Whatt?
Two chapters in less than 2 hours?
Am I actually being productive because I rediscovered my motivation, whattt?
Let's gooooooo!


The last few pages went by like Amity was in a trance.

Azura's and Hecate's fight picked up massively in the second half of the book and Amity couldn't keep her eyes away from the words even if she wanted to. She wasn't reading anymore, she was just seeing the story by now, how Azura lifted her staff and fought back her enemies while Hecate was securing her back, protecting her so fiercely Amity almost felt like her heart was going to break.

It wasn't like she had tried to savor the book in any way. As soon as she had gotten her hands on a new copy, the fifteen-year-old teen had given everything up to read without end. This had been going on for three days now.

She had gone to school, sure, but on her lap, the Azura book sat and she had caught glimpses of the sentences on the page in between working, making sure she could continue enjoying the story while sitting around in school.

She had even gone so far as reading past her usual bedtime, and normally, Amity was very punctual about going to bed. When it had suddenly been 1am and she had still been reading, she hadn't even felt bad.

Even during family dinners, the book was never far and most importantly, not closed. Her mother had been exasperated while her father had looked rather uninterested, but Emira had managed to talk her down about Amity's addiction.

Not that the teen would've noticed anything about it, she had used the welcome break from eating to push her nose back into the book and read about Azura's adventures and her quest to gain as many allies as she could for the big fight.

And now, it was late afternoon, Amity was nearing the end of the book and while she was satisfied with how the story progressed, she was already feeling a sense of dread with how much the pages thinned out towards the end of the book. She didn't want it to end today, but she also couldn't wait any longer or postpone the ending. She just couldn't stop.

Grumbling, she felt with Azura at their almost inevitable defeat, before suddenly, the battle was turned around and Amity sat up with anticipation. Kicking her legs up in the air, she fell back again, biting her lip in joy while she reread the sentence again and again, in which Malingale the Mysterious Soothsayer pledged his loyalty to Azura and managed to turn the odds to their advantage. She had always rooted for this character to turn out for the better and she had been right.

Not even Luz had believed her when she had told her of her theories about Malingale.

Squealing, Amity giggled, before diving back into the book and enjoying the victorious feeling that sped through her veins once the enemy was defeated and Azura was coming out of the battle as the hero, along with Hecate and Malingale.

She hummed when the book finally trickled to an end, the war over, the battlefields overgrown and the story now coming to a satisfying conclusion.

Amity smiled to herself, but suddenly, the smile slipped from her face.

"… The festivities continued while-… Hecate pulled Azura aside to-…", a mad blush spread across her face while she reread the word, again and again, her whole body freezing.

It was a tiny word, but Luz had been right.

They got together in the end.

"… To kiss her…", Amity whispered and pulled the book close to cover her face with it. Groaning, she kicked her bed once.

Luz had been right about them getting together, and Amity had told her that that would never happen. Finally, she lifted the book up again and furrowed her eyebrows. She had been rooting for this ship as well, but she had claimed the author wouldn't let them be together, because of how Hecate had acted the first two books as Azura's foe.

And now they were a couple.

She read about Azura readily accepting the kiss and the epilogue describing their life together a few years later, the war long in the past but not forgotten, while the world was rebuilt with a new morality and better circumstances for everyone. Of course, the author would make their main characters as happy as possible after so many books.

The last page fluttered into place. Amity read through the last sentences, the last words until suddenly, the series was over. Azura was finished now.

Breathing through deeply, she closed the cover of the book and turned it around in her hands. This had been the thing that had occupied her mind completely for the last few days. The things that had occupied Luz's mind just before she had died.

A sad smile stretched across Amity's lips when she brushed over the cover and sighed, not even feeling the silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Luz had been right with her shipping. She still saw the bubbly human running around in her private study room, reenacting their favorite Hecazura moments to show Amity how much they were meant for each other, not noticing the slight blush creeping across Amity's face while she made an adorable fool of herself and achieved nothing more than to make Amity smile, not really convincing her of the ship becoming canon.

She remembered how exasperated Luz had been once she had realized Amity wouldn't change her mind, even if she knew how much it meant to the human. It had gone as far for Luz to beg for her to agree, on her knees, putting her folded hands in her lap. But Amity hadn't relented and shaken her head.

She just couldn't believe it and Luz had proven her wrong, even after having died a few months ago.

Rolling her eyes, Amity softly slapped the cover of the book.

Her dumb human.

And she had kept her word, she finally realized. The second thing she had wanted to cross off the bucket list so desperately until the final Azura book had finally come out.

Scrambling, she got up to her feet and left the book on the bed, before pulling out the bucket list she kept in her school bag and straightening the piece of paper on her desk.

She hadn't set any checks yet. The real witch question hadn't really left her mind even if Eda had tried to reassure her that Luz had made it as her own witch. But she felt that this wasn't entirely done yet.

Slanting her lips, she searched out a pen, before putting a neat check behind the Azura book. The first check. She nodded slowly, before smiling to herself.

This was the first thing she had completed. Before she knew it, she had already begun doodling a little Hecazura kiss in the corner of the paper and decided to make it more detailed, even coloring it. Luz had been right, they had become a couple.

Grinning, Amity doodled some more hearts around it and her hand began shaking as the tears came. How she wished she could've read this with Luz together. The human had been such a big Azura fan and she had feverishly awaited the finale of the book series. It wasn't fair that Amity had it all to herself.

She had wanted to share this with Luz more than she had wanted to share anything in her life with someone.

Silently shaking, Amity curled up when the pain got bigger, more pressing, and the pen slipped from her fingers while she hiccupped and convulsed in badly disguised sobs.

Finally, her tears found an out and her sobs sounded through her room while she shrank on her chair, resting her forehead on her desk. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair that she was the only one to read this and Luz would never know if her favorite ship would sail or not.

Amity barely even felt the arms of her sister wrapping around her while her brother neatly folded up the bucket list and put it aside, on top of the newest Azura book he had brought to her desk. Her siblings had wanted to call her for dinner with their parents but Amity was in no condition to sit at the table.

Emira finally lifted her up while Edric pulled the sheets back for her to be tucked in by her siblings. She was just aware enough to feel both of them press a kiss to her forehead and promise to bring her some dinner later.

Still crying to herself, Amity curled up to a tight little ball under the covers and tried desperately not to fall apart. Luz's death had already happened a few months ago, why was she still so affected by it?!

Angrily, she punched the mattress, before giving in to her sobs again, burying her face in the pillow to let it all out. She had never lost someone close to her before, she had never experienced loss like this. When she had been forced to cut all ties with Willow she had at least seen the witch every day, she had at least known that she was alive and well and that there was a chance to reconnect with her one day, when her parents didn't have as much power over her anymore.

But Luz was gone. She was gone and there was no way to somehow reconnect with her, to see her again, or to make sure she was okay.

Her chest was compressed until all air left and she heaved into her pillow, the pain threatening to eat her up from the inside.

The least she could do was make sure to work down Luz's bucket list and reassure herself that it'd make her late friend happy, in some way.


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