I'm Only a World Away

by toocleverfox

Summary:

It was only when Luz had grown older, when she’d heard her classmates talk about the words written on their skin, that she’d realized she really didn’t have a soulmark.
Which meant she didn’t have a soulmate.

 

AU in which humans have the name of their soulmate on their wrists, but all Luz got was a strange birthmark in its place.

Notes:

Well, this fic was not meant to be this long, but here we are.

This fic mainly focuses on season 1, but be warned that there are spoilers for the season 2 finale (King’s Tide) at the end.

Enjoy!

 

All your love overgrown

All your body undersold

All above, all your waiting coming home

- Ontario by Novo Amor and Ed Tullett

 

There was a purple teardrop on Luz’s left wrist, right above her pulse point, that had been there from the moment she’d been born. 

The doctors at the hospital hadn’t been able to explain it, her mother had told her once, long ago, when Luz had still believed there was a chance the mark on her wrist had meant something.

They’d written it off as an odd birthmark and had told Luz’s parents, who’d been so young and so worried about their first child, that it wasn’t anything to worry about.

“Just a birthmark,” the nurse had assured Luz’s mother when she’d returned to the room after speaking with the doctors.

Luz had been in her mother’s arms, sleeping peacefully against her chest, unaware of the conversation happening around her and what it meant. 

Camila had relaxed and had shared a relieved smile with her husband, who hadn’t left her side since they’d arrived at the hospital. 

“She’s healthy then?” Luz’s father had asked, his hand on Camila’s shoulder. “Nothing to worry about?”

“She’s perfectly healthy,” the nurse had said, but Camila had seen her smile waver, and she’d felt something cold creep into her chest.

Camila had clutched Luz tighter, glancing down at her little sleeping face.

“However,” the nurse had begun, and Camila had braced herself for the worst, “we did not see anything indicating a soulmark on her body.” The nurse had given the news in a very monotone voice as if she’d practiced it on the way to their hospital room. 

Camila had felt a lump growing in her throat. “She doesn’t have a soulmark? She doesn’t have a name?” she’d asked, desperately hoping the nurse would say otherwise. 

Luz’s father had squeezed her shoulder in comfort, his own wrist adorned with the word Camila. 

“No. I’m sorry.” The nurse had stepped away from the bed, away from the mother and the father and soulmarkless newborn baby, and cleared her throat. “Is there anything else I can get you? A pillow or some water?” she’d asked, like she hadn’t just shaken the first-time parents with the news.

After her mother had told her the story, Luz, eight or nine at the time and old enough to understand what soulmarks and soulmates were, had held up her wrist with her mark, pulling down the colorful bracelet that hid it, and had asked, “This isn’t a soulmark?”

“It’s a birthmark, mija,” Camila had said gently, tucking some of Luz’s hair behind her ear. “It’s just a coincidence it’s right there.”

Soulmarks always appeared on a person’s left wrist, somewhere close to their pulse. There were a few documented cases where soulmarks had appeared on a different area of the body, but for the most part they were found on the wrist. 

“I don’t think it is,” Luz had argued, still young and naïve, and had looked down at the purple marking on her skin. 

At the time, she’d only ever seen her parents’ soulmarks, so how could she have known everyone else’s were similar to theirs? How could she have known everyone had their soulmate’s name on their wrist? Surely, she’d thought, there was someone in the world that had a soulmark like hers. 

If Luz had glanced up at the time, she would’ve noticed the way her mother’s face had fallen at Luz’s words.

It was only when Luz had grown older, when she’d heard her classmates talk about the words written on their skin, that she’d realized she really didn’t have a soulmark.

Which meant she didn’t have a soulmate.

She knew her parents had been soulmates; Camila had Luz’s father’s name on her left wrist written in his handwriting. Luz remembered the soulmark had been black at one point, like the universe had dipped a pen in dark ink before it had tattooed Luz’s father’s name on Camila’s body. His name on her wrist had faded after his death to a grayish color like a page from a book that had been left out in the sun for too long. 

Luz had seen her mother’s soulmark a number of times around the house, but whenever they went out, her mother would wear long sleeves or some sort of bracelet to cover it. Soulmarks, Luz had come to learn, were often kept private. This had made things easier for Luz, who’d rarely had anyone ask about hers since asking was seen as rude.

After Camila had told her the story of Luz’s birth, she’d taken Luz into her arms and told her that while Luz didn’t have a soulmark, it didn’t mean she wasn’t any less capable of loving or being loved as people with soulmarks were. Being soulmarkless did not have to define her if she didn’t want it to. She’d also said that if anyone asked about her soulmark, it was Luz’s choice whether she wanted to tell people, though her mother assured her it was unlikely anyone would ask. 

Luz still hadn’t believed her mother, insisting her birthmark was actually a soulmark. Why else did she have a strange mark on her wrist right where a name should be? It must have meant something.

But children were curious, and when she’d been ten years old, a boy sitting next to her in class had said the name on his wrist was the name of his best friend, and then he’d asked what name Luz had on her wrist. 

Luz hadn’t been sure how to answer that, so she’d simply pulled her sleeve down and showed him the mark, and he’d frowned and said, “That’s not a soulmark.”

Some of the other kids had overheard, and the rumor had spread that Luz Noceda, the girl who’d freed the class hamster and had accidentally released a box of crickets into the auditorium, didn’t have a soulmark. The rumor, which Luz had slowly accepted as true, probably no longer making it a rumor, had followed her through middle school and into high school. 

Having her classmates know hadn’t been the worst thing. Nothing bad had ever happened to her because she was soulmarkless. People had still waved to her in the hallways and had let her join their groups for activities, but she’d never been able to make friends. Though, Luz thought, she’d never had a good track record of making friends even before everyone had learned she didn’t have a soulmark. What had changed, however, had been the pitying glances. In history class, when her teacher had mentioned a historical figure and their soulmate, she’d felt eyes on the back of her head, or when her health teacher had discussed how a soulmark would reappear somewhere else on the body if anything happened to the wrist in which it was located, and Luz had seen her classmates turn to look at her from the corner of her eye.

While it wasn’t impossible to be born without a soulmark, it was incredibly rare. Luz had only ever known one other person in her entire town who didn’t have a soulmark; an older man who lived a few blocks away, who’d adopted two children who brought their own families to visit him every weekend. 

Luz had only seen the man a handful of times around town, but whenever she did, he always seemed in good spirits. So, Luz never let not having a soulmark get her down. If that man was living a good life and had even made his own little family without a soulmate’s name on his wrist, then why should she be any different?

So, when any of her classmates had had the nerve to ask how she’d felt about not having a soulmark, Luz had plastered on a smile and had insisted, “It’s fine, really. I get like, the whole world, you know? You guys get stuck with one name, but I get to choose for myself.”

And her classmates had nodded like that made sense even though they’d known Luz had been lying to both them and herself.

Eventually, however, Luz had actually grown accepting of her not having a soulmark. Soulmarks weren’t a guarantee, as they were only first names which meant Luz would never have to be with someone and constantly wonder if maybe it was just a coincidence that they had each other’s names on their wrists rather than actually being soulmates. Besides, this was who she was. She couldn’t change that. She didn’t have a soulmate, but she had a home and a mother who loved her more than anything in the world. What more could she ask for?

There’d been moments, though, like when she’d been up in her bedroom, tucked under the bed covers, that she’d looked at her left wrist, at the odd teardrop shape, and had wondered why she had to have a birthmark right there. It was almost teasing her, showing her what she could’ve had if the universe hadn’t decided otherwise.

If Luz did have a soulmate what would their name be? What would the black of their handwriting look like against the brown of her skin?

Luz would always end up falling asleep with the fingers of her right hand pressed up against the pulse point of her left arm, right above the purple mark, and she would dream of someone out there with her name over their wrist and their heart beating in time with hers.

 

—

 

Then, when Luz was fourteen, she found the Boiling Isles and everything started to make sense.

 

—

 

Luz was sitting upside down on Eda’s couch, a book in her hands. She thought some of Eda’s books might help her figure out some spells but nothing seemed to be working. 

“Eda,” Luz groaned, drawing out the syllables, “teach me a spell!”

“Let me think,” Eda’s voice came from the kitchen. There was a crash and then, “Um, no.”

Luz glanced up from her book to look in the direction of the kitchen just in time to see a pan roll past. “Why not?” 

“Because–” Her words were cut off by another crash. “I’m busy!”

Luz sighed, dropped the book onto the couch, and rested her arms over her stomach. “Busy doing what?” she yelled back. “Breaking the kitchen?”

She didn’t get a reply, only the sound of Hooty telling Eda not to set the house on fire, and Eda giving him a few choice words in response.

“How am I ever going to learn how to be a witch?” Luz closed her eyes and mumbled to herself, “This is not what I thought a fantasy world would be like.”

“You thought this would be like one of your fantasy books?”

Luz let out a yelp and fell off the couch, landing in a heap on the floor. King was standing in the doorway of the living room, Francois in his arms. He rubbed at his eyes, and Luz guessed he must’ve been taking a nap.

Eda poked her head into the living room, a piece of her hair burnt and smoking. “What’d you say, King?”

King sat down on the couch while Luz pulled herself into a sitting position on the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest.

“Luz thought the demon realm would be like her fantasy books,” he said, letting out a laugh that made Luz duck her head.

Eda snorted out a loud laugh, and then wasn’t able to stop. “Don’t tell me you thought you’d be going on quests and slaying dragons!” Eda wiped away a tear from laughing so hard, and Luz felt her face heat in embarrassment. “Did you think you’d be like a chosen one and you’d get all these adoring fans and you’d meet your soulmate and–”

Luz, who’d been slowly sinking down to hide her burning face in her knees, sat up so fast she saw stars. “My what?”

Eda kept laughing, but when she saw Luz’s shocked expression, she quickly stopped. “Uh, your soulmate?” She shared a look with King, who merely shrugged. “Do they not have those in the human realm?”

“Yeah, we do, but I didn’t think you guys had them!”

From what Luz had gathered, King didn’t have a soulmark and neither did Hooty. Eda’s dress had long sleeves, so Luz had never had a glimpse of her left wrist before so she’d never really thought about Eda’s soulmate. She wondered if Eda wore long sleeves on purpose.

Eda scoffed. “Of course, we do, I mean, we’re the realm with magic. Obviously, we’d have soulmates.”

“Then I’m assuming you have soulmarks, too, right?” Luz asked. She leaned forward on the floor, grinning up at Eda, who’d moved farther into the living room. Luz knew it was rude to ask. It had been drilled into her head a thousand times, and yet she still blurted out, “What’s the name on your wrist?” 

“The what?” Eda frowned and looked at Luz like she’d grown another head, which actually wasn’t that unlikely given everything else that had happened to her in the Boiling Isles so far. Luz looked to her left, then her right to check she actually hadn’t grown another head. Nope, all good.

“Uh, the name? On your wrist?” Luz pointed at her thick bracelet to show where it would be. 

Eda kept frowning, and Luz’s smile slipped. 

“I don’t have a name,” Eda replied.

Luz blinked and felt a weird sense of both relief and sadness. Her first thought was, She’s like me!, but then she imagined Eda not having a soulmate and suddenly it didn’t feel like a fun club to be a part of.

“Oh, that’s okay! I don’t have a soulmark either,” Luz admitted. “Which isn’t bad! I mean, it’s not amazing, but it’s not the end of the world, you know? Like sure, almost everyone has a soulmark, but just because we don’t have one doesn’t mean we should be upset.” Luz lifted her chin, like her mother’s words would give her confidence. “My mom always says that just because I’m soulmarkless doesn’t mean I’m not worthy of love!”

“Kid, hey, hey, slow down, alright?” Eda rushed over to Luz and crouched down in front of her. “I don’t know where you got the idea from, but I do have a soulmark,” she said, and it looked like it pained her to tell Luz the truth. 

Luz’s shoulder slumped and she let out a little, “Oh,” feeling incredibly foolish.

Eda noticed her crestfallen face and sat down beside her, nudging her with her elbow. “Hey, don’t be upset. Come on, kid, who needs a soulmate anyway? They’re overrated.”

Luz rested her arms over her knees and hid her face in the crook of her elbow. “That’s easy to say when you have one,” she mumbled.

“Even so. It’s like any relationship. It’s— they’re complicated. 

“Just because the universe thinks you belong together doesn’t make it true,” King spoke up, and his voice was gentle.

“King’s right,” Eda said. She nudged Luz’s arm again. “You still get to decide. Besides, King doesn’t have a soulmark, either.”

Luz lifted her head and craned her neck to look at King. “You don’t?”

King shook his head, looking completely fine to admit it. “Demons don’t have soulmarks, only witches do. Besides, I have much more important things to worry about like world domination!”

“And Francois,” Eda added, picking up the stuffed bunny from the couch and holding it over King’s head.

“Francois!” King squealed and jumped up to grab his toy out of Eda’s hand.

Luz smiled at the exchange, feeling a flutter of warmth to know she shared this part of herself with King, then turned to Eda and said, “I don’t understand, though. Why did you tell me you don’t have a name?” 

“Uh, because I don’t?” Something seemed to dawn on Eda and she said, “Wait, wait, wait, hold on, are soulmarks in the human realm your soulmate’s name?” When Luz nodded, Eda let out a snort. “Huh. You know, that seems a lot more useful.”

“Well, if your soulmark isn’t a name, then what is it?” Luz asked.

“We have actual, literal marks. They represent our soulmate.”

Luz’s eyes widened and she leaned closer to Eda. “That’s so cool! Can I see yours?” she blurted before remembering that it was rude to ask.

Eda drew back. “Sheesh, kid, that’s kinda private.” 

“Sorry, sorry, it just sounds really cool.” 

Luz must’ve made some sort of upset expression because Eda sighed and leaned back against the front of the couch. “Okay, fine, I’ll show you. But this stays between us, okay?”

King shifted closer on the couch, leaning on Luz’s head, and together the two of them nodded. From King’s reaction, Luz assumed he’d never, or perhaps only very rarely, seen Eda’s soulmark.

Eda held out her arm and pulled back the sleeve of her dress. On her left wrist, right near her pulse point, in a thin, black line was a rain cloud. It had two eyes, one open and one closed, and a lightning strike cutting through the middle of the cloud.

“Woah,” Luz said aloud. That, Luz had to admit, was a lot cooler than a name. She glanced up at Eda’s face and asked, “Do you know who your soulmate is?”

Eda hesitated, then nodded.

Luz cocked her head, confused. “Why aren’t you with them?”

Pulling her sleeve back down, Eda said, “Like I said, soulmate or not, relationships are complicated.”

Luz frowned at that and absently rubbed at the bracelet that covered her left wrist.

“Luz, why do you wear that if you don’t have a soulmark?” King asked, pointing at Luz’s bracelet, his eyes drawn to the movement. 

Luz shrugged. “It stops people from staring.” 

“Well, you don’t have to wear it around us!” King said. “I mean, I don’t have a soulmark. Neither does Hooty. So, really Eda’s the odd one out here.”

Luz laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right!” She’d grown used to the bracelet, but it’d be nice to not have to wear it in the Owl House. She happily took it off and slipped it into her pocket, then turned her wrist over to admire how it looked without the bracelet in the way. Her arm looked bare, but she sort of liked it that way. 

When she glanced up, Eda was staring down at her wrist, mouth agape. King was also staring, though he looked more confused than shocked. 

Self-conscious, Luz covered her exposed wrist with her right hand and brought it up to her chest. “What?” she asked, almost defensively. 

“What is that?” Eda asked. 

Luz lowered her arm and looked down at her birthmark. The teardrop on Luz’s wrist wasn’t blue like the teardrops Luz had drawn in the margins of her school papers. It was a purple color that shifted between a lavender and a deep violet and looked oddly like a drop of goo than any sort of liquid Luz knew of. She knew it looked strange, but the doctors had told her parents it was nothing to worry about. 

“This?” Luz asked. “It’s a birthmark. The doctors told my parents so.”

“That’s not a birthmark, kid.” Almost gently, like Eda was worried she’d frighten Luz, she said, “That’s a soulmark.” 

The hope Luz had crushed long, long ago suddenly flared to life inside her chest like a light glyph. She, Luz Noceda, had a soulmark? But that wasn’t possible. She’d been told her whole life she didn’t have one because there was no name on her wrist.

Luz barely heard Eda say, “I don’t blame the doctors considering they’d probably never seen a witch’s soulmark before,” over the ringing in her ears.

Luz suddenly tuned back in and jumped up. “I have a witch’s soulmark?” she exclaimed, her voice loud even to her own ears. 

“That’s what it looks like to me.” Eda, still seated on the floor, rubbed her chin in thought. “It’s a symbol of abomination matter, which is oddly specific. I can’t think of anyone who has a soulmark that matches their soulmate’s magic.” Eda shrugged like she hadn’t just turned Luz’s entire world upside down. “Whoever your soulmate is must be one powerful witch.”

The word soulmate tumbled around in Luz’s head till she was dizzy. Somewhere in the demon realm, there was someone with a soulmark on their wrist that represented her. 

It seemed too good to be true.

“No fair!” King said, startling Luz from her thoughts. “You’re like Eda.”

Luz crouched down in front of the couch where King sat. “Come on, we’re still boo-boo buddies, remember?” she said, and pressed a quick kiss to King’s forehead. When she pulled away, she got a whiff of something burning. “Is something on fire?” she asked.

“The food!” Eda yelled, and ran back into the kitchen where Hooty was shouting that Eda was trying to kill him.

“Let’s see if we can help,” Luz said, and King climbed onto Luz’s shoulder, and she carried him into the kitchen.

That was the day Luz realized she really did have a soulmark.

Which meant she had a soulmate.

 

—

 

Luz thought that maybe people got some sort of inkling when they met their soulmate. Like a memory that tugged at your mind or a little pebble stuck in your shoe that made you stop walking, but when Luz saw Amity Blight for the first time, all she could think was, Wow, this girl sucks. 

Luz had stumbled across what she’d deemed witch drama after wandering off from Eda and King, who’d stayed behind to sift through some giant creature’s guts, which, ew, absolutely not. 

Now, she was hiding in a bush and watching as a witch with shoulder length green hair, who Luz had overhead was named Amity, bothered another witch wearing glasses, who she’d learned was named Willow. Both witches wore black clothes with purple sleeves and leggings, and Luz would have wondered why they wore matching uniforms if she hadn’t heard the green haired girl – Amity – say, “Abomination rise.” 

Luz leaned forward, realizing now that the purple creature coming out of the large pot was the exact same shade of purple as the mark on her wrist. She no longer wore her bracelet inside the Owl House, but when she went out, she felt more comfortable keeping it on, and so she had to pull her bracelet down to double check and, yup, same color.

Was the girl wearing glasses – Willow – Luz’s soulmate? But Eda had said her soulmate would be a powerful witch, and, well, this girl didn’t seem very powerful. 

Willow immediately proved Luz wrong after Amity left, with Luz making sure to stick her tongue out at her retreating form, when Willow made a large vine shoot out from the ground at her feet.

Luz gasped, and the vine flew at Luz, picking her up and dragging her towards the witch. All Luz could do was look up at Willow, her eyes glowing a bright green, until she noticed Luz and immediately let the vines drop.

And that was how Luz met Willow, then, later that day, Gus.

It was probably one of the strangest days of Luz’s life. She visited a magic school by pretending to be an abomination, almost got cut open with a knife, was chased through the school by the principal, Amity, and a bunch of abominations, and was then banned from said school. The day was also one of the best days of Luz’s life because she gained two friends.

It was also the first time Luz met Amity Blight, which didn’t feel important at the time but hindsight is 20/20. 

Then Luz figured out her first spell, a little ball of light, and she forgot all about Amity.

 

—

 

Until the second time Luz met Amity, when things ended much differently.

 

—

 

Eda was complaining nonstop about covens, but Luz was bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. She’d been able to see all the different types of magic at the covention! No matter what Eda said, Luz thought covens were cool, and so she raced after Willow and Gus while Eda stayed behind, claiming the Emperor’s Coven was “the worst”. Luz wanted to make up her own mind about covens and wanted to see what they were like without Eda’s complaints ringing in her ears.

She sat down in what looked like an amphitheater, and a second later Eda joined her, still grumbling, and Luz couldn’t help but smile. 

Then the lights went down, and Luz leaned forward in anticipation. She listened to Principal Bump’s speech, feeling a little awkward that he’d banned her from the school, but at least he couldn’t see her from where she was seated, and couldn’t help but let out a few oohs and ahhs at the display the Emperor’s Coven put on. 

“But,” Principal Bump said, “only the best can ascend these ranks. Someday, that could be one of you!” He pointed into the crowd, and Luz looked in the direction he was pointing and saw Amity sitting a few rows in front of her.

“Huh?” Luz said to herself, leaning forward even more to get a good look at Amity as she squealed at being picked.

Luz had never seen her look so happy before, but that probably wasn’t saying much since the last time she’d seen Amity, she’d been trying to strangle Luz.

A new person came on stage, and, once again, Luz forgot about Amity until she walked into her back after the Emperor’s Coven panel was over. Like, literally walked right into her. Luz dropped her magazine and everything. She’d really wanted to know what her coven type was.

“Watch where you’re— oh, it’s you,” Amity said, disdain clear in her voice and on her face when she turned around. “Willow’s… abomination thing.” 

“Uh, hey, Amity,” Luz said, giving what she hoped was a smile and not a grimace. “So, funny story! Not an abomination! Sorry for the confusion last week.” Luz gestured to herself and added, “I’m Luz. The human,” then held out her hand. “Hi.” 

Amity flinched back like she’d been hit, and her face instantly changed, shifting from disdain to confusion to something almost like fear and something else Luz couldn’t name until it finally settled on anger. 

“No, you’re not,” Amity said.

Luz paused, unsure how to reply to that, then let out an awkward laugh, not understanding the joke. Because clearly it was a joke. Why would Amity think her name wasn’t Luz? “Uh… what? Oh! Are you saying I should be more supportive of my endeavors? Okay, let me try again.” Luz cleared her throat. “I’m Luz. The human slash witch in training!” She waited for Amity to say something but when she merely continued to glare at her, Luz asked, “Is that better?”

“Who put you up to this?” Amity looked around the covention like she was waiting for someone to jump out. “Was it Ed? Tell him that’s a really cruel joke.” 

Luz’s smile slipped into a frown. Okay, so Amity was clearly confused. “I, uh, don’t know who Ed is. And I don’t know why my name would be a joke.”

Amity looked back at her. Her eyes roamed Luz’s face like she was looking for the lie. She must’ve found something she didn’t like because she took a step back, and her expression eased out into something teetering on fear. 

Luz wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong. Maybe there was some unspoken witch rule that she’d unknowingly broken?

“You’re… you’re serious,” Amity said. She didn’t look like the Amity who’d chased Luz through the school with her abominations. Though she was a witch, she looked uncomfortably human in that moment. “Your name is Luz? Luz Noceda?” 

“Uh, yeah, that would be me!” Luz was about to try to shake her hand again when she replayed Amity’s words in her head. “Wait, how do you know my last name?”

Amity looked like a deer in headlights. Luz saw her throat bob as she swallowed and said, “Y-You told me.”

Luz frowned. Had Luz told her? Luz thought she’d only told Amity her first name, but maybe she was wrong. 

“Oh, I guess I did.” Luz rubbed the back of her neck. “Anyway, look, I just wanted to apologize for last week, I really wanted to—”

Amity scowled, and the change in her demeanor almost made Luz dizzy. “Wait a second, you’re the one who got me into trouble with Principal Bump,” she said, cutting Luz off. “I never get in trouble.”

“Well, to be fair, you were okay with him trying to dissect me, so—”

“You can’t be here! You shouldn’t be here.” Amity looked away from Luz and gestured to the room around them. “This covention is for witches only.”

“Well, I’m learning how to be a witch,” Luz said, hoping the smile she gave Amity would calm her a little. “I’m receiving magic lessons from a powerful witch and a ferocious demon.”

Amity glanced behind Luz and asked, “Is that your ferocious demon there?”

King came walking over to them with a cupcake in his hand, and Luz was very tempted to go over and squish his cheeks because he just looked so cute, but then he tripped, and his cupcake went rolling.

Luz rushed over to make sure he was okay, and as she reached out to pick up his cupcake, Amity stepped on it. The frosting left a smear of white on the floor.

“Oops,” Amity said when Luz looked up at her. “That was an accident.”

Luz glared up at her. “Why are you being so mean, Amity?”

At Luz’s question, Amity seemed to flinch, but Luz thought she must have imagined it because Amity simply turned her chin up and replied, “Because you and your pet are giving witches in training a bad name.”

“I am not a pet!” King argued.

Luz pulled him close and said, “He is a very good boy! And the king of demons!” Luz stood up. “I’ll tell you what, Amity. It’s one thing to say I can’t be a witch—”

“‘Cause you can’t.”

“—but it’s another thing to bully my friends.” Luz recited a scene from one of the Azura books, and Amity looked as if she knew what Luz was talking about, but the expression disappeared when Luz exclaimed, “I challenge you to a witch’s duel!”

Everyone at the covention gasped, and Amity hesitated. Luz thought she was going to say no, but then she said, “Fine, then let’s set the terms for this duel, shall we?”

“One, if I win, you apologize to King for squashing his cupcake, and, two,” Luz said, holding up two fingers, “you admit that humans can be witches, too.”

“Fine by me. But when I win, not only do you have to tell the whole covention you’re not a witch, you have to stop training. Forever. And you—” Amity hesitated again, and Luz swore she saw her eyes flick down to Luz’s wrist. “You have to stay away from me. You’ve caused me enough trouble as is.”

Luz didn’t care if Amity wanted her to stay away, but not being able to learn magic anymore? She didn’t want to agree to that.

“Do it, Luz! For my honor!” King cried, and Luz relented.

“Fine,” she said. “Let’s shake on it.”

Amity made a circle in the air, right around Luz’s wrist, and the purple color was comfortingly familiar. When the circle was complete, Amity reached into it to shake Luz’s hand. Her hand was cold, but Luz, who naturally ran warm, didn’t mind. 

When they let go, Amity said, “The everlasting oath is sealed,” and the circle vanished.

“That’s probably fine,” Luz said to herself, still staring down at her hand. 

“Meet back inside the theater in one hour.” Amity walked away and called over her shoulder, “Let’s see what kind of witch you are.”

“King.” Luz looked down at her friend. “I could win this, right?”

King, eating his squashed cupcake off the floor, looked up at her and shook his head, and Luz thought that maybe, just maybe, she’d made a mistake.

Luz ran through the covention, looking for Eda and hoping she could help. Turned out, Eda wasn’t much help considering she still hadn’t taught Luz any spells. The only thing Eda could offer Luz was advice; cheat. And Luz didn’t want to cheat, but she also didn’t want to die, so what other option did she have? 

So, she used the traps Eda had set for Amity when the duel began. When one of Amity’s very large abominations came for her, she watched as it stepped on one of Eda’s traps and caught on fire, and she could see the confusion on Amity’s face from across the arena. Luz continued to dodge Amity’s abominations and let Eda’s traps take care of them because dying sounded bad but dying in front of a crowd sounded worse.

When another one of Amity’s abominations was destroyed, Amity stalked over to Luz, who’d slid down against the wall at her back and was now sitting on ground.

“How are you doing that?” she demanded.

“No, Amity, don’t step any closer,” Luz said, holding out her hand.

Amity’s eyes narrowed, and she regarded the ground in front of her. “Why, Luz? What happens if I step closer?”

And King just had to choose that moment to fall into the arena and land on the trap, sending spikes flying up. 

Great, Luz thought. Perfect. At least King wasn’t hurt.

“I knew it!” Amity yelled, pointing at Luz. “You were cheating!”

“Amity, no–” Lilith cut Luz off by deeming Amity the winner since Luz had cheated, but Luz still felt the need to explain herself to Amity. “It wasn’t my idea to cheat, and when I found out, I tried to stop it but–”

“Who could believe anything you say?” Amity asked, and Luz thought she saw actual disappointment in her eyes. Then Amity turned on her heel and began to walk away, but Eda rushed over to her and peeled something off of her neck.

It was a power glyph. Amity had been cheating, too.

“But… I didn’t know!” Amity insisted, rubbing the back of her neck where the glyph had been.

Luz tried to move over to her, to help her somehow, but Amity barely spared her a second glance before running off. 

“Amity, wait!” She was about to chase after her, but King called out for Luz to get him off the spikes.

As soon as Luz had helped King down, she went after Amity, and it took Luz a few seconds of scanning the large room to find her. Luz spotted her sitting in a darkened corner of the covention, her knees pulled up to her chest. 

“Amity,” Luz said as she walked up to her, “I’m sorry.” 

“Seriously?” Amity’s voice broke, and Luz felt even more terrible than she already did. “Just leave me alone.”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“That’s all you ever do!” She raised her head to look at Luz, and she looked so hurt Luz wanted to spit out a hundred more apologies. “First with my sou—” Amity quickly cut herself off, her eyes growing wide. She looked away and corrected, “First at school, and now this.”

Luz frowned. What had Amity been about to say? Had Luz done something to her that she hadn’t even realized?

“Yeah, but—”

Amity stood up, cutting Luz off. “You made me look like a fool in front of the Emperor’s Coven!” she snapped. “My future! You think it’s so easy to be a witch? I have been working my whole life to get to the top!” Amity stuck her finger in Luz’s face. “You lost! You cheated! Say it! Say you’re not a witch!” 

Luz’s shoulders dropped, and she looked down at the floor. “I’m not a witch,” she admitted. She bent down and pulled her little notepad out of her pocket and drew the only glyph she knew. 

Amity bent down in front of her and watched as Luz tapped the glyph, and a little ball of light floated up to hover over her hands. 

“But I’m training hard to be one,” Luz finished. 

Amity glanced up from the light to look into Luz’s eyes, and Luz swore her expression had softened. Then she turned away, and said, “That’s nothing. A child could do a light spell.”

Luz shuffled away and moved to sit against the wall. Was that true? Was a light glyph just juvenile magic? 

“But,” Amity said, and Luz perked up, “I’ve never seen it cast like that.”

Luz gave her a small smile and said, “It doesn’t come naturally to me like it does for you, so I’ve had to improvise.” She held up the notepad for emphasis.

Amity sighed, and it sounded almost defeated. She leaned down where Luz’s hand rested on the ground and drew another purple circle in the air. She grabbed Luz’s right wrist with her right hand and pulled Luz’s hand through the circle.

“The oath is unbound,” she said, but Luz wasn’t listening. 

Amity’s left hand rested on the ground between them, closer to the wall, and the sleeve of Amity’s school uniform had slid up, leaving her left wrist exposed. That wasn’t anything unusual, but Luz, who’d often focused on people’s wrists because she’d wondered, before she’d found out she actually wasn’t soulmarkless, how many people didn’t have one, had been drawn to the sight. Usually, she never saw anything because people kept their wrists covered, but Amity, who was wearing long sleeves anyway, had nothing underneath to hide her soulmark. 

And it was a soulmark, but it wasn’t a witch’s soulmark. It was a human one. And it was one Luz knew because she would recognize that handwriting anywhere. Because it was Luz’s handwriting. 

Luz hadn’t told Amity her last name. Amity had already known it because it was on her wrist.

Amity noticed Luz hadn’t moved and was staring at the ground between them. “What are you—” She followed Luz’s line of sight and yanked her left hand back when she saw her soulmark was exposed. She held her hand up to her chest like she’d been burned, the fingers of her right hand wrapped around her left wrist. Luz wondered if Amity’s heart was racing. If she could feel her pulse beating below Luz’s name. 

Luz opened and closed her mouth, trying to find something to say. “We’re—”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Amity said, cutting Luz off before she even began. Amity stood up, leaving Luz to stare up at her in startled surprise, her mouth still hanging open. “We are not… whatever you’re thinking.” 

“How do you explain my name on your—”

“Shh!” Amity hissed. She glanced around the covention, but it seemed everything was winding down and most people had already left. “I– I don’t know, but I am not… I don’t share a soulmark with a human, okay? This,” she said, gesturing between them, “changes nothing.”

Luz frowned. “You don’t mean that. We’re—”

“Don’t you dare say it,” Amity snapped, cutting Luz off for the tenth time. “Just— just leave me alone, okay? Let’s forget this ever happened.”

Luz’s heart felt like it was breaking. Amity wanted to forget this? Forget that they were soulmates? 

Luz stood up, both hurt and angry. “How am I supposed to just forget this?”

“You’re a human.” Amity worked her jaw and took a step back. “You’re going to go back to the human realm eventually, aren’t you?”

Luz had nothing to say to that. She’d always planned on going home. It wasn’t like she could just leave her mom like that, but she’d also thought that maybe she’d be able to find some way for her to live in both realms.

Amity took Luz’s silence as an answer and turned around and left before Luz could say anything else. Luz watched her go.

Why had Amity acted so strange when she’d found out Luz was her soulmate? Was it because she didn’t like Luz or was it simply that Amity’s soulmark had given her as much grief as Luz’s had?

Maybe Amity had thought her soulmark was damaged. Maybe she’d thought something had gone wrong. And Luz thought that maybe that was worse than thinking you didn’t have one at all.

But Amity had known Luz was her soulmate, and she’d still bullied King. She’d known Luz was her soulmate and had still agreed to fight her. Amity knew they were soulmates and yet she wanted nothing to do with Luz.

It was only then that Luz understood what Eda had meant about relationships being complicated, soulmates or not.

 

—

 

After that day, Amity ignored her. Whenever Luz saw her, Amity acted like she hadn’t noticed Luz, like she didn’t even know who she was.

Obviously, Luz was hurt. She’d found her soulmate, and her soulmate wanted nothing to do with her. 

But, in a strange way, she understood Amity’s reaction. Luz would’ve been thrilled if a witch had come to the human realm and had ended up being Luz’s soulmate, but Luz and Amity were two very different people. Luz could take things in stride, and maybe Amity couldn’t. Maybe having a soulmate from another realm was something she had to think on and had to accept. Maybe it was scary knowing there was a world between them. 

Besides, there was the fact that Amity had a human soulmark, not a witch soulmark, which for some reason, Luz had instead. Humans only had their soulmate’s first name on their wrist, so why did Amity have Luz’s first and last name? Was this some sort of apology from the universe? Had the universe messed up and switched their soulmarks, and so it had given Amity Luz’s full name so there would be no doubt that they were soulmates? 

Luz wanted to talk to Eda about it, but it sort of felt like going behind Amity’s back. If she didn’t even want Luz, her soulmate, to know about her soulmark then surely she didn’t want Eda the Owl Lady to know.

So, Luz stayed away. She tried, of course, to talk to Amity, to at least get a hello out of her, but when that failed Luz gave up trying. 

It sucked to have her soulmate so close and yet so far away. Luz had lived most of her life thinking she didn’t have a soulmate and now knowing hers was right there was almost excruciating. 

But if the universe thought they were fated to be together, Luz could wait a little longer. 

That didn’t mean she couldn’t try to get more information on soulmates.

Luz had wanted to stay behind and help babysit the Bat Queen’s child, but Eda had wanted her to return some books to the Bonesborough Library. However, when Luz saw the library, she didn’t care that she’d been picked for the task. The library was amazing and definitely cooler than the one in her hometown. 

After dropping Eda’s books off to a very disgruntled librarian, Luz stood looking around at the place in awe. It was so big! Where was she supposed to start looking for information on soulmarks? Would it be in the science section or in the mythology section? Both? Luz decided to walk around the library and hoped she’d find a section designated for information on soulmarks. 

What she ended up finding instead was Amity.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Luz heard, and she jumped back to hide between two shelves, thinking she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. It was acceptable to walk around a library, right? Or was this something that wasn’t the same in the demon realm as it was in the human realm?

Luz stayed hidden for a second until she realized she knew that voice. She walked closer to where the voice had come from and peered around another shelf to find Amity in what looked like the children’s section of the library, reading to a handful of little kids.

It was odd, to say the least, to watch Amity reading to kids when she’d acted so harshly with Luz and Luz’s friends. 

Luz slipped into the room and crouched down to hide behind a smaller shelf. Luz felt like she’d stumbled across a different dimension. Amity was being nice! And smiley! Why couldn’t she act that way around Luz? What was so awful about being Luz’s soulmate?

Luz ducked down when Amity started towards her, herding the kids out. She put a book over her head as if that would be a good enough disguise to stop Amity from spotting her. 

Luz watched from her spot in the corner as Amity said goodbye to the children, then, making Luz’s stomach drop to her feet, Amity glanced in her direction and recoiled.

When Luz lowered her book and gave Amity an awkward wave, Amity quickly recovered and turned away, going back to the spot where she’d been reading like she hadn’t just seen Luz hiding in the corner.

“Um.” Luz stood up awkwardly and followed her. “So, you, uh, read to kids? That’s nice.” She watched as Amity set down the books in her hand onto a table and turned around. “I could help, if you wanted. I do a pretty good monster voice–”

“This is my job. I’m at work , and you are interrupting that,” Amity snapped, glaring at Luz. “Is there something you need?”

I want you to explain why you hate your soulmark so much. Why you hate me so much.

“Oh, right, yeah, I’m, uh, I’m sorry.” Luz pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. “I’ll go.” 

And maybe that would have been the end of it. Maybe Luz would’ve given up if she hadn’t run into Amity’s siblings and hadn’t ended up opening Amity’s diary during the Wailing Star meteor shower and hadn’t heard Amity say, I saw that human girl again. I may have overreacted. I don’t want to come off as cruel, I just can’t show weakness.

Luz might have given up on growing closer to Amity if they hadn’t helped each other when the character from the children’s book Amity had read earlier that day had come to life.

If Amity hadn’t taken Luz’s offer of her copy of the fifth Azura book and told Luz, “I’m sorry about the way I’ve been acting… I just need some time.”

So, when Luz saw her again, this time in a snowy place with Eda trying to teach her more spells, Amity was kinder, but Luz knew they still had a way to go.

For now, it was enough.

 

—

 

One morning, before school started, Luz casually brought up the topic of soulmates. Gus was telling Luz more about the Human Appreciation Society, and Luz thought it was the perfect opportunity to bring up soulmarks since she hadn’t been able to research them at the library.

She leaned against her locker, careful of the teeth, and cleared her throat. “So, Gus, do you ever talk about soulmarks in your club?”

Why did the school even have lockers with faces? Why couldn’t they just have normal lockers? Luz wasn’t really complaining, considering she thought the lockers were cool, but wouldn’t it be easier to just have a normal, metal locker?

When she realized Gus hadn’t answered, she looked away from her locker and saw Gus and Willow were staring at her.

From their reactions, it seemed discussing soulmarks in the demon realm wasn’t all that different from discussing them in the human realm. 

Taboo. 

Slowly, Willow said, “We don’t really talk about our soulmarks.”

“But is that normal for humans?” Gus cut in, looking interested. 

Luz shook her head. “Uh, no, not really. I was just…” Green hair caught Luz’s eye, and she looked across the hallway just in time to see Amity walking by. “Curious, I guess. I was wondering if they’re the same here as they are back home.” 

Amity joined Boscha and her group at their lockers, a few books in her arms. They greeted Amity when she went over, but Amity barely gave them a smile in return. Her friends went back to talking about whatever they’d been discussing before Amity had arrived, and Luz watched as Amity quietly stood beside them, bored. As if sensing eyes on her, Amity looked up and Luz felt her breath catch in her throat when Amity’s eyes met hers. Amity gave Luz a small, private smile, and Luz felt her cheeks warm. 

“Well, if you have questions, we can answer them!” Gus said, startling Luz and forcing her to drag her eyes away from Amity. “Just, uh, maybe don’t ask us about our own soulmarks,” he added. Luz saw him quickly glance at Willow, and Luz noticed she was absently rubbing her left wrist. “That’s private.”

Eda had had a similar reaction when Luz had asked her about her soulmark, but Luz never knew if Eda’s reactions to things were the same as everyone else’s. Eda had chosen to spend her day rifling through the guts of a dead sea creature, so obviously she wasn’t like everyone else. Not that Luz didn’t love that about her mentor… it just meant she had to take Eda’s words with a grain of salt. 

“Oh, yeah, don’t worry about that,” Luz said, waving her hand like she was waving away Gus’s worry. “I just have, like, general questions, you know?”

Gus nodded, gesturing for her to ask.

“So, every witch’s soulmark is an actual mark?” Luz asked. She hoped her friends didn’t ask her why she was suddenly so interested in soulmarks and soulmates. “Like a symbol, right?”

Gus nodded. “They’re a representation of our soulmate.”

“Do humans not have that?” Willow asked.

Luz shook her head. “We have our soulmate’s names on our wrists.”

Gus let out a little gasp and leaned forward, almost getting his arm bit by Luz’s locker. “That’s so cool!” 

Willow, Luz noticed, was frowning. “Humans have their soulmates’ names? Their full names?”

Luz shook her head. “Just first names. That’s why it’s not really as helpful as it sounds.”

“But still!” Gus said. “You know the name of your soulmate before you even meet them! I think that’s pretty cool.”

Well, I guess it would’ve been pretty cool if I’d known the name of mine, Luz thought, thinking about the soulmark on her own wrist.

“Does everyone get soulmarks?” Luz asked. She willed herself not to look in Amity’s direction. “In the human realm, there are some rare cases where people don’t get them.”

Gus shrugged. “Sure, some people don’t have soulmarks. It’s probably like with humans. It’s rare to be born without a soulmark, but it does happen.” He lowered his voice and added, “Actually, there used to be a rumor that someone in our school didn’t have one. I’m not sure who the rumor was about, though.”

“I doubt it was true,” Willow replied, but Luz saw her eyes flit over to Amity.

Luz stood up straighter. Had there been a rumor that Amity didn’t have a soulmark just like there’d been a rumor about Luz not having one back at her school in the human realm? Was it easier for Amity to pretend she didn’t have a soulmark than admit she had one that was different from everyone else’s?

Amity had told Luz to forget about seeing her soulmark, to forget about the fact that they were soulmates. Did that mean Amity had been fully prepared to go her whole life without meeting her soulmate? Had she planned on ending up with someone else, so long as her secret stayed a secret?

Luz frowned. “Is it strange to end up with someone who isn’t your soulmate? In the human realm, it’s kinda uncommon.”

“Not really,” Gus said. “Soulmarks are private and usually only you and your soulmate understand the significance behind your soulmark, so even if you did end up with someone who was your soulmate, it wouldn’t be a big deal.” Quieter, he said, “I heard Amity’s parents don’t share soulmarks.”

Luz looked over at Amity again and found she was looking down at one of the books in her arms. Was that true? Was that why Amity had thought it wasn’t a big deal to ignore her soulmate and had pretended Luz didn’t exist?

Willow rolled her eyes, but not unkindly. “That’s just another rumor, Gus. I doubt Odalia Blight would let anyone get close enough to see her soulmark.” She pretended to shiver at the thought, and Gus laughed.

The bell rang, or screamed, Luz amended, which she was still getting used to. The three of them got ready to head to their first class of the day, and Luz shot one last glance in Amity’s direction.

But Amity had already left.

“Ready to pull some memories out of my head?” Willow said to Luz, grinning. 

Luz laughed, hoping Willow hadn’t noticed her looking for Amity. “Of course!” Luz did a little twirl in the middle of the hallway. “I’m so excited to see little Willow! Oh, I bet you were so adorable!” 

Gus pouted. “I wish I had class with you guys right now.” 

Luz spun over to him and put her arm around his shoulder. “We can pull your memories out of your head another time! I promise.” 

Luz and Willow said goodbye to Gus and went on their way to their respective classes. They sat through the lesson, and when it was time, Luz plucked five memories from Willow’s mind and hung them up like photos in a darkroom. 

Luz smiled as she looked through them but gasped when she saw the last memory.

The memory had a younger Willow dressed in a green dress and a party hat. But that wasn’t what had made Luz gasp, it was the girl Willow was hugging. It was Amity. She was also wearing a dress and a party hat, and all her hair was the same brown as her roots now. She was throwing her arms around Willow, and they both looked so happy.

Luz had heard Skara mention something about Amity and Willow being friends once, but Luz had thought she’d been mistaken. 

“Ugh,” Willow groaned when she saw the memory. 

Luz felt a pang of sadness at Willow’s reaction. They’d clearly been good friends once. 

“Hey, I know you and Amity have a history. Wouldn’t you feel better talking about it?” Luz asked, feeling like a hypocrite considering she hadn’t told anyone about her and Amity being soulmates even though she thought about it almost every second of every day. She just really wanted to know more about Amity, about her soulmate, about the smiling girl in the picture who looked so different to the girl Luz had met.

But Willow said no, and they went to lunch, and Luz tried to put the image of younger Amity out of her head. 

She had brown hair, Luz thought as she sat down at the lunch table. She must dye it green, she thought as she ate what she thought were supposed to be peas but looked more like moldy beans. Does she dye it to match her siblings’ hair? she thought as she nodded along to Gus’s rant about his project for his journalism class even though she wasn’t listening to a word he was saying. What would Amity look like now if her hair was still—

Luz noticed Willow looking sort of sickly, and her thoughts of Amity sputtered out like a doused flame. 

“Willow? Are you okay?”

It took only Willow asking who Luz and Gus were for Luz to figure out what was wrong. Something had happened to her memories.

When Luz and Gus barged into the classroom, a delirious Willow following behind, Luz was shocked to find Amity standing beside Willow’s memories. Which were now on fire.

“Hi…” Amity said quietly, and Luz would’ve paused at the timidness in her voice if Willow’s memories weren’t at stake.

“Amity, what are you doing?” Luz shouted, marching up to Amity until their faces were only inches apart. And, no, Luz was not only just now noticing how Amity’s eyes were a pretty brown, almost golden in hue.

“I didn’t mean to destroy her memories!” Amity insisted, and Luz wanted to believe her, but it was a little hard when Willow’s memories were on fire, and Willow couldn’t remember any of them. “I just wanted to get rid of one.” She admitted this so quietly that Luz assumed Gus hadn’t heard from where he was still hovering by the classroom door.

Luz sighed. “Okay, well, we’ll figure something out, alright?”

From behind her, Luz heard Gus ask, “Do you two know each other…?” in a way that implied Luz and Amity knew each other a lot more than merely being rivals.

Luz, who had her back to Gus, gave Amity a startled look, unsure how to answer, but Amity did it for her. 

“That’s not important right now,” she said, which wasn’t a denial like Luz had been expecting. It made her heart stutter.

“She’s right.” Amity blinked at Luz like she was seeing her for the first time. Luz turned around to face Gus. “We need to focus on helping Willow. And I think Eda might know what to do.”

Though Amity looked like she wanted to argue at the idea, they ended up back at the Owl House, and Eda agreed to help.

When Eda asked who was going to go into Willow’s mind with Luz, Luz glanced around the room before her eyes landed on Amity. 

“Amity?” Luz asked. 

Amity bit her bottom lip in thought. “I don’t think Willow would want me in her head.”

“I mean, you kinda made this mess. Shouldn’t you be the one to clean it up?”

After a few more seconds of thinking, Amity sighed. “Okay, fine, I’ll go with you.”

Luz didn’t think the Amity she’d met her first day at Hexside or even the Amity she’d met at the covention would have ever agreed to helping Willow. Smiling at her, Luz held out her hand, and Luz saw her hesitate for a split second before her hand was in Luz’s. Like before, her hand was cold, but it fit so perfectly in Luz’s. 

Alright, universe, she thought, maybe you got something right.

Luz felt Amity squeeze her hand when Eda transported them into Willow’s mind, but she quickly let go once they were inside. Amity moved first, letting Luz follow behind as she took in the sight of Willow’s mindscape. Luz wondered what her own mind would look like inside. She hoped it had just as many trees as Willow’s.

“So…” Luz started, swinging her hands as she walked. “Is there a specific reason you were trying to destroy one of Willow’s memories?”

Amity was walking ahead of her, and Luz couldn’t see her expression when she said, “Maybe.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Amity sighed and spun around. “Look, just because we’re…”

“Soulmates,” Luz filled in for her.

“Doesn’t mean you have to act like you care about me,” Amity continued, like Luz hadn’t spoken.

“But I do. Care about you, I mean.”

Amity’s face did something complicated, then settled on annoyance. “Because I’m your soulmate?” she snapped, and Luz noted that was the first time she’d used the word in respect to Luz. “That’s the only reason?”

“Because I like to think we could be friends.” Luz gave Amity what she hoped was a comforting smile. “If you’ll let me.”

Amity turned away, putting her back to Luz. “Let’s just help Willow right now. We don’t know how much time we have in here.”

Why had Amity wanted to destroy one of Willow’s memories? What was so bad about it that she didn’t want anyone to see, that she didn’t even want Willow to remember? 

Luz wanted to keep asking questions but knew Amity wouldn’t answer them.

They went through Willow’s mind and fixed her memories, and Luz noticed Amity was purposely avoiding the memory she’d burned in the classroom. Luz thought they would have Willow’s memories fixed in no time until Inner Willow showed up and hauled both of them into the memory Amity had burned.

Once inside the memory, Luz looked around, expecting something awful, but it was just a normal bedroom. When Inner Willow followed them in, Amity hid behind Luz and took hold of her arm. 

Suddenly, the gray color of the memory turned vibrant, and the bedroom door opened. Luz watched as a younger Amity and Willow came into the bedroom, arguing. 

“You have to get out, Willow!” Younger Amity said. “Now!”

Younger Willow followed Younger Amity into the room, her expression hurt. “Wait, why?” she asked. 

Younger Amity hesitated, not looking at her friend. “Because… because…” 

“Is it because I still can’t do magic?” Younger Willow went up to Younger Amity and grabbed her arm. “Or is it because I showed you my soulmark? Or is it because you showed me yours?” 

Luz almost gasped at Willow’s words. Was that why Amity hadn’t wanted Luz to see this memory? Because it was about her? 

“I know it’s not okay to show people your soulmark,” Younger Willow was rambling, “but we’re best friends so I thought it would be okay—”

Younger Amity shrugged off Younger Willow’s hand. “Yeah… yeah that is why you have to leave. Because— because I don’t want to be friends with someone who doesn’t have a soulmark! Now go!”

That time, Luz did gasp. Willow didn’t have a soulmark? Is that why Willow had acted strange when Luz had brought up the topic?

She watched as Younger Amity and Younger Willow turned to ash, and Inner Willow raged, “Then you let your new friends pick on her for years! All because you didn’t want to be friends with someone who was different.”

Luz watched as a ring of pink fire encircled Amity, and oh, no, was she about to lose her soulmate just when she’d found her?

“Amity!” Luz cried.

Amity squeezed her eyes shut and said, “Wait! Please.” The fire receded, and she explained, “Before all this started, there was something else.” The bedroom door opened, and when Amity turned to look, she caught Luz’s eye, and Luz watched her face pale as a deep voice asked, “Amity, what were you doing with Willow in the garden?”

Beyond the open door, two silhouettes appeared in front of Younger Amity. It was just their shadows, but Luz could guess they were Amity’s parents. 

Younger Amity was wearing the same outfit as she’d been wearing moments before when she and Younger Willow had argued. Luz watched as Younger Amity ducked her head and answered, “We were showing each other our soulmarks.”

Willow had seen Amity’s soulmark? Had Willow known who Luz was this entire time? Luz glanced at Inner Willow, but nothing on her face told Luz anything. 

“You know that is forbidden,” Amity’s mother snapped. “We told you not to tell anyone about it.”

“But she’s… she’s my best friend.” Younger Amity’s voice was so small that she didn’t sound like the Amity Luz knew. Luz caught Inner Willow’s expression softening at Younger Amity’s words. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”

“Well, this is an important secret,” Amity’s father said. “You know what people would say if they found out about you.”

“But Willow wouldn’t tell people!” Younger Amity argued.

Amity’s father sighed. “And can you know that for sure? What if she accidentally let it slip? What if you upset her one day, and she goes behind your back? What if she holds it over your head?”

“I– I–” Younger Amity hesitated, and Luz could see the seeds of doubt Amity’s parents had put into her head begin to fester.

“We asked you to do one simple task, Amity,” her mother said, “and you couldn’t even follow that.” The silhouette of her mother shook her head. “Willow shouldn’t have even been here to begin with. She wasn’t on the guest list.”

Younger Amity’s cheeks turned red and a little furrow appeared between her eyebrows. Luz wanted to reach into the memory and hug her. She wanted to hold out her wrist and say, See? I’m different, too, and it’s not so bad.

“Fix this,” her mother continued. “We don’t need anyone finding out about your own… mark.” She said it with such disdain that Luz vowed to throw a punch or two if she ever met the witch. Or maybe she could get Eda to do it for her. Eda would definitely win.

“Besides, isn’t she a weak witch?” Amity’s mother asked. “You’re better off without her, anyway. There are plenty of other children who would make much better friends.”

Younger Amity shook her head. “But I don’t like them, they’re mean!”

“Blights only associate with the strongest of witchlings,” her father said, “and Willow is not one of them.”

Okay, Luz vowed to punch both of Amity’s parents. Correction; to get Eda to punch them.

“But–”

“Good children don’t squabble, dear,” Amity’s mother said. “Sever your ties with Willow or we will make sure the girl is never admitted into Hexside. Now go, and try not to make a scene.”

The door closed, ending the memory, and in the sudden silence Amity admitted, “I didn’t stop being your friend because you were different. I did it because I was scared someone would find out I was different, too.” Luz watched from a distance as Amity continued, her eyes downcast. “A few years ago, when that rumor went around that someone in our school didn’t have a soulmark, it was about you. Boscha tried to spread it around, but I changed the rumor so it was about me. It felt like the least I could do.” Amity shrugged like throwing herself under the bus wasn’t a big deal. “The rumor eventually died down when I never confirmed nor denied it.” 

Luz’s eyes flitted between Amity and Inner Willow, who had her back to Luz.

“I know I can’t take back what I’ve done,” Amity said, “but I promise you I will do what I should’ve done all along. I’ll make sure Boscha and her gang never pick on you again.”

Inner Willow finally turned around, and Luz was relieved to find she was smiling. She held out her hand. “Can I see your soulmark?”

Amity froze, her eyes darting to Luz, clearly not expecting that question. “Um. I–” She held up her arm and glanced down at her wrist. She looked up at Inner Willow’s small smile and relented. “Yeah, sure, okay.”

Amity pulled the sleeve of her school uniform down, and Inner Willow leaned closer. Luz didn’t need to look to know her name was written there in her handwriting, but she looked anyway. She liked how the dark ink of her name looked on Amity’s skin.

“I never understood why you were ashamed of it,” Inner Willow said. She held Amity’s hand palm up in her own. “At least you had one.”

“Yes, well.” Amity cleared her throat, and Luz saw her quickly look at Luz and then away again. “I was taught it isn’t a good thing. That it’s a weakness. I’m learning that maybe that isn’t true.”

Luz took a step closer and put a hand on Amity’s shoulder. She felt Amity lean into the touch. “If it’s okay,” she asked Inner Willow, “could me and Amity finish up here?”

Inner Willow nodded, and they left the memory to fix what was still broken. Once Amity had put the last memory back in the right place, they saw two Inner Willows waving goodbye to them, one the same age as the Willow in the party memory and the other older, the Willow Luz knew now.

“So,” Luz said once they were alone, “does this mean you and Willow are friends again?”

“I don’t think it will be that easy,” Amity replied, then shrugged. “But maybe one day.”

Then Luz was ringing the bell Eda had given them, and they were back in the Owl House, and Luz was racing over to the couch, crying, “Willow! You’re okay!” 

She wrapped Willow in a tight hug and laughed in relief.

“All thanks to you,” Willow said, her face in the crook of Luz’s shoulder. She pulled away from Luz when she caught sight of Amity leaving. “And you, too,” she added. 

Amity paused, halfway out the door, and looked back at them.

“We might not be friends now,” Willow continued, “but it’s… well, it’s a start.”

Amity gave her a small wave, and Luz saw her eyes flicker over to Luz before she stepped outside and closed the door behind her. 

Luz took a step forward like she was going to follow Amity, but paused, not wanting to leave Willow.

“You can go after her,” Willow said, easily reading Luz. Maybe that’s why she was Luz’s closest friend. Sometimes, she seemed to know Luz better than Luz knew herself. “She’s your soulmate, after all.”

It had been different when only Luz and Amity had known they were soulmates. It had been their shared secret, and having someone else know was strange. Having Willow know felt like Luz was telling her about a crush. It made Luz blush.

“Did you know who I was?” Luz asked. If Willow had seen Amity’s soulmark when they were little, then she must’ve known who Luz was. “When you met me, I mean.”

But Willow shook her head. “I didn’t really read the name on Amity’s wrist when she showed me. I was more focused on how it didn’t look like my dads’ soulmarks. That it didn’t look like any soulmark I’d seen before. I liked that Amity and I were both different.” 

“Does Gus know? About your, uh, lack of a soulmark?” 

Willow shook her head. “After Amity, I never showed anyone else. It’s not that I don’t trust Gus because I do. Trust him, I mean,” she quickly added. “It’s just that we never talk about our soulmarks or our soulmates. All he knows is that I don’t really like talking about mine.”

“You know, I used to think I didn’t have a soulmark,” Luz told her. “Until I came to the demon realm, that is.” She pulled down her sleeve and showed Willow her soulmark, the drop of abomination matter on display. 

“Oh,” Willow breathed, looking down at it. “It’s a witch’s soulmark.” Luz saw something dawn on her. “And Amity got a human one.”

Luz nodded. 

“That’s– huh. Weird. But also cool.”

Luz grinned and dropped her arm. “You think?”

“Yeah, I mean, you guys are from two different worlds, and the universe still believed you were meant to be together. That’s really sweet.” There was something wistful in Willow’s tone. “It’s like something from a storybook.”

“I bet you there’s someone out there for you,” Luz said genuinely. 

Willow rolled her eyes, but there was no malice in it. “You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.”

“I’m not! I get how annoying it is when people are so sure you’ve got a soulmate out there even when you don’t have a soulmark, but hey, I used to think the same thing.” Luz gestured around her and said, “And look how that turned out.”

“Which reminds me,” Willow said, not-so-subtly changing the conversation, “you should go find Amity before she gets too far away.” 

“Oh! Right! I almost forgot.” Luz raced towards the front door, calling, “But we will be continuing this conversation later, Willow Park!” over her shoulder as she went. 

She heard Willow’s laugh before the door closed, and she barely registered Gus and Hooty talking outside as she chased after Amity. Luz ran down the main path that led to the Owl House, hoping Amity hadn’t taken some shortcut through the woods Luz didn’t know about. After another minute of running, Luz thought maybe she had taken a shortcut, or she was just a really fast walker, before she caught sight of green hair on the path ahead of her.

“Amity!” she cried out, and Amity spun around at her name.

“Luz?”

Luz stopped in front of her and held up a hand. “Hold on, give me a second,” she wheezed. Luz put her hands on her knees and took a few gulps of air. When she straightened back up, Amity looked like she was trying to hold back a smile. “Okay, wow, I need to exercise more. Or to just never run again.”

Amity let out a quiet laugh, and it was the first time Luz had heard her laugh. It was a nice sound, and Luz only realized she was staring when Amity asked, “So, um, is there a reason you chased after me? Is Willow okay?”

Luz quickly broke eye contact. “Oh, yeah, no, Willow’s fine.” Luz suddenly felt foolish. Why had she chased after Amity? She just didn’t want to say goodbye yet, she realized. But she couldn’t say that, it was too embarrassing. “I just… uh, wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh.” Amity kicked at the ground awkwardly, not meeting Luz’s eyes. She cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Also, Willow knows we’re soulmates,” Luz blurted out because she felt like she had to say something. 

Amity, surprisingly, only shrugged. “I assumed she’d figured it out after I showed Inner Willow my soulmark.”

“Oh, right.” Luz fiddled with the hem of her school uniform. “Does that bother you?”

“It might have. Before. But now? Not really.” Amity sighed. “It’s just— I didn’t want anyone else to know about my soulmark. I know Willow would’ve never told anyone, but my parents’ words got to me.” Amity’s face fell, and Luz could tell me was beating herself up for what she did all those years ago. “It was stupid of me.”

Gently, Luz said, “You were just a kid, Amity. And your parents shouldn’t have treated Willow like that. Or you.”

“Yeah, well, I can still feel bad about it.” Amity let out a hollow laugh, and Luz missed the little laugh she’d let out before. “I’m a pretty bad soulmate.” Amity finally looked up, and Luz was a little starstruck at how the evening light was reflected in her eyes. “I bet you’re wishing you’d gotten someone else.”

“No,” Luz said with every ounce of honesty in her bones, “I really don’t.”

Luz liked Amity. She really, really did. Amity wasn’t a perfect person, but she was good and she was trying to become better, and Luz thought that was what mattered the most.

Amity’s face turned pink at Luz’s admission, and Luz knew it wouldn’t take her long to fall in love with Amity Blight.

“So, does this, uh, mean we’re friends?” Amity asked.

“If you’d like that.” 

Because I would really like that, Luz thought. 

“Luckily for you, I’m kind of in the market for some,” Amity joked. She stuck out her hand, giving Luz a shy smile. “Friends, then?”

“Yeah,” Luz said, and shook her hand. Amity’s face was still pink, and Luz’s heart was doing something complicated. “Friends.”

 

—

 

While Luz and Amity were friends, they rarely hung out outside of Hexside. On rare occasions, they’d meet at the Bonesborough Library to discuss the Azura books, but they mostly only interacted during school hours. 

Luz had accepted it would take Amity time to feel comfortable around her. Amity wasn’t like Luz, who could befriend everyone she met, and Luz understood that. So long as Amity was talking to her, and smiling, and passing her notes in class, and waving to her in the halls, Luz was content. 

So, one day, when Amity finally opened up to her, Luz was both surprised and honored that Amity trusted Luz enough to confide in her.

They were at the Bonesborough Library, hidden away in Amity’s secret room. They’d gotten onto the topic of the Azura books and whether Azura and Hecate were going to end up together, when the conversation slowly turned to soulmates.

Luz and Amity were sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, leaning against plush pillows. The room was dim and lit only by hanging lights of stars and moons and a single candle on the desk. The room had no windows, and it was always easy to lose track of time whenever she and Amity visited after school.

“I used to think it would be easier if I just didn’t have a soulmate,” Amity admitted. “Not anymore!” she rushed to say, face pink as she looked down at the worn Azura book in her lap. “I– I just meant I don’t think it’s the end of the world if you don’t have one. Everyone always makes it out like it’s some big deal but it’s not . I mean, Willow doesn’t need a stupid soulmark to be happy.”

“I can agree with you there.” Luz held up her arm and gestured to her wrist. They were sitting so close together that Luz’s left arm was pressed against Amity’s right. “This thing has definitely caused me a lot of trouble.”

Amity laughed. “Yeah, me too.” Some of her hair had come loose from her hair tie, and Luz wanted to reach out and tuck the stray strands behind her ear. 

Luz learned that her name on Amity’s left wrist, right above her pulse point, had been there from the moment Amity had been born. 

When Odalia and Alador had noticed it, not long after Amity’s birth, they’d both assumed Ed and Em had done something to her. They’d assumed one of the twins had found a marker and scribbled on their baby sister, but Ed and Em had been two years old at the time, and Amity’s parents had realized it wasn’t a scribble on Amity’s wrist but a name, and the twins couldn’t have been able to write someone’s name. 

Upon realizing there was a name where Amity’s soulmark should have been, her parents had demanded someone from the Healing Coven to look at it. 

“It’s not any soulmark we’ve seen before,” one of the coven members had said, looking at Amity where her father had held her in his arms. The coven member had been shaking, nervous of what Odalia Blight would do to them if didn’t have the answers she wanted. “But we do believe it is a soulmark. It wouldn’t make sense for it to be anything else.”

Amity’s mother had demanded more answers, but no one had any. She’d then bribed the coven members who’d seen Amity’s soulmark to keep quiet about it.

As Amity had grown up, Odalia had searched the Boiling Isles for anyone with Luz’s name, but she’d eventually come up empty.

“When you’re older,” she’d told Amity, who hadn’t been old enough to understand how cruel the world could be, “we’ll pick who you marry. Won’t that be nice?”

“But I have a soulmate! I have one!” Amity had argued, but her parents had only shaken their heads, disappointed in something Amity had no say in. 

“No, sweetie, you don’t,” her father had said. “There is no one in the demon realm with the name Luz or Noceda.”

“Well… well maybe my soulmate will change their name! Or- or maybe they’re from the human realm!”

Amity’s mother had scoffed. “Mittens, no human has ever come to the demon realm before. Now stop arguing. Good children don’t squabble. Besides,” she’d added, “whoever this Noceda person is probably isn’t a worthy soulmate. We’ll find you someone nice,” which was Odalia’s codeword for rich and powerful. 

So, Amity had stayed quiet and had kept her soulmark hidden, until the moment she’d shown Willow. 

And, well, Luz knew the rest.

Once Amity was finished telling the story, she looked up, and Luz saw herself reflected in her eyes.

Amity was a witch, and Luz was a human, but they weren’t so different after all. 

Amity lowered her gaze. “I used to dream about meeting my soulmate. I would dream that they would come down from the stars, and they’d take me far away from here.”

Luz shifted closer, remembering all the times she would fall asleep and imagine her name on someone’s wrist. “Sorry to disappoint. Turns out I’m not a celestial being.”

Amity laughed, and when she looked up, Luz noted how close they were. Her brown eyes were warm in the dim light, and Luz felt her breath catch in her throat. 

Oh.

Oh. 

“No, you’re not,” Amity said, “but you’re real. And I think that’s a lot better.”

 

—

 

That night, Luz wriggled out of her sleeping bag as King continued to snore and went over to the window. She sat down on the window seat and pulled her knees up to her chest. She looked up at the universe, leaning her head against the glass and wondering if the stars were the same as the stars in the human realm, and thought, I think I’m falling in love with Amity Blight.

 

—

 

Luz was spiraling, her mind racing with thoughts of both her mother and Amity . She barely noticed the balloons and decorations put up in the hallways of Hexside because all she could think of was that her mother didn’t know Luz was lying to her and she also might be the tiniest bit in love with Amity.

Luz only noticed something was different when Amity ran into her, and her books scattered across the floor. When Luz handed Amity the note she’d dropped, she hoped Amity couldn’t tell she was blushing.

Then Principal Bump was saying Amity was Grom Queen, and she was running away, and Luz learned that being Grom Queen meant Amity would have to face her greatest fear.

So, when Luz left the Owl House to go for a walk and mope over Eda’s and King’s words that Luz was too fragile to be Grom Queen and she accidentally hit Amity with a stick, knocking her into some mud, and Amity, who looked so upset, asked, “Who would want to switch with me?”, Luz easily answered, “I would.”

“What?” Amity asked, looking up. Her eyes were lit by Luz’s light glyph, and it made Luz’s stomach flutter like one big butterfly. Amity’s awed expression hardened, and she suddenly looked skeptical. “Would you still be offering to take my place if I wasn’t your soulmate?”

“Yes,” Luz said with no hesitation.

Luz wanted to take her place because she wanted to help Amity. Because she wanted to prove herself to Eda. Because she hated how upset Amity had looked ever since it was announced that she was Grom Queen. Because Luz might be in love with her. Because of a number of reasons, but Luz simply answered with, “Because we’re friends. And that’s what friends do.”

Amity stared up at Luz for a few more seconds, and Luz wondered if she’d said something wrong until Amity quickly looked away and cleared her throat. “I’m, um, I’m starting to think I don’t really know what friends do,” she said. “Boscha would never have taken my place. Skara, maybe, but probably only after a lot of persuading.”

Luz scooted closer to Amity, not caring that she was kneeling in the mud. “Well, I will. Take your place that is.”

Amity gave her a grateful smile, and Luz’s heart flipped. “Thank you, Luz.”

Grom was the next evening, and before Luz returned to the Owl House, Amity promised to help Luz prepare beforehand. 

But, even after Amity had brought Ed and Em to help prepare Luz, it wasn’t good enough. Luz didn’t even know what her biggest fear was until the monster morphed into her mother, and Luz realized that she was terrified of her mother finding out she wasn’t really at summer camp. And then Luz fled from the school.

The monster chased her all the way through the woods until Luz was forced to stop at the edge of a cliff. Amity, though, was close behind, and she threw herself between Luz and the monster. 

“Stay away from her!” Amity yelled, and Luz felt like the love interest in a fantasy novel with the hero coming to save her.

But then the monster turned on Amity, picking her up into the air, and Luz thought maybe they could both be the heroes. 

“Amity!” Luz cried, reaching her hand out as if she could reach Amity where she dangled in the monster’s grasp. Her heart thudded hard.

“I’m sorry, Luz,” Amity said, looking down at her. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do this. I was just scared that–” Amity was cut off as her eyes lit up the same color as the monster’s and then she was being lowered to the ground as the monster shrunk.

“No, no, Amity, wait, your–” Luz abruptly stopped talking, staring at what the monster had morphed into. It was no longer Camila Noceda but– Luz. She was looking at herself. “Fear?” she finished, dazed.

The Luz standing in front of Amity wasn’t wearing Luz’s Grom outfit and didn’t have her hair slicked back. Instead, she was wearing Luz’s usual outfit with her purple and white shirt and leggings.

Amity’s worst fear was Luz? She suddenly felt numb, and something between her ribs ached. It reminded her of how she’d felt when she’d thought she didn’t have a soulmate.

“You’re afraid of me ?” Luz asked, and she hoped Amity didn’t hear how her voice broke. She couldn’t see Amity’s face from where Luz was standing behind her, but she saw Amity shake her head.

“It’s not you! It’s–”

Luz watched the monster reach into the pocket of Amity’s dress and pull out the note Amity had dropped the other day. The other Luz ripped the note in half and let the two pieces fall to the ground. The monster receded, and Amity bent down and picked up half of the note. 

Luz slowly walked up to Amity’s side, and when she glanced up, she saw that Amity had her eyes squeezed shut and was gripping the ripped paper tightly against her chest.

Luz bent down and picked up the other half of the note. When she straightened out the wrinkles, she read the words, Will you go to Grom with me?

“You wanted to ask someone to Grom?” Luz felt her heart sink. Amity had wanted to ask someone? Someone who wasn’t Luz? But… but Luz was her soulmate. Was she not good enough? Had the universe made a mistake? Sure, the universe thought they were soulmates, but that didn’t mean they had to end up together. They still had a choice.

But Luz had sort of hoped they would both choose each other.

Amity opened her eyes, and Luz noticed the blush high on her cheeks. Understanding dawned on Luz, and her tongue suddenly felt heavy in her mouth. “Oh. Oh. You wanted to ask–”

The monster let out a shriek behind her, and Luz instinctively jumped in front of Amity. She glanced back at Amity, who was still blushing, and held out her hand. “Amity, may I have this dance?” Luz asked.

Amity glanced at the monster, then down at Luz’s outstretched hand. She nodded, biting her lip, and took Luz’s hand. 

It sent a little thrill up Luz’s spine at just how well she and Amity worked together. They fought Grom side by side; Luz with her glyphs and Amity with her abomination magic.

It didn’t take long until the fight was over.

In the place where the monster had been defeated, a large, pink tree sprouted up from the ground. Two matching crowns appeared on Luz’s and Amity’s heads, and when Amity met Luz’s eyes, they both blushed and looked away.

Suddenly shy, Luz cleared her throat. “So, um–”

“Here,” Amity said, cutting Luz off. She pulled something from her pocket and let her hand uncurl.

Luz gently plucked the other half of the note from her palm. She straightened the crushed paper and then blinked down at her own name written in Amity’s handwriting. 

It was just as Luz had guessed earlier; Amity had wanted to ask her to Grom.

Luz looked up from the note, confused. “Why was I your fear?”

Amity stared down at the ground, kicking at the grass with the pointed tip of her shoe. “Because I’ve gone my whole life thinking I’d never meet my soulmate, and I don’t know what to do now that I know you’re mine. Because I’m scared that you deserve better, and you’ll realize and leave me. Because I’m afraid my soulmark is a mistake, and I really don’t want it to be because– because I like you, Luz,” Amity rushed out, finally looking up. Her face was pink, and her eyes were wide, the moon reflected in them. “I really, really like you.”

“It scares me, too,” Luz admitted. She reached out and took hold of Amity’s hand. Her fingers were cold, and Luz covered them with her own to warm them up. She hoped Amity couldn’t tell she was shaking. “But I don’t think the universe made a mistake. I think it must have been working extra hard to get us, two people who live worlds apart, to find each other.” Luz squeezed Amity’s hand. “And I don’t deserve anyone better because you’re already good enough, Amity. I wouldn’t even want anyone else because I like you.” 

Amity looked like she was going to break apart if Luz prodded too hard. “You like me?” 

The pink leaves from the tree fell around them like snow. Amity was an inch or two taller than Luz with her heeled shoes on, and Luz had to lean up on her tiptoes to kiss Amity’s forehead. When she leaned away, Amity was blinking owlishly at her. Her blush had spread to the tips of her ears.

“Did you only kiss me because I’m your soulmate—”

“Amity, I kissed you because you’re you. Because I like you. Soulmate or not, I wanted to kiss you.”

That seemed to finally sink in, and Amity smiled. A real, genuine smile. Then it was Luz’s turn to blush when Amity put her hands on either side of Luz’s face and pulled her into a kiss.

It was quick, and it was awkward, and it was new, and it was good.

When they pulled away, they both let out matching giggles, Amity’s hands falling from Luz’s face. Luz hoped everyone back at Hexside hadn’t assumed they’d been eaten by the monster. Though Luz wanted to stay out under the stars with Amity, she didn’t want to worry Eda any more than she already had.

“We should, uh, probably head back,” Luz said, pointing over her shoulder to the path back to the school through the woods.

“Right, yeah.”

As they made their way back to the school, Luz felt Amity’s hand slip into hers. Luz smiled to herself and started swinging their hands between them as they walked, and Amity laughed. Luz could get used to that sound.

When they were almost at the entrance to Hexside, Amity asked, “So, can I ask why your fear was your mom?”

Luz sighed and rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. “She doesn’t know I’m here. In the Boiling Isles. She thinks I’m at summer camp.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. And I can’t just tell her that. She’d either think I was making it up or she’d freak out.” Luz shrugged. “Guess I wasn’t strong enough to face my fear.”

Amity shifted closer, knocking their arms together. “Well, I wasn’t either. But we did it in the end, didn’t we? Together?”

And Luz didn’t know what she was doing. She was in a strange world with strange people that were slowly becoming family to her. And maybe Luz would have to go back to the human realm one day, but right now, she was standing with her soulmate, holding her hand and wishing the moment would last forever.

“Yeah,” Luz said, grinning at Amity. “We did.”

 

—

 

It wasn’t always easy being with Amity. Luz used to think finding her soulmate would mean everything would be perfect, but she learned that wasn’t realistic. Some days, it was still touch and go. They both had moments where internal and external forces kept them apart. At one point, Amity ended up getting Luz and her friends expelled because her parents claimed Luz, Willow, and Gus had been distracting Amity from her studies, and then Luz accidentally got Amity fired from her library job.

They weren’t perfect, but just because the universe thought they were meant to be together didn’t mean they also didn’t have to try. And they were both trying because they loved each other and, though love was amazing and wonderful and made Luz feel like she was floating, it couldn’t solve everything. Life didn’t stop being hard just because Luz had found Amity.

“It was hard with Raine,” Eda told Luz when she confided in her after she’d gotten expelled from Hexside, and Amity hadn’t argued with her parents’ decision. Eda got a wistful look in her eye that Luz remembered her getting the first time she’d mentioned her soulmate. “But it was worth it.”

“Raine? Are they your soulmate?” 

Eda nodded.

“Do you think you’ll ever see them again?” Luz asked, imagining how sad she would be if she and Amity had to part ways. She pointedly did not think about how she would have to return to the human realm soon.

“I’m not sure, kid,” Eda answered, her mouth pulled down in a frown as she thought, “but I hope so.”

If Luz, with her strange soulmark, had gotten her happy ending, then she hoped Eda got hers, too.

 

—

 

Months later, Luz sits at the kitchen table of her childhood home, watching her mother teach Amity how to cook one of Luz’s favorite recipes. Gus and Vee are sitting on the floor in the living room, staring up at the TV as Vee shows Gus how to play a video game. On the couch, Willow and Hunter are pressed close, whispering. Luz wonders if they’re looking at their shared soulmarks. 

It turned out that, like Willow, Hunter didn’t have a soulmark either, until it had appeared the moment he’d met Willow which had been the same moment Willow’s soulmark had appeared on her own wrist. 

She’d almost barreled Luz over in her rush to tell her about her soulmark, and Luz couldn’t remember ever seeing Willow smile that brightly before. 

Luz assumes their soulmarks are different because Hunter is neither a witch nor a human, but he still isn’t ready to tell the others, so Luz keeps that theory to herself.

The evening is cool and quiet, and it’s the first time in a few days that Luz’s mind hasn’t wandered to thoughts of King and Eda and ideas on how they were going to get back to the demon realm. She blames it on the radio station playing from her mother’s phone, the same station she always played when Luz was little to get her to stop crying.

Luz notes that everyone is focused on their own things and deems it as good a time as any for her to finally tell her mom about Amity.

Her mother waves Amity away from the stove, telling her she can handle the rest, and Amity heads over to Luz. She leans against the chair Luz is sitting in and gives her a quick kiss to the top of Luz’s head. 

“You okay?” she asks.

Luz hums. It’s not a yes, but it’s also not a no.

Amity’s grown since the first time she and Luz had met, and her purple hair is longer, and she has scars that match Luz’s, Willow’s, Gus’s, and Hunter’s.

“Hey,” Luz says, knocking her foot against Amity’s calf. Amity’s leg bounces up and down as she taps her foot to the rhythm of the song on the radio. “Want to tell my mom?”

Amity stops tapping her foot and cocks her head in confusion. “About what?”

Luz silently reaches up and touches Amity’s left wrist where Luz’s name is hidden under the long sleeve of her dress. 

“Oh!” Amity clears her throat. “Yeah, okay.” She runs a hand over the dress she’d borrowed from Luz as if to iron out the invisible wrinkles. “How’s my hair?” she asks.

Luz lets out a quiet laugh. “It’s fine, Amity. Come on, she already loves you.” Luz stands up and offers her hand to Amity, who takes it instantly. 

Luz’s house isn’t very big, and it only takes them a few steps to reach Luz’s mother in the kitchen. 

“Hey, Mom?” Luz says. 

Her mother spins around, a ladle in her hand. She glances between Luz and Amity, probably assuming something magical and out of her depth has occurred. “Is everything okay?”

Luz clears her throat and glances at Amity, who gives her hand an encouraging squeeze. 

“Remember how we used to think I didn’t have a soulmark?” Luz holds up her and Amity’s conjoined hands, and Camila’s eyes widen. “So, about that.”

 

Notes:

Thanks for reading!