation of seeing her girlfriend and her duplicate in the same room. She did her best to pay it no mind as Camila dished out servings of their food, thanking her before going to take the first bite.

Camila prepared her own plate and got out some pomegranate juice for the girls, pouring them each a cup. Amity found that it went well with the beef dish, cleansing her palate as she washed each bite down. Luz took a moment to observe her girlfriend as she enjoyed her first taste of human cuisine, quietly adoring the happy look on the witch's face.

"So Amity, I have to ask." Camila said as she sat down. "How long have you and Luz known each other?"

"I met her early in the summer." Amity replied.

"And just how did the two of you meet?" Camila followed up.

Both Luz and Amity froze. They exchanged a glance as the memories of their first interactions came to their minds. Amity started to poke at her food, focusing her gaze on her plate. Luz meanwhile rubbed the back of her neck, scrambling her brain to find the simplest way to answer her mother's question.

"Um…. " Luz began. "We…"

At that moment, Camila's cell phone began to ring. She excused herself and stepped out of the room, giving Amity and Luz a chance to figure out how to handle the little predicament in which they had suddenly found themselves. They leaned towards each other, each placing one hand by their mouths as they began whispering.

"What should we tell her?" Amity asked. "I don't exactly like the idea of saying that we had a duel the first day we met."

"I don't like it either, Am-Am. But I don't want to lie to her!" Luz replied. "We just need to find a way to tell her enough to satisfy her without going into all of the details."

From across the table Vee cleared her throat. It was her way of letting the other two know that she was still there and could hear them. Both Amity and Luz sat upright again, smiling nervously at Vee who kept enjoying her meal quietly. After a few more seconds of silence, Camila stepped back into the kitchen and set her phone down.

"Sorry about that." She said as she rejoined them at the table. "That was work. They needed me to come in tomorrow to help cover for someone who isn't feeling well. Now, what were you about to say, Mija?"

"I was just about to tell you how Amity and I met." Luz replied. "There was this event going on called a Covention, a convention for witch covens. I went to check it out and bumped into her there."

"Yes, I was attending the event with my private tutor, who turned out to be the older sister of Luz's mentor." Amity added. "But they didn't exactly get along too well and started arguing who was better at teaching their respective student."

"So Amity and I ended up in a sort of exhibition match against each other in front of a huge crowd." Luz nervously continued. "We… we both sorta ended up embarrassing ourselves and Amity ran off. I felt bad, so I followed her so we could talk about what happened."

"And after that you two became friends?" Camila asked.

"Not exactly." Amity answered. "I was still a bit upset about the whole thing the next time we ran into each other at the library. But Luz was persistent and we ended up spending some time together."

"Yeah! It turns out we had some things in common." Luz said. "Amity is just as big an Azura fan as I am! We even started up our own Azura book club!"

"It's just the two of us though." Amity admitted.

Camila let out a chuckle. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I think it's nice that Luz finally found someone who also enjoys that book series. Now, you said that you were in an exhibition match. What exactly did you have to do? Nothing dangerous, I hope."

Amity froze, a bead of sweat running down her face. "W-we just had to show off our magical capabilities. O-of course, at the time, Luz only knew how to use one spell and it wasn't really useful in that situation, so she mostly… helped me show off my abomination."

"I see…" Camila replied, shuddering involuntarily at the mention of the creature. "What did she need to do? I mean, what are abominations for?"

"All sorts of things. They're highly versatile and are often used for menial labor if nothing else." Amity explained.

"Or like how the abomination professor at school makes his carry him around all the time." Luz mentioned, smirking at the thought. "It was almost like he was the abomination's baby or something."

"Luz, that's rude!" Amity chided, although a tiny smirk had appeared on her own face. "You better not say anything like that in front of him at school or you could make him mad!"

"Uh oh, he might make his abomination scold me!" Luz joked while stifling a giggle. "But I'd have to go back to Hexside for that to happen. Um, Mom? Do you think that…."

"I know what you're going to say, Cariño and the answer is 'no'." Camila stated firmly. "You didn't have my permission to go there in the first place so I'm not letting you just suddenly go back. Not unless I can see this school and decide for myself if I'm comfortable with you going there."

"Okay…" Luz replied sadly, letting her head hang momentarily before it suddenly snapped back up. "Oh, wait. Mom, since we're talking about school, I need to ask you something super important." Luz said, regaining her energy. "I asked Amity to go with me to the school dance on Friday. Can we still go and pick out something new for me to wear for then?"

"So you want to go now?" Camila asked, giving her daughter a knowing look. "What happened to wanting Vee to take your place?"

"It's different now!" Luz answered, gesturing to Amity. "I have a date to go with and I need something cute to wear for her!"

"You don't need to get a new outfit just to wear for me." Amity shyly told her.

"Too bad!" Luz replied, somewhat overdramatically. "I'm gonna look adorable for you and there's nothing you can do to stop me! So there!"

She stuck out her tongue at Amity, who started to giggle in response. Afterwards they finished up their meals, Luz offering to wash the dishes. Amity volunteered to help her with the task. Having been brought up in a house where the summoned help usually took care of all the cleaning, it was a new experience for her. Although sharing it with Luz made it more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise, the two standing side by side with Luz washing and Amity drying.

Once the chore was done they migrated back into the living room where they began talking again. Camila continued to ask about their relationship and they answered while making sure to keep certain details omitted, at least for the time being. Luz ended up mentioning Gus and Willow at some point as well, the idea of getting to see them again exciting her. She brought up her recent idea to visit and share some holiday traditions with them, at which point Camila began to have qualms.

"I don't know, Luz." Camila said, a trace of anxiety in her voice. "There's still a lot that I don't know about the that place and the idea of you going back worries me."

"But Mamá, things won't be like before! I have a way home and I'll only be gone for a while. I can definitely be home in time for dinner, I promise!" Luz pleaded. "Besides, I was there for months and I did fine! Eda took good care of me!"

Camila let out a sigh. "Alright, I suppose you have a point. But I want to meet this Eda and talk to her sometime soon. I have a lot that I want to discuss with her about your time over there."

"Yes!" Luz cheered jumping up and down before giving her mother a big hug. "Thank you Mamá! You are the best! Don't worry, I'll be fine. Amity can meet me and we can go together, right Amity?"

Amity nodded. "I'd be happy to. Would tomorrow be alright?"

"I don't have anything planned." Luz replied. "I can head out as soon as I've eaten breakfast."

"In that case, I want you home in time for lunch." Camila told her. "And we can talk some more about this whole going to the Demon Realm thing some more after you come back."

Luz hugged her mother again and kissed her on both cheeks. She began excitedly talking about all the things she looked forward to seeing and doing again back in Bonesborough, getting mixed reactions from her mother. Camila for the most part kept anything she found truly concerning to herself, making a mental note to discuss those things later with Luz, after their guest had left.

Soon enough the time came where Amity reluctantly had to leave. Luz and Camila went with her to the front door where they saw her off. Camila got the door for her, waiting while the two teens took a moment to bid each other farewell. The two gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, Amity taking Luz's hand and kissing it before Luz did the same for her. Slowly, Amity began her departure, letting her hand gently slip out of Luz's grasp as she went.

"Thank you for allowing me to visit. And for the food." Amity said just as she stepped out of the front door.

"Bye, Am-Am!" Luz said, waving to her girlfriend. "Be safe on your way back! Can't wait to see you tomorrow!"

Amity waved back. "Same here. I wish I could stay longer, but I have some extra credit assignments to complete this weekend and my mom won't be happy if I fall behind."

"Oh, I'm glad that you mentioned that, Amity." Camila said before Amity could get too far. "I'd like to meet with your parents sometime. So please let me know when that would be convenient for them, okay?"

Amity smiled nervously. "Um, sure… I can… talk with them about that. But they're very busy so I'm not sure how soon that would be."

"That's alright." Camila replied. "Just as long as I get to meet them eventually."

"Because they'll be your future in-laws?" Luz inquired, smirking at how her statement made Amity's face light up.

"Mija, hush." Camila chided. "You're embarrassing your poor novia. Besides, it's too soon for you to be thinking about that."

"That's your opinion. I don't think there's anything wrong with planning ahead. Right Am-Am?" Luz asked with a playful wink.

Amity mumbled out an inaudible response and continued on her way home. She was so flustered by the recent comment from Luz that she almost went in the opposite direction by mistake. As she caught onto her error and turned around, she smiled awkwardly and waved to the Nocedas as she passed by the house and made her way into the woods out back.

As her girlfriend disappeared from view, Luz pouted and let out a soft whine. "I miss her already."

"She seems like a very nice young lady. Now, go take a shower and get dressed, Mija." Camila told her. "The minute you are ready, we are heading to the mall to find you something very nice to wear on your date with her next Friday."

Camila had barely finished speaking before Luz had bolted to the bathroom. Her pajamas had been hastily discarded on the floor just outside the room seconds before the door slammed shut and then the sound of running water could be heard from inside. Camila shook her head and went to pick up Luz's clothes, smiling to herself as she heard her daughter singing slightly off key from the other side of the door.

To Be Continued.