White nights

Wrapped in Luz's arms, crying uncontrollably, disheveled and with her clothes full of dirt stains, Amity Blight hugged the girl feverishly. The tears that overflowed from her eyes soaked her friend's purple sweatshirt. Amity was going through a great pain, one that lacked a single origin because what ailed her was, in fact, the accumulation of a lifetime of sorrows. The diary was just the straw that broke the camel's back. But that warm embrace, for some reason, was gradually calming her down. Her gasping breathing calmed down. The crying was diminishing. The sadness and anger were dissipating.

―Luz…

―Yes?

―Can we stay like this for a few more seconds? ―asked the pale witch with her face hidden in the shoulder of the girl.

―Sure, Amity ―responded Luz who, with her eyes closed and a tear slowly sliding down her cheek, hugged her tightly―. We can stay like this for as long as you want...

«Today we shall not meet. Yesterday, when we said good-bye, the clouds began gathering over the sky and a mist rose».

Amity was reading the book in her hands with a sad calmness.

«―If it rains we shall not see each other ―she said―. I shall not come

»I thought that she would not notice today's rain, and yet she has not come.

»Yesterday was our third interview, our third white night...».

The girl with mint-green hair turned her head and looked out the window. It was raining. She wondered what it would be like to live in a place where the rain didn't burn, where, as Luz told her, you could feel the delicate drops of water falling on your face. «And yet she has not come», she reread that sentence. With a trembling mouth, Amity held back a tiny tear that sought to be born. She continued reading.

«How brimming over with love the heart is! One seems longing to pour out one's whole heart; one wants everything to be gay, everything to be laughing. And how infectious that joy is! There was such a softness in her words, such a kindly feeling in her heart towards me yesterday! How solicitous and friendly she was; how tenderly she tried to give me courage! Oh, the coquetry of happiness! While I... I took it all for the genuine thing, I thought that she...».

She closed the book, flushed but heartbroken. It was all confusing to her.

After that moment in the Hexside dumpster, Luz and Amity had come to see each other every night for three days in a row. They would meet at the top of a hill, where a large tree of purple leaves and white blossoms lay. Beautiful moments for the little witch were those nights, where she could share laughter and sighs with the girl who had long ago stolen her heart. At her side, she could feel how the night was illuminated and her smile... A memory that rested in the depths of her soul. But now...

―Amity ―spoke Luz―, I... I wanted to ask you since the other day…

The human was hesitant, thoughtful. Amity looked at her curiously. She liked the glow her mellifluous eyes took under the moon.

―Are you happy with your life?

That shocked her. At no time had she expected that question. Dubitatively, she kept silent for a few seconds, curled her hands and hid them in her lap.

―Why do you ask? ―Amity looked away from her friend's gaze. Her voice, once cheerful, was now weak and shy.

Happiness. A concept she never took the time to evaluate. Before, as long as everything was in order and her performance was excellent, she could be content with keeping her pride high. That was before she met her. Happiness. The truth was that, all that time, that question frightened her. She was running away from it.

―I prefer not to talk about it… ―she replied with a fake smile.

Luz, placing her hand on the witch's shoulder, looked at her tenderly:

―Amity, it's okay, you can talk to me about it.

―I...

She could have said a simple 'yes, I'm happy' and nothing would have happened. That was not the case. She wanted to answer truthfully. But even she didn't know the answer. However, she wanted to look for it. Suddenly, at that instant, a strange sensation came over her. Amity, trying to find the needle in the haystack, confronted with no one but herself, found a vast, dark tide of emotions. Confused, she continued:

―I... I have to go now.

She got up from the smooth, large stone where they sat every night. Walking hurriedly, she began to walk away. But Luz, taking her by the arm, asked her not to leave.

―Let me go, please, Luz ―frustration was creeping up on her. Her breathing began to become agitated. Her friend wouldn't let go, called her name, tried to talk to her, but Amity was lost in her thoughts.

―Luz, let me go ― She asked earnestly, but the girl paid no attention. Her muffled voice did not reach her. The human was talking, but at that moment there was no one to listen. Frustration was building up more and more, she could feel it.

―Amity…

―Luz!

A moment was enough for that to happen. A single moment where her mind, for a few seconds, was blank. When she came to her senses, there she was. She was no longer being held by the arm. But her hands radiated a certain warmth. She looked at them. They were covered with faint, purple flames. In front of her, on the floor, was Luz. It seemed that something was hurting her. That's when she noticed it. Her arm was burned. «Did I do that?». Amity wanted to speak, but the words would not come out of her mouth. Scared of herself, she ran away.

―Amity, wait!...

The next night the green-haired witch could not bring herself to go back under the tree. It grieved her what she had done. Luz had been hurt. How could she ever look into her eyes again? But, in spite of her shame, she knew she could not leave things that way. She had to apologize and wait for her beloved friend's forgiveness. So, the next day she searched for Luz everywhere in Hexside, but never found her. During the night she went to the top of the hill, hoping that the human would do the same. But time passed, the moon rose and no one came.

Now, in her room, holding against her breast the novel of the human kingdom that the Owl Lady had given her, the little witch sighed with apprehension.

«My night ended with the morning. It was a wet day. The rain was falling and beating disconsolately upon my window pane; it was dark in the room and grey outside. My head ached and I was giddy; fever was stealing over my limbs».

The boiling rain continued and so classes had been cancelled. It had been a week since Luz had found her in the dumpster. It had been three days since she had hurt her. Amity gazed at her palm with melancholy.

«Either the sunbeams suddenly peeping out from the clouds for a moment were hidden again behind a veil of rain, and everything had grown dingy again before my eyes; or perhaps the whole vista of my future flashed before me so sad and forbidding, and I saw myself just as I was now...»

That day Amity did not leave her room. The ghosts of her act haunted her. Images of a life without Luz in it kept coming and going. «Well done, Amity» she said to herself «. You ended up pushing away one of the few people you really care about».

Lying on her bed, with the pillow over her face, the witch kept thinking about Luz. She drew in her mind that shining smile. She saw those soulful eyes of hers. She heard her voice saying 'repeat after me: we can fix this together'. Amity smiled warmly, but immediately the memory of the burn she caused on her friend's arm loomed and all traces of joy disappeared. «Luz...».

«May your sky be clear, may your sweet smile be bright and untroubled, and may you be blessed for that moment of bliss and happiness which you gave to another lonely and grateful heart!

»My God, a whole moment of happiness! Isn't such a moment sufficient for the whole of one's life?».

Drop after drop, rain fell in every nook and cranny of the Boiling Isles. People stayed in the safety of their homes. Drop after drop. Those who found themselves without a roof over their heads sought shelter. Drop after drop. Others, those who could use magic, walked among the trees protecting themselves from the hot rain. Drop after drop, Amity's tears gently fell on the yellow pages of the novel she was holding in her trembling hands...

The rain ceased. The sky cleared. Classes resumed.

Back at Hexside, the depressed witch walked through the school corridors completely abstracted. In her mind there was only something she cared about, or rather someone. But that day she wasn't sharing any classes with the human. Besides, she didn't see much chance of meeting her anywhere in the school. Another day without seeing Luz, she said to herself sadly. As a matter of fact, classes were over and she never had the opportunity to see her dear friend even for a second. However, when she opened her locker to put her books away and go home, she noticed something that was not there at the beginning of the day. It was a yellow piece of paper folded in half. She took it with curiosity, opened it and read, astonished, what was written on it:

"See you tonight under the tree,

L."

Nervous and insecure, once the sky darkened, the witch climbed to the top of the hill, where the huge white flowering tree lay. There, sitting on the cold stone to which she was already accustomed, she waited.

Alone, her mind betrayed her with sad images and ghosts. 'I don't want us to be friends anymore' she could almost hear it. Her fears swirled around her. 'I offered you my help and in return you burned'. She closed her eyes. She wanted to stop imagining those sad scenarios, but couldn't. She was afraid.

―Amity!

There, in the distance, she caught a glimpse of Luz, who was happily running towards her and, once she was by her side, she hugged and greeted her as if nothing had happened. The brunette girl was talking effusively, but Amity did not listen to her. She couldn't understand. «How come she's not mad at me?». Then, looking at her friend's arm, she noticed a small scar. Luz stopped her animated chatter as she noticed how her friend looked with anguish, downcast, at the almost imperceptible mark on her left arm.

―Luz, your arm...I... I'm sorry.

The human looked at the tiny scar and, smiling, replied:

―Don't worry, Amity. You have nothing to apologize for. In fact, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have been so insistent that time. I know you may not feel comfortable talking about it yet, and that's okay. But if you ever feel the need to do so, rest assured that I'll be here to listen to you.

The witch looked at her blushing. There it was, once again, that big smile she adored so much. Amity smiled in relief.

―By the way ―continued Luz― I have a gift for you.

From her suitcase, then, the girl took out a green notebook with a familiar drawing on the cover. She, surprised, gawked at it.

―The day after you ran off I waited for you right here, but you never came. I had planned to do the same thing the night after that, but Eda took me to the night market in Bonesborough, which, by the way, remind me to tell you about it, it was total chaos ―The human, observing her friend's astonished face, rejoiced and remarked to her―. But something good came out of that time and it was this. I found your diary, Amity. I'm returning it to you.

The witch, with a big smile painted on her face and tears running down her cheeks, threw herself directly on the girl and, taking Luz by surprise, hugged her.

After a few seconds like that, hugging each other, Luz heard her friend speaking softly to her:

―I don't know if I have had a happy life, Luz ―She told her in a serene voice―. But I do know one thing, and that is that when I am with you, I'm happy. Thank you…

The girls separated and, taking a seat on the smooth stone, proceeded to share laughter and sighs once again. Amity told her about the novel she had been reading during those rainy days. Luz told her about the surreal experience she had had in the illegal market. She told her about the gnomes, the walking flytrap venus, the big albino dragon that Eda brought and how, in the blink of an eye, it was all over. Hours passed, the two girls gazed silently and contentedly at the night sky. The mint-haired witch then turned her head and looked at the radiant girl lying beside her.

«Suddenly the night doesn't seem so dark anymore», thought Amity as she watched Luz gazing admiringly at the stars of that white night.