It didn't take long for Luz to find her girlfriend. From the view of her Palisman, she could see that Amity was sitting by the Grom tree, legs pulled against her face and crying on her knees caps.
Luz stared at her girlfriend with sympathy before setting her down right beside her. Stringbean disappeared into the pocket of her jock jacket all while she approached.
"Sweet Potato? Can I sit down?" She asked her.
The teary eyed Amity stared at her girlfriend, giving her the permissions she needed. Once Luz sat down, Amity instantly shuffled up and pressed her ear against her shoulder and Luz wrapped her arm around her.
"I'm sorry Luz." Amity said.
"Amity, don't apologise." Luz assured her.
"No Luz!" Amity sat up and wiped her tears. "I should have tried harder to throw you the perfect Christmas Party!"
"What motivated you to do it?" Luz asked.
"You did." Amity admitted. "You have done so much for everyone here. Eda, Lilith, King, Hunter, Gus, Willow, me, I wanted to do something special for you. So when you mentioned about this Christmas I thought it would be an amazing way for us to thank you after everything you've done for us. I don't know what or how it went wrong."
Luz was surprised by this. "But, I invited you and everyone else for Christmas."
"Well, what we were planning was a surprise party." Amity said. "And let's face it, if I told you, it would essentially ruin the concept of a surprise party." There was a light chuckle from Amity that made Luz briefly smile but then that smile went back to a frown when she sees Amity was still upset. "But, I guess I didn't try hard enough. Because I just got the human holiday wrong. The whole party and its meaning. I'm sorry."
Amity went back to sobbing, causing Luz to stare at her with concern and worry. Luz wrapped her arms around around Amity and kissed her forehead.
"Sweet Potato, you're clever but you're not always bright."
"What?" Amity reacted in shock.
"Amity, let me ask something." Luz said. "What do you think the meaning of Christmas is?"
Amity froze when she thought about the question. She looked at her girlfriend with wide eyed realisation. "Is it about….Um….The presents?"
Luz laughed. "Well, it could be. Let me explain something."
Ten Years A-Go
Manny Noceda was busy in the living area wrapping presents for his wife and daughter for the upcoming Christmas season. He had finished wrapping what looked to be a creature from a popular Anime for his daughter.
He held on to his chest and exhaled sadly. "Come on, give me a few more Christmas before I go."
Then, his five year old daughter Luz, was walking into the living area dressed in her otter onesie. Manny quickly hid the present so that way the illusion of Santa wouldn't be ruined for the five year old.
"Mija? What are you doing up?" Manny asked his daughter. "Is it almost time for breakfast?" He looked at the clock on the mantle and raised a brow. "Oh, so it is."
"Papa, I need to ask an important question." Luz said.
"What is it?" Manny asked.
"I've been thinking about Christmas." Luz explained. "I really don't understand it."
Manny gave a surprised smile. "What isn't there to get? Santa flies from the North Pole to deliver presents to all the good children in the world."
"No, I don't get it." Luz said. "I don't understand what it means. Billy says that Christmas is about family, Craig says that Christmas is about presents, Ben says that it's about the food and that weird girl with the gap in her tooth says that it's about capitalism. Papa, what's capitalism?"
"You'll understand when you're older." Manny said. "Mija, do you wanna know what the meaning of Christmas is?"
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" The surprised Luz reacted.
"Nothing."
Luz looked kind of disappointed by the answer. "But if Christmas means nothing, why celebrate?"
"Luz, do you know what subjective means?" Manny's question made Luz shake her head as a response. "It means, it can mean anything. Christmas can mean presents, family, food or maybe capitalism."
"Then, what does Christmas mean to you?" Luz asked.
"To me, Christmas isn't exactly the same without the two most important things in my life." Manny said.
"The pork and the tree?"
Manny chuckled as he picked up his daughter and placed her on his lap. "No Mija, the most important things in my life are your Mami and you. I can't imagine any future Christmases without either of you celebrating, opening presents, eating my famous Christmas dinner and watching some Christmas movies with each other. Does that sound amazing?"
Luz smiled at her Dad and hugged him by his chest. "I would love it to go on forever!"
Manny kissed the forehead of his daughter's head and sighed sadly since he knew he probably didn't have long left. He hoped he could beat this illness he has been suffering for a while yet he wasn't so sure he will get the chance to see his daughter grow up.
"I hope so too Mija."
Back in the present, Luz had finished her story to Amity whom had been listening to her intently. "Well, you know how that went. All the Christmases I've had with Mami have been great, but they weren't the same without Dad."
"So to you, Christmas means the people you love?" Amity asked. "So that's why you invited us?"
"Yup. I got you your present and I can't wait to see what the others got me." Luz said. "I mean, you did make a mess at the mall."
"What?!" Amity exclaimed in shock.
"Come on, you think I wasn't gonna notice anything?" Luz asked. "I mean, I heard what Willow did. Causing a man to go into a catatonic state because of her abs. I mean, dang, I would have gone into one."
"Yeah. Like, I can't believe that girl has amazing abs." Amity said.
"Yup. But that's not important." Luz said.
Amity then realised something important Luz had said. "Wait! Luz, do you…Love me?"
"Well, I love Eda, King, Hooty, Lilith, Gus, Hunter and Willow." Luz said. "I know people say that saying 'I love you to someone you care about so much is too soon. But it's true, and this is where I realised that I wasn't just into you, I loved you."
"When we first danced?" Amity asked.
"No, when you helped me through the anniversary of Papi's passing, that's when I felt like I really loved you." Luz said. "I know I screwed up badly that day but there was good and bad moments. That dress you were wearing and kicking butt at the Bonesborough Brawl, but being with you on one of the most difficult moments of my life is probably my favourite moment with you."
Amity's lips were quivering and her eyes were watering. She wiped some tears falling from her eyes and whimpered. "L-L-L-Luz. Y-y-you love me?"
"Yeah." Luz said while wiping tears from Amity's eyes. "I mean it. From the Human Realm to the Demon Realm. I love you Amity Blight."
Amity held Luz by her cheeks and inhaled through her nose as she struggled to say the right words. "L-L-Luz, I-I-I love you too." The girlfriends leaned in and began to share a passionate kiss with each other.
Much more passionate than their other ones, this one went on for a little bit longer and they were holding on to each other with a bit of a tighter grip.
They pulled out and pressed their heads against one another's before sharing another kiss. Then, they fell asleep while holding to each other, heads resting on the bark of their special tree. They stayed like this until their respective parents took them back home so they could have a proper bed to sleep in.
