Luz presses record, and looks into the camera nervously.
"Hola Mamá, I want to tell you something." She starts. "No, I need to tell you this."
The night Luz told Eda and King about her promise was a kind she hoped she would never experience again.
But despite the fear and panic she felt then, Eda and King never gave up on her. They love her. Willow and Gus love her. Amity loves her.
Luz knows Camila loves her too. So she'd understand if she knew more, right? She'd understand.
She'll understand.
"I know the last time we saw each other was a little scary. No- it was very scary. But I promise you that no matter what, I didn't abandon you. I didn't hate living with you."
Luz takes a deep breath to steel herself. This time, there's no prototype portal which she has a limited time of using. There's no danger here to stop her. It's just Luz, safe in her room, sending a message with her somehow indestructible phone.
If she's lucky, it will get through.
She has all the time in the world right now.
"I know I said that staying here was the best decision I ever made. But I need you to know that I didn't mean I hated being with you. In fact, mom, you're one of the best parts of my life! I loved that you supported my interests, and creativity, I loved going to that sandwich place after school! It's just…" Luz wipes her face.
"I was a nobody there. You know no kid ever wanted to be my friend. I could only talk to the animals you and I took care of together. I know it was my fault that I was signed up for that summer camp, but…it hurt. I know you meant well, but I felt like I was given up on."
Her hands clench into fists and shake. "Honestly, I should've just thrown my book away and went to camp, then I wouldn't be in this situation…"
But she takes a deep breath and counts to three.
No. Now is not the time for self-depreciation.
"The truth is, I wasn't chasing some witch fantasy. I-in fact, it's not even a fantasy. It's the real deal."
"You heard 'witches and demons' and probably thought I was in danger. And, yes. This realm is very dangerous. But there's more to it than just that, mom. The witches and demons I've met are, ironically, some of the best people I know."
Luz smiles as she thinks of everyone she's met.
"I know I talked about them in my other messages,"
Heck, her other messages haven't even gotten through yet.
"But I wanna talk about them for real. I know you'd love them if you knew them!"
Luz has a feeling she'd love the little palismen.
"There's Willow and Gus, who are the first real friends I've had. Not drawn, or imagined, or reptilian. They don't humiliate me or expect anything from me, they just love me for who I am."
The girl will never forget how the two of them treated her when they first met her.
"When I first met Willow, who's a plant witch, by the way- she was being picked on. Like me. But when she saw me, she was so nice to me. She didn't care how weird I looked or talked."
"You're human! This is astounding! A human on the Boiling Isles! How did you get here? What are you doing here?" Willow had said with stars in her eyes as she helped Luz up. No kid her age had ever been so friendly.
"I think we officially became friends after I helped her with a school project. And defended her." She chooses to leave out the part where Amity and Principal Bump almost dissected her. And that she was banned from the building for a bit.
"You'd love her, mom. And her plants."
"Oh! And Gus! Gus is me and Willow's other best friend. He's an illusion witch. And gosh, mom, he's so cool! He's younger than me and he's moved up a few grades in our school! He can create these awesome things with his magic!"
"I knew an Augustus back home, we called him Gus." That Augustus wasn't her friend, but they were paired together for a project once.
The witch boy looked overjoyed. "A nickname? Human nickname?! Gus? Call me it, wow, Gus! This is the greatest day of my life."
"I should also mention that Gus used to be the founder of this 'Human Appreciation Society' at school. It's pretty much right there in the name, Gus and the other members look at human artifacts they found and try to figure out what they do and stuff. I will admit, they uh…don't always get it right, and they don't know a lot about humans, but his effort is amazing. He's so sweet!" Luz can't help but imagine how her friend would react to meeting another human like Camila.
"We're best friends, mom. Me, Willow, and Gus. Sure, we have our ups and downs, but we still love each other. We have each other's backs."
Luz relaxes and looks around the room, her eyes landing on her Tamagotchi device.
"I told you in another video, but… and you're never gonna believe this- in fact I still can't believe it- I have a girlfriend now! Her name is Amity. She's smart, cool, beautiful… Anyway, at first we didn't start off good. She used to hate me. But through some, uh… misunderstandings and hardships, we became friends!"
But hey, isn't that how a lot of couples start out?
"I guess I could compare it to the um…enemies or rivals to lovers trope in my books? Point is, Amity and I went through a lot together. Mom, I didn't expect her of all people to have a crush on me, too! She's like, the top student in school, she's popular, and she's way more smart and talented than I am with her magic!"
Get back on track Luz!
"Amity even went out of her way to help us get something that enabled the portal, which allowed you to see me! Anyway, I love her. And she loves me. I know you'd love her too!"
"Don't worry. You always have a way of sneaking into people's hearts." Amity said happily before pecking Luz's cheek gently.
They're each other's awesome girlfriends.
Once again, Luz looks around the room, trying to put together the right words. Her eyes land on the still creepy Jean Luc in the corner.
And the small photo of her, Eda and King at Grom. The one where she has one arm around a startled Eda and King posing between them.
"The first people I ever met here, mom, was King and Eda. King is a cute little demon that kinda looks like a dog? We still don't know. But I told him you love animals, since you're a vet, and I know he's not an animal, but we both know you'd think he's adorable. You might remember him from another video? The one where I said I…blew up the portal?"
"And look! I have friends to help me!" Luz said, holding up her leg, which King was clinging to like a child.
"I'm never letting go! You're never returning to the human realm!" He cries and holds on tighter.
As sweet as that sounds, Luz cringes. "He doesn't mean that."
"Yes I dooo!"
Luz shakes her head to clear her head. "It's amazing, you know? King went from not liking me, to wanting me to stay with him and heck, he even freaked out when I used an invisibility spell! You should let him try your cooking when you meet him!" She laughs at the memory. "King's family to me. I'd do anything for him."
And now, there's Eda. The witch that started it all.
"And finally, mom, there's Eda. She's a witch, just like my friends. She's the one that took me in. I live in her house. Eda even has this cute little owl named 'Owlbert' living on her staff! At first, we started out pretty rocky. Yes, she's rough around the edges, but she is awesome."
If anybody tried to make Luz doubt the Owl Lady's love for her and King, they'd fail spectacularly.
"Eda and I, we've been through a lot together. She's taught me magic, taken care of me, Eda's helped guide me through this place. Eda protected me. More than once, mom, she almost died for me."
Luz would be lying if she said she didn't still have nightmares about that night.
She remembers all the kind words Eda's given her during her time here.
"That's my girl!"
"A human doing magic! Good on you, kid."
"You got this."
"You gotta be your own witch."
"Just know that whatever you need from us, we gotcha."
"I don't regret anything. I lived freely, and…I got to meet you."
"My life is pretty great 'cause I'm friends with Luz the Human."
"Luz, thank you for being in my life."
"I love you too, kiddo."
And don't think the girl forgot about the note that was attached to her cloak.
"To a young witch from her proud mentor"
Luz wipes her stinging eyes. "I need you to know that Eda's been taking care of me ever since I got here. Loving me."
She reaches for her purple cloak and clutches it close to her heart.
"But she's not replacing you. Nobody is. I love spending time with her as much as I love spending time with you."
Luz continues on, using her memories of her friends, girlfriend, and family to fuel her.
"The people I'm telling you about? They're family. They're the reason I am who I am today. They helped me mature. They make me feel loved. It's not that I love you less, mom. It's that I found my people."
All of this is real. Not a silly fantasy. I don't care what you think of that.
"I'd do anything for them, and they'd do anything for me. We have each other's back here. You wanted me to have real friends, well, I have them now."
Pinching me won't make this go away.
"That is why I said staying here was the best decision. I feel more safe to be myself here. Call it what you will mom, but it isn't a fantasy. All of this is real. Which is why I don't want to go back. Mom, the only reason I even appeared in the human realm was you! You're the only person who ever supported me there, but I still felt like I was too much."
"I'll always love you, and I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. I miss our house. But I love it here. Not just because of magic."
You'd love them, mom, I swear.
"Which is why I want us to compromise when we see each other again. You need to know that in spite of any danger here, I have more people who'll protect me and love me to the end."
Even though I don't always think I deserve it.
"Maybe, if you want, I can show you around when we get a fully working portal. If things go well, we could have youstay here, or you stay in the human world, and I can go back and forth on weekends or vise versa!"
Luz knows it's wishful thinking. Her mom might hate it here. But at least she'll know her daughter is thriving like she wanted.
"I know that you'll still be worried sick about me. But when we get a working portal built, you're the first person I'm going to. Everybody would want to meet you. It hurts not to be able to hug you, but I promise I'm okay. I hope you are, too. And…tell Vee I said hi?"
The recording had gone on for five and a half minutes. Luz had been talking for five and a half minutes. And now, she is getting tired.
"So, this is goodbye, at least until I come back to you. If you don't see this before then, I'll explain everything. I'm not giving up this place."
I won't give up on you.
"Te quiero, mama. We'll see each other again soon." Luz blows a kiss and presses the button to stop recording. Then she flops down on her sleeping bag.
Luz doesn't know if she'll get through to Camila, or if the woman will understand. But whatever happens, they'll get through it together.
She's not giving up on her family, and they won't give up on her either.
