Amity had no issue coming up with her gift for Hunter. From the moment Willow had explained the idea, she knew what it would be. It all stemmed back to a conversation she and Hunter had a few weeks ago. Amity had been reading a book, and she didn't realize she had gasped out loud until Hunter flinched, eyes darting wildly around the room.

"What is it? What happened?"

"Sorry!" said Amity. "Just something I'm reading."

Flapjack chirped and emerged from Hunter's pocket. Hunter promptly scooped up the bird and held him to his chest, rhythmically stroking his feathers to calm himself. "Reading? For help with the portal?"

"No, for fun." Amity held up the book, but Hunter only looked more confused.

"Warriors? Is that cat a Palisman?" He perked up. "Is that a textbook on Palismen?"

"No, it's a book from the human realm. It's not real."

"Oh." Hunter let himself relax, an embarrassed blush tinting his cheeks. "Sorry. Don't know why I overreacted to that gasp."

Amity knew, but she didn't say. She knew what it was like to react wildly to the slightest sound or touch. Back when she wasn't used to it, Luz simply laying a hand on her shoulder was enough to make her flinch. She was always grateful that Luz let her bring it up on her own time, so she'd do the same for Hunter.

Amity wasn't quite sure how she felt about Hunter. She had noticed similarities between them when she first encountered him at Eclipse Lake, but the fight and the way he threatened Luz had certainly driven a wedge. Now, of course, he had realized how he had been manipulated. Amity was proud of him. She knew better than anyone how hard it was to make that kind of change, especially when you lived with the constant threat of your guardian's disapproval. She wanted to tell him she was proud of him and that she understood, but she had never found the best opportunity. And she could tell Hunter did his best to avoid her; he was probably guilty, and she liked to think that perhaps he was embarrassed too, given how thoroughly she had beaten him.

"It's okay," she said in response to his apology. "I…overreact to stuff too sometimes. Less now, but it happens."

Hunter hesitated. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"What?"

"You're being super nice. Why?"

"You mean why am I not kicking your ass again for threatening my girlfriend?"

Hunter gulped. "Yeah."

"I could. But honestly, I don't have much room to talk. I did terrible things too. And I think we have more in common than you think."

"Like our...overreactions?"

"Yeah."

Given the awkwardness, she was surprised when Hunter spoke again. "Well…why did you gasp? If it was fiction?"

"Oh, just a plot twist."

"Plot twist? What happened?"

Amity side-eyed him. "I don't want to spoil it."

"Psh. I'm not going to read that anyway."

Amity rolled her eyes. "Fine. My favorite character just found out she's been lied to and the people she thought were her parents aren't really her parents."

"What?"

"Yeah. She's super serious about the Warrior Code and her dream is to be clan leader, and now she just learned her parents broke it, and-" Amity did her best to explain, despite her being in the third arc of a series with so much going on even the authors got confused. She couldn't help smirking as she saw Hunter's eyes get wider and wider.

"And these are cats?"

"Yeah!"

"Where did you find these?"

"On Luz's bookshelf."

Hunter was practically vibrating with excitement. "Wait, don't spoil anything else!"

"Why? I thought you weren't going to read it."

"W-well I…I might check it out. In the future. At some point. Who knows?"

"Just ask Luz to borrow it! I'm sure she'll let you."

"...Okay."

Amity had now finished the entirety of the third arc, though Hunter had only just started the second. Luz didn't have anything past the third arc, so Amity knew exactly what to get Hunter. Even if it was partially a gift to herself.

Amity hadn't expected the mall to be so big; it was a giant, towering building, and according to Vee, there were a bunch of smaller places inside. Looking at it, Amity started to understand what Luz had said about it being "dangerous."

She grabbed the hem of her skirt, fidgeting with it for comfort. "Wow. This is a really big place, huh? There are a lot of people." She looked over at Willow and flashed her a smile. "Remember when we went to that amusement park as kids? I got overwhelmed and started crying, and then you comforted me?" Amity laughed. "Before you got sick, obviously. Then I had to comfort you."

"Yes, I was there."

Amity thought there might have been a harshness in her voice, but then Willow smiled warmly at her and Amity dismissed it. "So, what are you thinking of getting Hunter?"

Willow frowned. "I don't actually know yet. I want it to be something really special."

"Of course! Well, I know what I'm going to get him. Which way is the book store?"

"Uh…" Willow and Amity stared at each other. "I think Luz forgot to give us a map." They giggled.

"Don't worry, I'll find us one," said Amity.

"Amity. Uh…remember at Hexside."

"Huh?"

Amity looked back to see Willow looking a bit hurt. "What we talked about?"

"Oh! Yeah." Amity rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Over the past two months or so, she had been growing more accustomed to seeing Willow as a powerful witch. Her plant magic was genuinely terrifying, and rivaled Amity's abominations. But sometimes she still found herself slipping up. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Willow was smiling once again, so Amity, reassured, turned back to her mission. She blinked at the crowds of people, and thankfully spotted a large billboard with a map on it. "Okay, we can do this," she said, squinting at the confusing assortment of dots and lines. "The bookstore is on the second level."

Willow watched as Amity confidently strode toward a set of stairs. Willow's gaze fell on them, and a bolt of fear hit her when she noticed they had serrated teeth sliding over their surface. "Amity, wait!"

Amity jumped nearly straight into the air. "I thought Luz said there weren't any predators here!"

"She must have been mistaken," said Willow. "It's some kind of human realm monster. Let's look at how the humans get past it."

Amity, recovering from her shock, approached warily. "I know we're supposed to be under cover, but let's get our magic ready."

Willow flexed her hands, prepared to use her magic if it was necessary. She saw Amity preparing as well. It was a nice feeling, the two standing together, ready to take on a challenge as one. For a moment, Willow could almost forget the past, and see the present Amity as she was.

"Excuse me," someone said, and brushed past the two, quickly ascending the serrated staircase. Willow and Amity held their breaths, but nothing happened.

"Oh…is it safe?"

Willow placed a foot tentatively on the step, then leaped back. "It's still moving..."

But several other humans were climbing on, and Willow soon figured out the pattern. "Okay, I think we just have to ride it."

She stepped on, and held her breath. The teeth failed to cut into her and she began to ascend. "It's safe. Come on!"

Amity furrowed her brow, then hopped onto the step, legs splayed awkwardly like a frightened cat. Willow couldn't help giggling at the sight.

When they reached the top, Willow stepped off, then looked behind her to see Amity still frozen stiff on the steps. She reached to pull her to solid ground and Amity smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I don't know why Luz didn't warn us about that. That was…not pleasant." She shuddered. "Okay. Next stop, bookstore."

It was so eerily similar to old times. As kids, the two had always looked out for each other. Willow was insecure, awkward, and an easy target of bullying. Amity was usually the one to help defend her. But despite Amity's more natural ability, she was sensitive and easily overwhelmed; Willow was the grounding force she needed when she was anxious or upset.

A lot had changed since then, but Willow could still recognize the signs of Amity's anxiety, and she still moved instinctively to help, even as she tensed around Amity whenever an old mannerism or expression reminded her of their troubled past. Reminders she couldn't seem to escape.

Ever since Amity had come to her house and Willow had made an attempt to break the ice by asking her to braid her hair, Amity had leaped on anything that reminded them of their childhood memories. Camila had bought them all ice cream and Amity had brought up a time they had had ice cream as children. On the trip to the beach, Amity had asked Willow what she thought it was like in comparison to Lake Lacuna.

Willow tried her best to indulge Amity, but it hurt. Not because she never wanted to think about the memories again. They were happy, and they mattered. But because there was such a painfully obvious element that was missing.

Willow knew how much Amity valued their friendship, how fragile she understood it was. She could see Amity clutching the hem of her shirt whenever she approached Willow. But instead of saying something, she aggressively acted as though everything was fine, that things were the same as they had been in the past. And Willow was sick of it.

"Willow?" Amity's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Are you okay? You seem a little off."

Willow tensed. "What?"

"You seem upset about something. But I can't really tell what.'

Willow sighed. Amity wasn't being passive aggressive this time. Her expression was open and genuine, and that was why it would be rude to say something. Willow couldn't be the jerk here, not after how much Amity had been doing for her.

"I'm fine."

"Okay…"

Willow quickly looked away, and caught sight of a window display filled with countless different books. "There's the bookstore!"

When they went inside, Amity gasped. "There's so many books I haven't even heard of here." She darted from stand to stand, and Willow could see her ears wiggling through her hair.

"Oh, Amity-"

"Hmm?"

Willow gestured at her ears, and Amity hurriedly clapped her hands over her ears and hid them with her hair. "Ugh, they wiggle so much now. I used to be way more controlled."

"I think it's a good thing. You always were a wiggly-eared kind of witch."

"What does that mean?"

Willow laughed. "You're expressive. When you feel at home. And these past few months you've been more comfortable. It suits you."

"Oh…" Amity laughed nervously. "I guess I have. I miss Ed and Em so much, but…" Her expression shifted and her ears drooped. "I don't know. I've been enjoying myself. Maybe I shouldn't be. It's not that I don't want to see them and Dad again, but it's just been so nice. Camila is…she's really cool. But I worry that's selfish."

Willow couldn't truly relate to how Amity was feeling. As much as she was enjoying herself, she had no hesitation about wanting to go back. Even the mention of Amity's family brought back the ache she had at separation from her dads. She missed them so much, and she couldn't imagine not missing them.

But Amity's situation was unique. When they were kids, Willow remembered Amity begging to stay "just one more night" at Willow's. All kids did that, but Amity's pleas had always seemed more urgent, and the moment Odalia appeared to pick her up, she would drop them instantly, retreating into a cool, composed expression that confused Willow. Even now, Willow didn't really know what went on at the Blight household, but she knew it was bad.

"It's not selfish. You have somewhere you feel safe. It's okay to appreciate that."

Amity nodded, though the guilt didn't leave her face. "Thanks, Willow. And oh! Here they are." She hurried to a display of books and grabbed a few, looking happily at the covers featuring different cats.

"So…what exactly are these books?" Willow asked.

"Warriors! Luz only has the first three arcs, but there's been a bunch since then. I'm getting Hunter a super edition."

"Super edition?"

Amity launched into an animated explanation of the Warriors series. It was so reminiscent of how things used to be. When Amity would ramble on about various fandoms to Willow, and Willow would happily join in.

Though she struggled to match Amity's passion for some of them, it didn't matter. She was just happy to hear her friend talk. Back then, Amity was the coolest person there was, and it wasn't until after Amity had abandoned her that Willow realized the fandoms might be something Amity herself could get bullied for.

Willow was glad to see this enthusiasm make a return.

"So that's why I picked this one for him!"

"Awesome!"

Willow looked around the bookstore while Amity continued to ramble. Could she find a gift for Hunter here? Not a book, but perhaps one of the cute little keychains or figurines?

"I'm going to check out the stuff over here, okay?"

Amity nodded and Willow walked to a display of keychains and collectables. None of them were quite what she was looking for, though. She needed to get Hunter something really special. Something that would make his birthday memorable.

She was looking over the display one last time, when she heard a passing conversation that made her tense up.

"I mean, it's not going to do any good. You're kind of hopeless."

She peeked around a display case to see two kids who appeared to be no more than eleven or twelve.

"Hey I'm practicing! I've gotten a lot better!"

"Yeah, moved from an F to a D maybe. Look, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just being realistic. You're kind of, well, dumb."

The other kid tried to speak, but shut his mouth and nodded. Willow was so focused on them, she didn't feel the rush of power from within her, nor notice the vines creeping steadily across the floor.

"Willow, your magic!" Amity's hand landed on her shoulder and Willow jumped, vines facing Amity instead of the kids. For a moment, she expected Amity to join in the mockery, and she tensed, waiting to fight her off.

Then the startled look on Amity's face registered, and Willow came back to the present, quickly dispersing her vines. Thank Titan no one had seen. She had almost caused a scene over a stupid memory.

"What's going on?" Amity said, but Willow shook her head. The kids were already moving away. It wasn't anything to do with her, she shouldn't have been so bothered by it.

"Nothing. I just…l-let's get out of here."

Willow thanked the Titan that Amity listened to her, and they got out of the store without further incident.

What had even happened? This wasn't the first time Willow's magic had reacted to her emotion like that, but ever since she switched to the plant track, she thought she had it under control. And even if it wasn't perfect, she certainly shouldn't have freaked out over something so small.

For a moment, she hadn't seen those two kids, but her and Amity from a year or two ago, and she was scared to think what could have happened. How could this be happening? Had she been wrong before? Was she not as adept with plant magic as she thought? Certainly, if Amity hadn't intervened, that could have been a disaster.

But the idea was horrifying. Willow was strong. She was. Amity herself had admitted that. Luz had called her the second most powerful witch she had ever met. Gus was always talking about how strong and reliable she was. Had the bullying impacted her so much, that all of that confidence could vanish at any reminder?

Amity reached out to her. "Hey, I-I saw your vines-"

"And?" Willow snapped.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. That didn't seem intentional."

"I'm fine."

Ugh, why did her voice sound so harsh? This wasn't like her; she was supposed to be calm and gentle. But the way Amity was looking at her - she couldn't stand it.

"Willow, I'm sorry if I'm doing something wrong. But I can't…I don't know how to fix it."

Willow clenched her fists. "That's just it, Amity. You can't fix it. Can we please just stop talking about it?"

"I understand if it's not something I can fix. But can I at least be aware of it? If it involves me?"

That wasn't an unreasonable request. Willow really hadn't wanted to get into it, but what was she supposed to do now?

"I'm sorry," Amity continued. "I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have volunteered to hang out with you. I thought it would be a nice opportunity to hang out but I didn't ask and I-I'm sorry. I should have let you hang out with Luz and Gus."

"It's not that I don't want to hang out. I've been having a good time with you." She realized, surprisingly, she had. It had been fun to figure out the toothy stairs together, and explore the bookstore. She hadn't been faking her laughs and smiles.

"It's actually been really nice," she continued. "But it's been going too fast. It's not that I don't want to be friends again, but you act like nothing ever happened."

"I don't want to bring it up. I thought you would want to move past all of that as soon as possible. I know I do. I hate thinking about what happened."

"Well, it happened."

Amity looked down, all but strangling the hem of her shirt. "I know. I'm so, so sorry. I understand if we can't be friends."

"But I want to be friends!" Willow sighed. "I don't want things to be like this. I want things to be normal. But you never asked if I was ready. You kind of did, at the very start, but ever since then you and Luz both just act like things are fine. The very first time we hung out on our own in years, you just came in and started talking about your relationship issues. Why would you do that?"

"I…I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I thought it would be best to act normal because I didn't want to make you relive those memories. And, well, I didn't want to relive the memories. But you're right, that was stupid of me. I should have actually asked what you wanted. How can I do better?"

That caught Willow off guard. What could Amity do? There was no erasing the years of bullying Amity had done.

"Just…stop pretending like this can be fixed right away. Let things be weird. Stop trying so hard to make things normal again and just…let's see where things go." Let things be weird. Yes, that sounded right.

She enjoyed hanging out with Amity, but there was always that pressure to move on, to act like they were just two best friends, nothing weighing them down. If she could have time, if she could choose when she was ready to act friendly and when she needed space…She hadn't planned on this conversation, but maybe it was for the best.

"I'm glad we hung out today. But next time, please ask if I'm ready. Sometimes I need space from you."

Amity nodded. "That…makes a lot of sense. I've been acting selfish. I was just so excited at the chance to be your friend again. I admired you so much as a kid, and then I somehow let myself forget how cool you were. And now that I'm seeing that again, I wanted to move past the bad stuff so much, I didn't ask if you wanted to. I'm sorry for being a bad friend."

"Hey, compared to the last few years, you're the best friend in the world." Willow clapped her hands over her mouth as soon as she said it. She had been trying hard to keep any snarking like that inside.

Amity winced. "Yeah, I…kind of walked into that."

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Willow nervously chuckled. "Yeah, you did." The tension broken somewhat, Willow could feel her fight or flight response ease. "You…admired me as a kid?"

"Are you kidding? You were the coolest person ever! You were so mature and wise about people, you knew how to calm me down and you understood so much about things that I didn't. I didn't realize you were skilled at magic, but everything else…" Amity laughed. "I didn't realize you didn't know that."

"Wow." Willow truly hadn't known. From her perspective, Amity was always the cool one, Willow the wimpy half-a-witch. She had always been so impressed with Amity's magic, she spent hours practicing to try to make something that might measure up.

She told Amity this, and Amity looked away, embarrassed. "I placed too much focus on that. Don't ever think I didn't see strength in you. I did, back then. Before my parents really got to me. The beginning of my horrible mistakes was believing my parents when they told me you were weak."

Willow closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry. The words meant a lot to her, maybe more than they should, given it didn't truly matter what Amity thought of her. "Thank you. It's to hear that. And thank you for listening, I really needed to get that all out."

"It's really not something you need to thank me for. I should be thanking you. I think we both were kind of avoiding our honest feelings about this. I know you always like to keep stuff in. Which isn't good but...well, I get why I'm not the first person you come to with that sort of thing. I know I haven't exactly been a 'safe person.' Though I hope to be. One day."

"One day." Willow sighed. "We have a lot of time to build new memories. I don't know how long it'll take. It's not…it's not going to be fixed all at once. But, I'm looking forward to it."

"I understand. Thank you, Willow. For your friendship when we were kids, and for giving me another chance now. I've been given more chances than I probably deserve, and I'll always be grateful for that."

There was another long silence. Willow wasn't sure how to get out of this conversation, so she settled for another joke. "Annnnnd I think that's enough trauma unpacking for the day."

"Yeah, neither of us are the best at that. Actually, none of our friend group is."

"I'm sure that won't come back to bite us at any point."

Amity tensed. "What? What won't come back to bite us?"

"Figurative language, girl."

Amity slapped her palm over her face. "Right. Sorry. I am all out of sorts right now. Which, uh, you are too. Are we…are we still good to talk? We can be silent for the rest of the trip, if you're not ready."

"No, I'd like to keep talking. Just maybe not about this."

"Okay." Another lengthy pause as they both struggled to come up with an easier conversation topic. "Uh, did you decide what you were going to get Hunter?"

"I think that-" Amity stopped. "Oh. Actually, are you okay with me sharing advice? It's okay if you're not."

Just that simple statement made Willow relax. She didn't have to talk to Amity about this if she didn't want to. Though, she realized, she did want to. She could use the input. "Yeah. What's your advice?"

"Well, when Luz and I try to do something special for each other, we both always get super worried about impressing each other, and then when it actually happens, it's fine. We're just happy the other took the time to do something special. Honestly, some of the best gifts I ever got were random leaves and rocks Luz found me."

"That's really sweet. I hope it's like that with me and Hunter. I mean!" Willow blushed, realizing the implications of what she had said. "In a platonic way. Obviously you and Luz have a romantic relationship. And Hunter and I don't. That doesn't need to be said. You know what I mean."

She wasn't usually this flustered; why was she acting so ridiculous? Well, she knew why, but why did it have to be so obvious? Why did-

"Willow?"

For a moment, Willow was scared she had somehow been speaking aloud; she had quite a frequent habit of talking to herself. "Yeah?"

Amity smiled. "Whatever Hunter means to you, I can tell he's going to be happy with what you give him. You two are really good for each other."

"Yeah?" Willow could feel herself blush again, and Amity smiled.

"Yeah. And just the party itself is going to thrill him." Amity lowered her voice conspiratorially, even though Hunter was nowhere around. "Honestly, if it was too exciting he might actually faint. Or his eyes might fall out of his head."

Willow giggled. "Yeah, he does get those huge sparkly eyes."

They laughed together, though Willow noticed Amity watching nervously for signs of distress. She wished that wasn't necessary. She wished they could just laugh with no baggage attached to it.

But now that they were both acknowledging there was baggage, she felt lighter. And had hope that maybe one day, that could be true. Maybe one day they could laugh, and it would just be two silly best friends laughing, a wholesome and beautiful scene.

But what made her even happier was that there didn't have to be an expectation of that. Their friendship was not a perfect painting. It was built on the shreds of a violently ripped canvas; small, salvageable scraps of its prior beauty blended awkwardly with new, inconsistent splashes of color.

Maybe one day, as the new moments of inspiration and beauty began to outnumber the old wounds, it would be restored to its prior glory. Maybe (perhaps more likely), some of the cracks and tears would always show. Either way, it was their messy creation, and Willow wanted to see what came next.