The group paid their admission and walked inside. During their outing, Luz and Amity got to know Matilda. She was a small town girl with middle class parents and two older siblings, got to college on a scholarship where she met Gus, and one of the fastest runners on the cross country and track teams. She'd met Gus on their first day of junior year and hung out on the regular until she officially asked him out before the second semester. It was his affinity for the most unremarkable objects and mundane aspects of the Human Realm that she found endearing. Having someone else to bond with over Cosmic Frontier was a bonus for them both. It was easy for the squad to see why Gus liked her.

They all knew to avoid the giraffes by now, keeping their distance. Still, as everybody took a seat for lunch across from the enclosure, Luz couldn't help but look at these long-necked creatures. Banished from the Boiling Isles centuries ago, and perhaps the sole surviving species from the Demon Realm. Willow and Amity had already left for the concessions after taking everyone's orders, but Gus and Hunter were still around to notice her melancholy.

"Something on your mind, sis?" Hunter asked, snapping Luz out of her reverie.

"Huh?" She blinked and wiped some tears from her eyes, silently disappointed in herself for crying again. "Um, yeah, but you probably don't wanna hear it, not while we're all having a good time here."

Hunter and Gus shared a look, and the younger man turned to his girlfriend. "Hey Mattie, I think I'm in the mood for one of those big soft pretzels. Can you catch up with Amity and Willow so they can add it to our order?"

"Sure thing, boo." Matilda seemed to take the hint, not only giving Gus a kiss on the cheek as she stood up, but also giving Luz a sympathetic smile before walking off.

"Hey, you're obviously going through something," said Gus. "You don't have to put on a brave face for our sake anymore. We can handle it."

Luz looked at her friends and sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you home."

"Is that why you haven't been home in years?" asked Hunter. "Why you and Blight stayed split up for so long? You were still trying to find a way back?"

"Yeah. I failed you all, and it's been really hard coming to terms with that. Letting go has been a process. Even learning to live with it, I'm still sorry I pushed you all away for so long. You all had to accept it too, and you lost way more than I did. Maybe I would've had an easier time with it if I'd done a better job keeping in touch."

"Trauma isn't a contest," said Gus. "We've all gone through it and handled it differently. Sure, I miss my dad, our Hexside classmates...Mattholomule...but I've still got you guys, and now I've got Mattie too. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it and make the most out of an unfortunate situation."

"I hit rock bottom last week, and almost did something really stupid."

"You describe yourself with that word a little too often," said Hunter with a half smile, before shifting back to concern. "What happened?"

"I know you don't blame me for any of that stuff with Belos, the Collector, or the Draining Spell, but I still felt responsible, and that I had to fix it before I deserved anything good in my life. And when I learned there was no way to do that..." Luz sighed and lowered her voice. "Let's just say if I wasn't going to your wedding with Amity, you'd all probably be coming to my funeral."

There was a quick gasp from both men.

"That explains why she was so worried," said Hunter. "I wish you would've called talked to me."

"Think you could've talked me down too?"

"Maybe. After all, I've been there too."

Luz looked straight at him. "Really?"

"You were manipulated by him once. I carried out his orders for years, believed every word he said. I have scars all over my body because of him. He took me over and killed by best friend with my own hand. I was willing to drown to stop him from getting back to the Demon Realm, and I would have died if Flap hadn't used what life he had left to bring me back." Hunter was starting to tear up. "I came pretty close ending myself too, but...if I went through with it...then Flapjack really would've died for nothing."

"Lo siento, Hermano." Luz placed her hand over his, and he looked up at her with a smile.

"It wasn't easy, but...you were there to help me through a few of those bad days. So did Mom, Gus, Vee...and Willow," he finished with a sigh.

"Nothing was your fault, Luz," said Gus. "It was all Belos. We've all been inside his head, and we know what he was about. He was gonna try and destroy the Isles with or without your help."

"That hasn't stopped me from feeling guilty. I'm getting over all that stuff, but I still feel awful for shutting myself away for so long. My big bro's getting married to my best friend. My sister's adopting a baby with her partner. It hurts knowing I could've had all that for myself a long time ago. And yet...I'm feeling better now than I have in years. I've got my girl back, a chance to start over, and I've got my new friend here to help me out." With that, she tickled her necklace. Stringbean slid her tail orb out of her mouth briefly to stick her tongue out and wink at Luz's friends before returning to her disguised state.

"Your Palisman finally hatched," Hunter said in awe. "That's...amazing."

"She hatched when I made it clear I want to live. I'll probably still have a few bad days ahead of me, but I'm done making myself suffer."

"Glad to hear it, sis. Just don't keep those bad days to yourself anymore, ok?"

"I'll try not to."

The girlfriends returned with their arms full of junk food, placing the food on the table and sitting next to their partners.

"You have a nice chat?" Willow asked after kissing Hunter on the lips.

"Yeah, we did," he replied. "It was long overdue."

Luz said nothing, simply nodding at her brother and smiling at Amity as she took her hand and gave it a squeeze. The group then ate lunch in relative silence while the giraffes watched them warily.