Louder Than Words

by Oracle_2011

Summary:

There aren't many bard's who can't sing.

Azura Noceda is one of those bards.

Nonverbal since birth, young Azura hasn't let that stop her from pursuing the bard track in high school, but when a choir recital is scheduled for the end of the semester, Azura takes it upon herself to prove to her classmates and teacher that even without a voice, she is more than capable of standing out amongst the crowd.

Perhaps she'll find love along the way.

Chapter 1: Prologue: Nothing Changes

Notes:

Hey chat, sorry it's been almost a month since I last posted. Long story short: I caught the flu and was out for two weeks ON TOP of college. Life happens but I'm here now, let's hope I don't get sick again.

Now enough about me...

Welcome all to my new multi-chapter work! Don't worry, Pyramid is not going anyway so still look forward to that. This new series came to me after DreameBoat came up with a headcannon about the Lumity child being nonverbal, which I loved. So, with their permission, this new series was born! I hope y'all enjoy this because I'm really excited to write this!

A real quick note though: In this story the Lumity child will have a crush the Huntlow child. Now, I am aware a lot of the fandom likes to treat Luz and Hunter's relationship as brother and sister, this is fine. I, personally, do not. If you are one of those people who likes to treat Luz and Hunter that way and this makes you uncomfortable, than feel free to not read. This is not an attack on you or how you view their relationship, your interpretation is valid, just as mine is.

A big thanks to Terra and Feather,, for the beta reads on this chapter as well as helping me with the summary

It's been a confusing day for Azura. Her mommies had taken her to some healer's office. But not her regular healer who gives her a loli when they're done. This one took her into a room, placed a bunch of toys in front of her and just…watched her. The only thing Azura did was group the set of blocks they gave her  by color, like she usually did at home. Azura spent the rest of the time just staring at everything and avoiding eye contact with the healer.

 

But it's okay, she's home now with her mommies! And they got her favorite ice scream on the way home! And now that she was home she got to play with her stuffed animals! So it's okay. Everything is okay now.

 

“Mija,” Azura turns around to see both her mothers standing at the base of the stairs that lead to the bedroom’s upstair, “Your mommy and I would like to speak with you.”

 

Azura grabs her talkie and looks through the many buttons on the bright yellow tablet until she finds the one she wants.

 

Trouble

 

The robotic voice of the device echoes through the room.

 

“No, you're not in trouble,” her mommy says with a smile as she runs her fingers though her long purple hair.

 

Her mama approaches her, “Mija, you mind if I pick you up?” Azura nods her head yes and in an instance her mama has lifted her and her talkie into her arms and taken her to the couch, placing her down next to her. Mommy takes a seat on her other side.

 

“So,” mommy begins, she appears rather nervous, “I’m sure you’re wondering about why we took you to the healer today.”

 

Azura looks through her talkie and presses another button. News from her healer usually only means one thing.

 

Sick.

 

“You’re not sick, Mija,” her Mama replies, “Don’t worry about that. This actually has to do with why you don’t speak.”

 

Azura’s eyes go wide. Did they finally have an answer to why she couldn’t speak? Maybe even a way to fix her?

 

“You see, Sundrop,” her mommy began to run her hand up and down her back, it felt relaxing, “the healer was doing some testing and as it turns out, you’re autistic.”

 

That’s a new word for Azura. She grabs her talkie and once again presses a button on it.

 

What.

 

“It means your brain works differently from other people,” her mama explains, “It can affect people in many ways, sometimes people have issues with how food tastes, sometimes it causes people to have trouble with eye contact, and like with it, it can cause people to not be able to speak.”

 

“Your mama and I actually both have it,” her Mommy adds, “And so does your Abuela, but not in the same way as you. Everyone who has it is affected differently.”

 

Azura looks up at her Mama. She’s not sure she can properly communicate what she’s feeling with her talkie. What does this mean for her? Will she ever be able to speak? Is she going to get better?

 

“I can guess what you’re wondering,” her Mama says in an understanding tone, “While you may speak in the future, there is a chance you never do.”

 

“And that’s okay!” Mommy quickly sprinkles in, “We want you to know that no matter what, we will always love you, even if you never say a word to us.”

 

“We love you more than anything, Mija,” her Mama ruffles her curly green hair, “You are our daughter, words or no.”

 

Azura glances down. She may never speak? She doesn’t quite mind that honestly, she never really felt like speaking. Yet her parents both seemed to want her so badly and now she’s letting them down. Azura looks through her talkie again, and finds what she wants to say.

 

Sorry.

 

“Oh baby,” Mommy says before she picks her up and begins to hold her tight, “You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault. You have no control over this. If anything it’s our-”

 

“It’s no one's fault,” her Mama said, forcefully cutting off Mommy.

 

“Right. Your Mama’s right, this is no one's fault,” her Mommy seems to hold her tighter as Mama closes in and puts her arms around the two of them.

 

“I know this sounds like a big deal, and it is,” her Mama says, “But nothing changes. You are still Azura Noceda, our beautiful daughter who is capable of anything she puts her mind to.”

 

“That’s what we want you to know more than anything,” her Mommy seems like she’s beginning to cry, “You are no less of a person because of this. You are no less capable because of this. And there is nothing wrong with you.”

 

“Your brain works differently from other witches and that is okay,” her Mama also seems to be on the verge of tears, “You are worthy of the same life as everyone else. And no matter what challenges you face, your mommy and I are going to make sure you have all the support you need.”

 

“You are an incredible little girl,” her mommy plants a kiss on Azura's head, “Never forget that. And no matter what, everything is going to be okay.”

 

Azura just sits there in her mothers arms. She isn’t quite sure what to think right now. She feels like she should be sad. She may never speak but her mommies don’t seem to think it is a sad thing. None of this seems like a sad thing to Azura. It seems mostly like just another thing about her. Like her green hair, brown skin, or her golden eyes, it’s just another thing about her. Is that what her mommies want her to know? There’s not a button on her talkie that can ask that for her, perhaps it’s for the best.

 

As Azura takes in the comfort of her mom's arms around her, she knows that everything is going to be okay. As they said, nothing changes. And if nothing changes, then everything is going to be okay like it was before this talk. Once more Azura looks through her talkie and finds her favorite button to press. It’s pink and has a heart on it.

 

I Love You

---

Luz looks over as her daughter peacefully sleeps in her old room of The Owl House, now known as The Noceda’s residency. Luz can’t help but smile as she watches over her precious daughter. Another minute passes when someone wraps their arms around her, “There’s my other favorite person,” Luz whispers to the taller girl.

 

“Yeah,” Amity whispers back, “You sure we did the right thing telling her?”

 

“I’m sure,” Luz reassures as she turns around to look at her awesome wife’s beautiful face, “She’s going to have to know sooner or later and it's important she learns young that she’s under no obligation to ever speak.”

 

“You’re probably right,” Amity looks over Luz at their daughter, “Listen, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I should not blame anyone for this.”

 

“It’s okay, mi amor,” Luz replies.

 

“I don’t think it is,” Amity responded bluntly, “It felt like I was back to my 14 year old mentality for a moment.”

 

“Hey, you’re not 14 anymore,” Luz pointed out, “It’s hard to fully shake off a bad mentality from a parent.”

 

“I know, I just feel like I should be better,” Amity looked back to her wife as tears began to fall from her eyes again.

 

“Hey, hey,” Luz took her thumb and whipped away a few tears, “It’s okay. I’m not mad, you made a mistake and apologized for it.”

 

“I know, I’m just-” Amity sniffled, “I’m scared. I’m scared I’m going to end up like her.”

 

“Don’t think like that,” Luz pulled her wife into a tight hug, “You’re nothing like your mother despite her best efforts. You are and are going to continue to be a much better parent than either of yours.”

 

“But what if-” Amity began before getting cut off.

 

“Do not entertain that thought Sweet Potato, you are a wonderful mother who slipped up momentarily.”

 

Amity glanced back at her daughter and begane to pull herself back together, “You’re right. I’m going to continue to be an awesome mother!”

 

“Yeah you are!” Luz cheered back.

 

“Sorry about all this.”

 

“Hey, never apologize for coming to me with your fears,” Luz once again reassured as she pulled away and made some rare eye contact with her wife, “I just want you to know that everything is going to be okay.”

 

“You’re right,” Amity said as she smiled at her beloved, “Everything is going to be okay.”

Notes:

Hey chat, hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's pretty short since it's mostly a prologue but the rest of the chapter's will probably be longer.

Have a great day everyone!

Chapter 2: The Daily Chords

Summary:

A now 14 year-old Azura wakes up for another day at New Hexside. Everything goes well until she gets news on a recital.

Notes:

Hey chat,

Okay I know its been a minute again but in my defense I spent a week on a persona 3 fic I'm probably abandoning, time well spent I will say.

In any case, I'm finally here for chapter two of my Lumity child fic, today we get to introduced to teenage Azura and her friends, all of whom I'm so excited for y'all to meet. I loved writing this chapter and I hope you all like reading it!

Special thanks to A big thanks to Terra and Feather, for the beta reads and to Story and Hellhound Havoc for help with the chapter titile

Tw for Abelism

Beep Beep Be-

 

Azura’s hand had swiftly come down on the beeping alarm clock, silencing its horrible noise. Slowly, the teenager opened her eyes. The sun was shining down through the window, its rays spilling across the old room. With a huff, Azura stood up from her bed and got down to preparing for her day.

 

It was the same routine every morning, without fail. First, she’d brush her teeth, second, she’d take a shower, third, she’d brush her hair, fourth, she’d put on her make-up, fifth, she’d put her uniform on, sixth, she’d grab her necklace from her nightstand and put it on, and finally, she’d grab her guitar carrier and sling it around her back.

 

Everyday it was the same routine. She liked it. The order in which she did things was meticulously crafted to be as efficient as possible so by the time she'd slipped into her red leggings and cloak, her natural green curls were how she liked them, the blue and purple stones on her necklace centered on the string, and she was fully ready for the day.

 

As ready as she could be. The day hardly went how Azura wished.

 

Azura walked down the stairs of her home and was eagerly greeted by Ghost and Stringbean, who were always happy to see her. Azura smiled and bent down to both palisman, giving Ghost some quick pets and Stringbean some scratches to her chin.

 

“Buenos dias, mija,” came the voice of her mama from the kitchen. Azura stood back up and made her way to the kitchen to find Luz preparing a few omelets for the family.

 

Azura grabbed ahold of the blue pendant on her necklace and telepathically sent her thoughts to her mama’s matching blue pendant, “Buenos dias, mama.”

 

The necklace Azura wore wasn’t just to look pretty, the stones on it were actually oracle pendants that made communicating with her parents a lot easier. It was Luz’s idea to get them for their daughter. Amity was apprehensive at first, but eventually came around to the concept when Luz suggested that it only worked one way, meaning Azura could beam her thoughts to her mothers, but they couldn't to her, ensuring her privacy.

 

“Did you sleep well?” Luz asked as she turned her head to look at her daughter. Azuara nodded her head yes as she placed her guitar next to her usual seat and went to pour herself a glass of water and prepare her lunch for the day. “That’s good.”

 

“Well, good morning,” came the voice of Azura’s other mother as Amity entered the kitchen, already in her work uniform, “How are my two favorite girls doing?” 

 

“Doing just fine now that my awesome wife and wonderful daughter are here to join me for breakfast,” Luz’s voice was beaming with joy.

 

“About as good as I can be doing for a school day,” Azura sent through both pendants at the same time.

 

Amity chuckled, “I supposed that’s all I could hope for.” Amity walked over to Azura and leaned down to give her daughter a quick kiss to the forehead, a gesture Azura always appreciated, before moving on to wrap her arms around Luz, who was still in the process of preparing breakfast, Amity began giving quick kisses to her wife.

 

“Sweet potato, I need to finish breakfast,” Luz let out a small laugh.

 

“But I'm cursed! If I don’t shower you with kisses, I’ll die,” Amity joked as she continued her love assault.

 

Azura, naturally, used her pendants to send the sound of fake gagging to bother her parents. It managed to garner chuckles from both her moms.

 

“Mija, would you grab some plates and silverware for us, and sweet potato, could you move so I don't burn myself and tell me if this is cooked enough?” Luz asked as Azura silently went into a cupboard to grab three plates while Amity let out a pouting noise as she let go of her wife.

 

“Guess I'm not loved anymore,” Amity sighed before Luz put a piece of bacon in her mouth while rolling her eyes. 

 

“Bacon IS love,” Luz answered as Amity gave a thumbs up to sign that the food was cooked enough. Azura placed the plates down on the table and quickly went to get some forks and knives for everyone before taking her seat, Amity soon joined to the right of her.

 

Luz walked over with a skillet in hand and plopped down an omelet on each plate. Azura’s and Amity's had foregone many of the vegetables that Luz's contained. Both felt the flavors of the peppers Luz liked were too overpowering for the rest of the meal.

 

Luz placed the skillet in the sink to cool off before taking her seat to the left of Azura. The family began to eat away at Luz's home cooked meal.

 

“These are wonderful as always, Battata,” Amity complimented as her ears wiggled up and down.

 

“Thank you,” Luz said, face very much full of omelet. Azura made sure to give a thumbs up to her Mama to let her know she was enjoying it too.

 

“So, Sundrop,” Amity began, “We heard you practicing the guitar last night.”

 

Azura took a hold of her pendant, “Sorry if I kept you up, I lost track of the time.”

 

“Don't worry about it, Mija,” Luz replied with a hand wave, “Your mother just cast a muting spell and it was fine.”

 

“We were just wondering if you made any progress in your experiments?” Amity grabbed a forkful of bacon that had fallen out of her omelet.

 

Azura shook her head before grabbing her pendants again, “None, still can't get it to sound how I want.”

 

“Well, keep trying, I'm sure you'll get it there soon enough,” Luz encouraged. Azura just gave a smile in response as she continued on with her breakfast

 

Just as Azura had finished up her omelet there was a knock at the door causing the witch to recoil slightly at the loud noise.

 

“That’s your ride,” Luz spoke as she got up to place her plate into the sink to wash later.

 

Azura took a deep breath in before she stood up from her seat, making sure to grab her guitar from beside her and the bag containing her lunch from the counter.

 

“Come here,” Amity said as she stood up as well and wrapped her arms around her daughter. Luz followed suit as the two practically smothered her. Azura liked it. She liked to be held tight, it always made her feel better.

 

“Te amo,” Luz said as she planted a kiss on Azura's cheek.

 

“Have a great day at school,” Amity also placed a kiss on the opposite cheek.

 

“I'll try,” Azura sent over to her mothers once they had let go of her, “Yo también te amo.” 

 

With a wave, the young witch headed from the kitchen to the warm outside air of the Boiling Isles. The smell of the Boiling Isles was a welcome sensation in the morning. It always helped her feel a bit calmer.

 

“Good morning,” Azura's thoughts were broken up by the words of the green-haired enby currently sitting on their staff. He had short green hair, square framed glasses, and a fish hook for an earring in his right ear.

 

Vincent Blight, Azura's cousin. Ever since he carved his palisman (A batquin, an animal her mama describes as ‘A penguin with bat wings’) it had been his job to fly Azura to school. Something she practically begged her mothers to let him do.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Vincet asked as he adjusted his glasses.

 

“Why do you always ask that? I wouldn't leave the house if I wasn't ready,” Azura signed over to him.

 

“Uh, because you're supposed to?” Vincent shrugged.

 

“That's not a very good reason,” Azura pointed out.

 

“Just get on the staff,” Vincet sighed.

 

“Fine,” Azura smiled, feeling as if she had won the conversation before taking a seat behind her cousin and the two took off from school

---

If Azura spoke she'd constantly yell at Vincent to go at least a little faster. As things stood right now, Vincet was the slowest flier she knew.

 

“We're here!” the beast keeper announced as they lowered down to New Hexside after what felt like hours. If they were an hour late, Azura wouldn't be surprised at all. Azura hopped off the staff as Vincent collapsed his palisman.

 

“Thanks for the ride,” Azura signed over to him, “Even if we're going to be late one of these days.”

 

“I'm just trying to be careful, I don't want anything to happen to us,” the enby pointed out.

 

“I'm all for being careful but flying 10 under the flight limit at all times is a bit much,” Azura argued.

 

“It's called safe flying!”

 

“It's called being lame,” after signing her last words Azura turned around to head into school, Vincet following close behind.

 

The halls of New Hexside were always crowded. Many witches and demons crowded the halls and Azura always ended up bumping into at least 5 people as she attempted to get through the crowded pathways.

 

It didn’t take the pair long to get to Vincet’s locker. “I need to get to class early today to help feed the demons, are you going to be okay?”

 

“Yes, I am,” Azura signed with an expression that hopefully conveyed her annoyance, “I can get to class fine on my own.”

 

“I’m just looking out for you,” Vincet said as they pulled out a few books for his next class.

 

“I know, it’s just,” Azura stopped for a moment. She wanted to tell him it made her feel like a child with the way they treated her but her better judgment was telling her to not bother, they’d probably just get mad at her.

 

“It’s just what?” Vincet inquired during Azura’s pause.

 

“It’s nothing,” Azura relented, “Just have a good day.”

 

“You do too,” VIncet replied in a worried tone, “If you need anything, message me.”

 

Azura swiftly made her way to her own locker, trying her best to avoid the other witches that littered the halls. Azura got there pretty fast, she had figured out the fastest way to her locker from any point in the school on her first day. Now she just had to walk up and get her books from the demon and-

 

“Ohh, Azura!”

 

Of course.

 

Azura turned around to find a pink lizard demon-witch standing there, a smug grin lining her scaly face. “There’s my favorite witch.” The demon’s words were oozing with sarcasm.

 

Mercy. A demon who, for whatever reason, decided to dedicate her time getting on Azura’s nerves. Azura just rolled her eyes and went to get her stuff from her locker. She’d pull out her scroll to communicate with but it wasn’t worth it.

 

“You going to say anything to me?” Mercy teased, “It’s rude to say nothing.”

 

Azura tried her best to ignore the demon, not in the mood to deal with her this early in the morning. Instead, she just poked her locker's eye as it opened its mouth to reveal Azura’s stuff on its tongue. It wasn’t much, just her books and a backpack in case she had homework to do. Azura placed her lunch bag on the back of the locker's tongue and reached for her textbook for first period but in an instant it was swiped from in front of her by, who else, but Mercy.

 

“Now what’s this?” the bully said with an amused chuckle. “‘Communing with the Dead Using Music’ huh, why would you take this class, Voiceless?”

 

The answer was a simple ‘Because it is required for my track and it isn’t actually about talking to the dead’ but she doubted Mercy would know or understand. Instead, Azura just attempted to reach for the stolen book. Mercy used her height advantage to hold it back from the witch.

 

“Nuh uh, if you want this back, you’re going to have to ask for it,” Mercy said. Azura stepped back and took a deep breath. Azura wasn't one to pick fights, but her mothers had taught her to be ready in case a fight picked her, which is why she found her fist in a ball, now fully ready for a fight to break out.

 

“Ahem.”

 

Before Azura could get herself suspended, someone had cleared their thoughts rather loudly. Both Azura and Mercy turned their heads to see a tall witch with black skin, braided hair, and three eyes standing beside them, eyes set on Mercy.

 

“Mercy, are you bothering Azura?” the witch spoke in a firm tone.

 

“N-no Ottava, I was just helping her carry her textbook,” Mercy stammered out, her confidence now replaced with pure nervousness.

 

Ottava walked over to the bully and swiftly grabbed the book from her hands. Mercy didn’t protest, not that she had much chance of keeping the book from the enby’s strong arms, “Thanks, but I think I’ll help her from here, why don’t you get to class.”

 

“Y-yes, of course,” Mercy quickly ducked away from the other two witches as she practically ran away.

 

Ottava watched as the demon left before turning her attention to Azura, “You alright, shortstuff?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine, thank you,” Azura signed to Ottava, avoiding eye contact.

 

“What are friends for?” the taller witch asked rhetorically.

 

“To give each other a person to connect with through life that is less than a romantic partner?” Azura answered.

 

Ottava just chuckled, “I suppose you’re right.”

 

“Just so you know, I could have taken her,” Azura signed with confidence.

 

“No offense, shortstuff, but you’re not exactly the fighting type,” Ottava pointed out.

 

“Hey, I’m stronger than I look! You think that drum I play at your games is light?” Azura argued, flexing for emphasis.

 

“Strength is not everything in a fight,” Ottava replied before drawing a spell circle that caused a hand made of clay to appear next to them, before placing Azura’s book on top of it.

 

“You act like Mercy is this trained fighter when she’s a complete coward whenever someone like you pushes back against her.”

 

“Fine. Fine,” Ottava conceded, “You can beat Mercy in a fight, doesn’t mean it was the best call there.”

 

“I know,” Azura let out a sigh between statements, “But she has it coming.”

 

“She does,” the potion/construction witch agreed, ”But I don’t think it needs to be you.”

 

“You’re right,” Azura signed, knowing it was her turn to concede something to the triclops, “I just hope I’m present when she gets what’s coming to her.”

 

“I hope I am too,” Ottava chuckled.

 

“Ottava!” A voice rang out from across the hall. The two witches turned around to the source of the voice. 

 

There at the end of the hallway stood the prettiest women Azura had ever seen. She had cute round glasses and dyed red hair that she styled to cover her left eye. She also had beautiful green eyes and a muscled physique.

 

Periwinkle Park (or Peri as she preferred) was the captain of New Hexside’s grudgby team and Azura’s crush since middle school. Azura felt her face heat up as the girl walked over, her face only getting prettier as she got closer, and-

 

“Hey there sweetie,” Peri smiled, as she put her arms around Ottava, “How’s my partner doing?”

 

“I’m fine,” Ottava awkwardly got out as they slowly wrapped their hands around their girlfriend, “Just helping Azura deal with some pest.”

 

“Azura?” Peri looked behind her partner to see Azura, who awkwardly waved at her, “Didn’t see you there, how are you?”

 

Azura gave a thumbs up to the girl. Azura had hung out with Peri several times growing up, their parents were pretty close, but they never got particularly close. They really never got to be anything more than acquaintances. Peri didn’t even know sign language! Whenever they did communicate Azura had to use the text-to-speech app on her scroll to get her thoughts out. That hadn’t stopped Azura from developing a crush on the girl. Beyond the fact that she was pretty, she was just so cool and outgoing. Peri managed to brighten up any room she was in in an instant. Her voice was calming, she was always willing to help anyone out, she was a marvel to watch on the field-

 

And she was currently in a relationship with Azura’s best friend. 

 

The two had gotten together pretty soon after Ottava joined the grudgby team to follow in one of her mother’s footsteps. Azura was more than mature enough to handle it. While it hurt her heart whenever she saw them together, Azura wasn’t about to let a high school crush jeopardize her relationship with Ottava. She was just going to have to get over it.

 

Eventually.

 

Truth be told, they were cute together. Azura got a good look at the couple since she was a drummer in the school band and had to play at every game. So she was happy for Ottava… even if she wished it was her being picked up by Peri after every game.

 

“I’m glad you’re doing alright,” Peri said as she smiled at the slightly shorter girl, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you two, I just wanted to say high to my partner before I headed to class.”

 

“It’s cool,” Ottava smiled as the couple let go of each other.

 

“Yeah,” Peri chuckled awkwardly, “I would stay longer to talk but I really need to get to class, see you at practice?”

 

“Of course,” the pink-haired witch matched her girlfriend's smile. Peri seemed to lean in for a kiss before Ottava seemed to pull back. Peri took the hint and backed off. The two had been dating for a couple months now but Ottava still wasn’t quite ready for that level of physical affection yet.

 

“Well, uh, bye, see ya sweetie, you too Azura!” Peri said before rushing off to her first class.

 

“I need to get going to class as well,” Ottava said as she turned to Azura, “The hand should last till lunch, message me if you want another one.”

 

“I will,” Azura signed, “I’ll talk to you later!”

 

“See you soon, shortstuff,” Ottava winked as she too left Azura. With a sigh, Azura and her temporary carrying hand made their way to her first class for another long day at school. Hopefully it will go by fast for once.

---

 Azura quietly made her way around the library. It was lunchtime and like every other day, Azura had elected to eat her lunch in the peace and quiet of the Bonesborough Library. Since the library was on school grounds, it was free reign for students during their lunchtime. This was perfect for the young witch as the lunchroom was way too overstimulating for her. It was too loud, the food smelt awful, and the tables were all sticky. Not to mention she ended up with a lunch period with no one she knew, so it wasn’t worth the stress of eating there.

 

Azura made her way to the back of the library. Soon she reached her destination of an unassuming bookshelf before reaching up to it and pullin on the book title, “The Lone Witches Secret Room.”

---

“Ta-da,” Luz and Amity both said in tandem as they presented the small room. Bookshelves lined the sides of both walls, there were multicolored stars hanging from the ceiling, and a lone desk sat at the far end of the room.

 

“What’s this?” Azura sent through both her pendants to her parents.

 

“This used to belong to me,” Amity answered as she bent down to be at her daughter's level, “Back when I was a kid and before I even met your mama, I used to sit in here all the time whenever I was stressed and needed to be alone.”

 

“And now it belongs to you!” Luz replied with a smile, “It’s your own private room here, you do not have to tell anyone about it and your mother and I both promise to never come in here uninvited.”

 

Azura glanced around the room some more, taking in the nice oak smell and peaceful vibe of it before putting her hand on her pendants again, “Why are you giving me this?”

 

“Because you’re starting high school soon and it can be…a lot,” Luz answered.

 

“We figured a space like this for yourself would do you some good if it ever got to be too much,” Amity added, “You’re under no obligation to use it of course and you’re free to decorate it however you want, just don’t do anything to upset Malphas and you’re free to be here.”

 

Azura took a moment to think as she continued to examine the place before sending another thought through her pendants, “Is it soundproof?”

---

The false bookshelf closed behind Azura as she made her way into her own little getaway. She had upgraded the room to feature a soft blue light around it, plenty of weighted blankets, a whole bucket of sensory items that included anything from spinners to chewables, and a couple bean bags to lay comfortably in. In short, it was sensory heaven.

 

Azura gently placed her guitar down along with her lunch and walked up to her mother’s old desk that she kept around. On top of it was her favorite addition to the room: An old portable CD player along with a collection of burnt CDs to play in it, both gifts from her Abuela.

 

Azura grabbed the old CD case and flipped through the pages until she located her favorite one: an old CD labeled “Cam and Manny Mix Vol. 7.” She placed it in the CD player. Azura adored music. Anytime it was possible she would have it playing. It helped her focus and keep the noise that was constantly swirling around in her brain in check. She pressed play and sat down on a bean bag chair, grabbing her lunch bag as the soothing guitar filled the room.

 

“I don’t practice santeria…” the voice of the singer came as Azura finally relaxed. She pulled out her lunch from the bag she kept it in. Inside was berry butter and nut jelly sandwich, a bag of baby carrots from the human realm, floatmeal cookie, and a simple bottle of water, all kept in separate containers. The music went on as Azura began to eat her usual meal. It was simple, but there were no textures that bothered her and no flavor too intense for her to handle. She could honestly eat it for every meal and she’d be content.

 

As she ate, Azura pulled out her scroll to see if there were any messages. There were a few, nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Mama: I hope your day is going well, Mija! Te amo <3

 

You: Yo también te amo 🤟

 

Mom: I love you so so so much Sundrop ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

 

You: I love you too! 🤟

 

Vince: Everything okay? Need any help with anything?

 

You: No

 

Ottava: Sent A Video

 

You: Ewwwww How did he bend like that????

 

Grandma: Tell your uncle to stop sending me unfunny memes

 

You: If I have to suffer so do you

 

Aunt Em: If your uncle sends you something can you pretend it’s funny? He’s really proud of it

 

You: Again? Uggg I don’t know how much longer I can keep lying to him

 

Uncle Ed: Sent a photo

 

You: Wow uncle that’s really funny, you should send more to my grandma, she loves this stuff.

 

As she finished up her lunch, Azura checked the time on her scroll. She still had about 10 minutes before she had to leave for class. With a shrug, Azura placed the containers that once contained her lunch back into her lunch bag then reached over to her guitar case and opened it.

 

From the case she pulled out a beautiful Fender acoustic guitar. She kept it in stellar condition. She polished it almost daily and cleaned it anytime as much as a single speck of dirt ended up on it. The only modification she had made to it was adding a lesbian flag sticker to the body of the guitar.

“There goes my hero…” the deep voice sang along as Azura strummed along. As she strummed, herself along with the guitar began to glow a bright red as she concentrated on the magic flowing through her body, focusing it around her guitar. Azura quickly became hyper focused on her guitar work, letting the music from the CD player fall into the background, until the only thing she could hear was her own music.

 

As she strummed, her thoughts went to her experiments, “I should attempt again while I have the time,” the bard thought. Not a bad idea, it couldn't hurt to try again. 

 

The experiment was to see if she could get the acoustic guitar to sound like an electric guitar using her magic. As far as she was aware, no bard had accomplished something like that before (Of course the boiling isles didn’t have electric instruments to begin with) and she was determined to be the first. She quickly changed the bulk of her focus from getting the chords of the song right to getting the sound of the guitar to change.

 

Minutes passed as she strummed and nothing changed. “Come on,” The witch thought she became increasingly frustrated that nothing was happening besides the color around her and her guitar getting darker. She could feel the magic flowing through, she could swear she was getting closer. Maybe if she focused just a bit harder she could-

 

Brrring

 

The sound of her scroll going off to notify the young witch that she had to get back to class knocked Azura out of her trance. With a frustrated sigh, Azura began to pack up her things to finish out the rest of the school day. It seemed that today wasn’t going to be the day she’d figure out what she needed to do. But she would one day. She was sure of it.

 

Before leaving, Azura turned off her CD player and placed the old disc back in the holder before she opened up the false bookshelf and left to continue her day.

---

“Okay close, one more time, let’s go through vocal warm-ups,” Professor Wintley, a pale older woman with snow white hair and a shrill voice, called out. The whole class followed her command, all except Azura.

 

Choir was the last class of Azura’s day. And it was…boring. Turns out there’s not much value in taking a class one is incapable of participation in. Of course, it wasn’t valueless. She learned plenty about how vocal notes were performed and about many terms that she truly did find interesting. It just so happened that most of the class was dedicated to vocal exercises that Azura usually sat through, a time she usually spent doing homework for other classes.

 

“Very good, class,” Professor Wintley called out, “Now before we leave for the day, I would like to remind you all about the recital at the end of the semester.”

 

Azura went stiff.

 

“As some of you may remember, you are required to do a performance at the end of the semester. It will take place outside of class time in the gymnasium. You are expected to demonstrate understanding of all the different techniques we have discussed throughout the year. This is worth 70% of your grade ,” the professor explained, putting a terrifying amount of emphasis on the last part before the bell demon screamed. “We’ll discuss this more when it gets closer, but I suggest you all start preparing now. That is all. Class dismissed!”

 

“Okay,” Azura thought to herself, “You obviously can’t do that, just go up to Wintley and explain you’d like to be excused from the recital,” Azura stood up and walked over to her professor, scroll in hand.

 

Professor Wintley looked over to Azura as she approached her and sighed, “What do you need now?”

 

Azura stared at her professor for a second, petrified by the icy gaze from her brown eyes surrounded by wrinkles from years of life on the boiling isles, before she averted her eyes down to her scroll and typed. 

 

“I had a concern about the recital. Since I am unable to speak, am I still required to participate?” the robotic voice from her scroll spoke out loud. It was from a nice text-to-speech app she had downloaded to communicate with people who didn’t know sign language, which was most people not in her immediate family or Ottava.

 

Her teacher let out another frustrated sigh, “Listen Azura, you have vocal cords, right?”

 

Azura nodded her head yes and was about to type some more before she got interrupted.

 

“The you’re going to have to use them,” Wintley spat out.

 

A pit had formed in Azura’s stomach as her professor loomed over her. She attempted once again to type an argument but was once again interrupted.

 

“Listen, this is a requirement for this course. Everyone in the class is going to have perform and it is unfair to the rest of the class for you to be excused, so, nice try, but you’re just going to have to suck it up for once,” Wintley held a stern look but the joy in her voice was obvious, even to Azura who was bad at detecting things like this. 

 

Azura once again began typing on her scroll. Ready to explain everything. Explain how no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t speak. How it wasn’t fair to her to force her to participate. How she’d even volunteer to help set the event up if it’d make her happy. But she couldn’t get any of that done before her professor was leaving.

 

“Good luck preparing, remember: I expect the same out of you as everyone else,” Wintley said, back turned as she left, mumbling something about how “Back in my day kids weren’t like this.”

 

In an instant, Azura was left alone in the classroom, feeling smaller than she usually felt, with tears ready to fall down her face.

 

Notes:

Hey chat, hope you enjoyed that!
For the record so we're all on the same page:
Azura uses She/Her
Vincet uses He/They
Ottava uses They/Them
Periwinkle uses She/Her

Have a great day everyone

Chapter 3: Parent-Teacher Confrontation

Summary:

Azura seeks comfort from her Mothers after the incident at school. They all decide to have a chat with her teacher.

Notes:

Hey chat, back with more of this!

So plans for this fic have changed quite a bit since last chapter but I truly believe it is for the best! Hope you all enjoy!

Also: I'm proud to share to official playlist of this fic: Cam & Manny Mix Vol. 7! It's mostly 90's-early 2000's rock and I feel it helps capture the vibe I'm going for with this fic! So, again, enjoy!

 

Special thanks to ValeriesValentines, JoeJoeSpagettio and Terra for the beta reads and to Hellhound Havoc for help with the chapter title and Buff for help with Spanish in this chapter!

TW for ableism

Azura had to get out of the school. She knew what was coming and she was not prepared to do it in public like this. Azura made her way out of the classroom and into the hallway. At that moment, the corridors of the school seemed smaller than usual. Azura felt almost claustrophobic as she weaved through the endless sea of students, and while she could usually handle it all pretty well, in the moment, everything in the hallway felt overstimulating. Every bump and rubbed shoulder with another student was almost painful at this point, the loud noise had caused her to cover her ears the best she could, and it felt too bright.

 

She knew what was happening. This was the beginning stages of a meltdown. She was trying her best to prevent it, but if she didn’t get out of the building, there wasn’t any chance of her stopping it. She had techniques to calm herself down, whether it be taking deep breaths, focusing on her surroundings, or even stimming, but the busy halls of New Hexside were the last place she would want to do any of that. Especially when everyone was rushing to get out of the school.

 

So, as it stood, Azura’s best hope for preventing another meltdown was to get out of the building. She wanted to just break out into a sprint and get out as fast as her legs could take her, but with the amount of bodies in her way, it was pretty much impossible to do without hurting herself or someone else. But she was closing in on her goal. She could see the doors that would lead her outside. Just a few more yards and-

 

“Hey Azura!”

 

Vincet. Literally the last person she wanted to see.

 

“No, no, no, go away!” Azura thought to herself. She was in no mood to sign or even pull out her scroll to communicate with her cousin, who was rapidly approaching her.

 

Vincet soon stopped, however, once he got a good look at Azura, “You look upset, what happened?”

 

Azura didn’t even try to convey anything, she just continued walking forward, hoping he’d  take a hint for once, and leave her alone.

 

“Azura, wait, let me help,” they, of course, did not. Azura would never be that lucky.

 

In response to Vincet insisting on following her, Azura began to walk faster. She knew they just wanted to help but she didn’t want his help right now.

 

“Azura, don’t be like this, you’re better than this!” Vincet called out to her, and if it was possible Azura felt even worse now. “Can you just stop for a second and-”

 

Vincet had grabbed her arm, tightly.

 

It stung.

 

It burned.

 

It hurt.

 

Azura’s throat closed, her muscles tensed, her reflexes kicked in, and in an instant she had yanked her arm away from the enby.

 

“Ow!’ Vincet exclaimed as Azura escaped his grasp, “Message received,” they grumbled out. Azura just continued towards the exit of the school, getting away from her cousin before they made things worse again as her breathing got heavier.

 

She soon found herself dashing through the doors of the school that had been propped open to let the students out. She made her way through the crowd before she spotted her mama waiting to take her home. She always picked her up from school when Azura didn't have band practice. She had the time since her writing job let her work from home.

 

Luz looked up to see her daughter and a huge smile enveloped her face, “Mija!” She shouted excitedly. Luz’s smile, however, quickly faded as Azura got close to her. “What’s wrong?” Luz asked, her tone shifting from the cheerfulness she felt seeing her daughter to the concern of a mother who is seeing her child in distress.

 

And as if her Mama’s caring voice granted her permission to, Azura suddenly began to sob as she practically fell into Luz’s arms.

 

“Oh, Mija…”

---

“Hold still, mija,” Luz said as she gently placed the bandage on Azura’s arm. Azura stared down at the bandage. It was a bright shade of pink and had a heart on it. “Now let me just,” Luz lifted Azura’s arm up slightly before bending down and placed a kiss on the bandaged skin, “There, no more pain!”

 

This wasn’t Azura’s first meltdown, but it was the first one where she felt ashamed afterwards. Perhaps it was because she was nine now, or maybe just because this one ended with her Mama having to take care of a wound, whatever the reason, Azura wanted to crawl into a hole.

 

Crawling into a hole, however, wasn’t really an option she had. The shovel outside was far too heavy for her to make an effective hole. So instead, she placed her hand over the blue oracle pendant she had been given weeks earlier.

 

“I’m sorry,” Azura transmitted to her Mama.

 

“You don’t need to apologize. This happens, and your mom and I understand,” Luz spoke as she placed the medical supply back under the sink.

 

“But I was so bad, shouldn’t you be mad?” Azura asked through the pendent.

 

“Mija, we’ve been over this,” Luz walked back over to the bathtub Azura was sitting on and sat down next to her, “These meltdowns aren’t your fault, your brain gets overloaded sometimes and that’s okay. This happens to me and your mommy too.”

 

“I know,” Azura leaned in to rest her head against her Mama, “But I still feel like I should apologize.”

 

“Azura, you-” Luz stopped herself suddenly and thought for a second, “I accept your apology, but you didn’t do anything wrong, please understand that.”

 

“I think I do,” Azura sent through the pendent, “I just feel ashamed.”

 

“I get it,” Luz’s voice was soft and warm, “Both me and your Mother get it. Meltdowns aren't pleasant, but they’re not something you should be ashamed of.”

 

“How should I feel about them?” Azura asked

 

“Neutral,” Luz replied, “It can be hard to get there, again, I know, but it’s about where I am with them. They’re a part of my life that I try to avoid but they still can happen. You can learn every technique to stop them from happening and make every effort to avoid potential triggers, but sometimes it isn’t enough, and that’s okay, no matter what anyone else tells you.”

 

“How do I not feel negative about something bad?” Azura responded.

 

“I’m not so sure myself,” Luz chuckled lightly, “It’s one of those things that you learn as you grow older, I suppose.”

 

“But I don’t want to be an old lady like you,” A cheeky smile grew on Azura’s face.

 

“Hey!” Luz exclaimed, offended, “Now that you should apologize for!”

 

“But it's the truth!” a giggle escaped Azura’s mouth as she sent her thoughts to her Mama. Azura couldn’t speak, but a laugh could rarely find its way out of her.

 

Her mothers always told her that it was all they ever needed from her.

---

Azura sat silently on the couch of her home, a weighted blanket draped around her and a cup of hot chocolate in her hand. Luz sat patiently on a chair beside her daughter, giving her space and time, two things Azura always appreciated after a meltdown.

 

A few moments later, however, the silence was broken by the front door opening and Amity rushing in. “I came as soon as I got your message,” Amity said as Ghost hopped off her staff and made its way to Azura’s lap.

 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Luz replied with a sigh, “But I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want you here.”

 

“No job is more important than Azura,” Amity said as she turned towards the teenager, “Hey Sundrop, are you feeling any better?”

 

Azura nodded her head up and down as she placed the now empty cup of hot chocolate on the table. Ghost did not react to her bending forward.

 

“That’s good,” Luz replied, “Are you ready to tell us what happened? We promise to help the best we can.”

 

Azura once again nodded her head before wrapping her right hand around her pendants while her left hand was left to pet Ghost, “Professor Wintley told the class about a mandatory choir recital. I talked to her after class to ask to be excused from it since I’m nonverbal. She told me to ‘suck it up’ and that it's ‘unfair to the rest of the class for me to be excused.’”

 

Luz stood up from her chair after taking in her daughter's words, “Esa Perra!” Luz exclaimed as she placed her hands on her forehead in frustration.

 

“Luz, please watch your language,” Amity grabbed ahold of her work shirt as she turned towards Azura, “DId you tell her that it is unfair for you to be expected to participate in this recital when you cannot speak?”

 

“I tried, but she left before I could argue with her more,” Azura answered, “But she seems to think I just choose to not speak.”

 

Luz let out a frustrated sigh, “How many times are we going to have to have these conversations with people. You don’t speak and that’s not changing at this point.” Azura didn't reply to her Mama’s statement but she was tired of it too. No matter how many times it happened, Azura could never wrap her brain around why some people cared so much that she didn’t speak.

 

“I’m sorry you went through that,” Amity said caringly, “That is unacceptable, and we for sure are going to have a talk with her and the principle over this, right Batata?”

 

“Oh, for sure,” Luz confirmed, “I can’t wait to give that hijo de-”

 

“Okay Luz, we get it,” a small chuckle escaped Amity as she walked over to Luz and placed her hands on her wife's cheeks, “Please promise me you won’t start yelling the moment we enter the meeting.”

 

“I can’t do that,” Luz answered honestly.

 

Amity sighed, “I know.”

 

“You seem strangely calm over this,” Luz pointed out.

 

“Oh, I’m not,” Amity’s tone shifted from caring to angry, “I have half a mind to march down to that no good professor’s house and spell out ‘Ableist Shrew’ on her front lawn with flaming abomination goo, but it's a good idea that one of us is calm for Azura.”

 

“You’re right,” the shorter girl took a deep breath in and out, “Y’know I always hated Wintley. She always gave off bad vibes whenever I had to meet with her.”

 

“I know,” Amity leaned over and gave her wife a kiss on her forehead, “Tell you what. Perhaps I tell Ed and Em about this and maybe some toilet paper happens to cover Wintley’s house tonight?”

 

“I like the way you think, Blight,” Luz said with a devious smile.

 

“Not to interrupt your crime planning,” Azura sent through her pendants, “But could I come to the meeting with Wintley? I want to speak for myself.”

 

“Of course,” Luz replied with a smile, “I’m really proud of you for wanting to be there.”

 

“Same here,” Amity also gave her a warm smile.

 

“Thank you, and I’m sorry about all this,” Azura sent over.

 

“No no, don’t be sorry, this isn’t your fault,” Luz replied.

 

“Your teacher is just awful,” Amity added, “She should apologize to you.”

 

“I doubt she’s going to,” Azura mused as she leaned back in the coach.

 

Before Luz and Amity had a chance to comfort Azura some more, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Amity volunteered, “Why don’t you start dinner?”

 

“It’s a bit early, but sure,” Luz replied as she headed for the kitchen. Amity made her way to the front door.

 

“Oh, Ottava,” Azura shot up to see that yes, her best friend had indeed made an impromptu stop at her place.

 

“Hi, Mrs. Noceda,” the triclops said politely, “I was wondering if Azura was open to talk.”

 

“Well that’s up to her-” before her mom could finish her though Azura had made her way to the door (which got a protest meow out of Ghost), “Well I guess that answers that, why don’t you come in,” Amity motion for Ottava to step inside before leaving the two to talk.

 

“So, uh, hey,” Ottava said awkwardly once she was fully inside The Owl

 

“What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be at practice?” Azura signed.

 

“No, today’s practice was short today since they’re trimming the field tonight,” Ottava answered, “I really should be on a date with Peri.”

 

“Why are you here?” Azura asked, really confused now.

 

“Vince messaged me that something was wrong with you, and when you didn’t reply to my messages I got worried and cut my date short to make sure you were okay,” Ottava answered, sounding guilty.

 

Azura gave a surprise look before summoning her scroll to check her messages. She hadn’t checked them since getting home and when she looked she saw several from Ottava.

 

Ottava: Vince told me something happened. U ok?

 

Ottava: If you need some support I’m here 4 you.

 

Ottava: Sorry to message you again but I’m a bit worried, practice is over and I haven't heard from you yet

 

Ottava: I’m heading over, sorry in advance if I’m overstepping.

 

Azura collapsed her scroll before going back to signing, “Sorry about not seeing those, It's been a rough day.”

 

“I can tell,” Ottava replied, “You want to tell me about it?”

 

“Maybe later, I’d like to focus on other stuff for a bit if that’s okay?” Azura answered. 

 

“I understand,” the enby replied with an understanding smile, “Are you doing better now at least?”

 

“Yeah, I am.”

 

“Hey Azura, why don’t you invite Ottava in for dinner?” Luz called back from the kitchen.

 

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Azura signed, “Or do you need to get back to Peri?”

 

“I’d like that actually,” Ottava’s voice perked up, “Peri said she was going to help her mother garden since I was coming here, so it’s no big deal.

 

“Alright,” Azura signed as she smiled at the taller witch.

 

“Awesome!” Ottava exclaimed before they quickly wrapped Azura in a tight hug. Azura wasn’t usually okay with sudden hugs but Ottava was one of the exceptions. Their hugs were always nice. “I’m going to freshen up, be right back, shortstuff.”

 

Ottava soon left the room, leaving Azura alone for a moment. Azura figured now was a good time to get an apology out of the way. Azura summoned her scroll and pulled up her messages with Vincet.

 

You: I’m sorry if I hurt you earlier

 

It didn’t take long for her cousin to respond.

 

Vince: It’s fine, I shouldn’t have grabbed you. Sorry about that.

 

You: It’s okay. I’m doing better now

 

Vince: That’s good to hear. You wanna talk about what happened?

 

You: No

 

With a sigh Azura sat back down on the coach, mentally preparing for tomorrow.

---

Azura, Luz, and Amity sat quietly in front of the principal's desk. A shiny nameplate sat in front of an older gentleman that read Alstad. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife currently as the principal’s one eye focused down on the trio.

 

The silence was broken by Professor Wintley entering the office, looking as unpleasant as ever. “Let’s make this quick, some delinquent decided to cover my house with toilet paper last night, and I’d like to clean it before it rains.”

 

“Quick and painless would work great for everyone,” Alstad's low voice said, "Azura, why don’t you begin.”

 

“Azura would like to communicate through sign language during this meeting, I will be translating for her,” Amity replied. Azura noticed Wintley rolled her eyes.

 

Azura began to sign and Amity read off what was being said, “Yesterday, Professor Wintley informed the class about a mandatory recital for choir class. After class, I tried to explain to the Professor that since I am nonverbal I am unable to participate in said recital.”

 

“You told me your vocal cords work,” Wintley suddenly snapped back.

 

“That’s not the point!” Luz countered.

 

“She’s right,” Azura signed as Amity continued to translate, “My vocal cords technically work, however, my disability means I am unable to speak even if there’s nothing physically stopping me.”

 

“Oh, you kids and your disabilities,” Wintley began, “Back when I was younger these things weren't a problem.”

 

“Yes, because Belos stifled research into disabilities,” Luz pointed out, “And now that he’s gone, the Isles are getting a greater understanding of disabilities.”

 

“Listen, human,” Wintley sighed, “I’m grateful you stopped Belos and all, but this new research seems sketchy at best. So much of it is based on human findings and how reliable those findings can be.”

 

“Listen here, Cabron!” Luz shouted, anger finally overtaking her, “Just because you’re stupid doesn’t erase the fact that my daughter can’t speak, and you telling her to ‘suck it up’ is incredibly disrespectful.”

 

“Mrs. Noceda, please calm down, yelling won’t solve anything,” Alstad said in an attempt to calm everyone down. “Now then, Wintley, despite your personal views on such topics, it is true that Azura’s condition is recognized by the school and she is thus entitled to accommodations.”

 

“I’ve given that ungrateful brat plenty of accommodations,” Wintley said bitterly, “She already mostly sits in class all day doing nothing, it isn’t a crime to expect some effort from her.”

 

“Call my child a brat again and you won’t have a tongue to say it with anymore!” Amity suddenly shouted, clearly at her limit as well.

 

“Are you threatening me?” Wintley spat back, “I know an excellent lawyer who will make sure your house ends up under my name-”

 

“ENOUGH!” Alstad yelled as he slammed his fist on his desk. All three Noceda’s instinctively cover their ears, “No one is cutting off anyone's tongue and no one is suing anyone today!”

 

“She started it,” Luz childishly replied.

 

“I don’t care,” the cyclops said, at his wits end, “Now, Azura, I’m sure you will be happy to hear that you are excused from participating in the recital, since you can’t speak it would be unfair to make you participate.”

 

“Thank you,” Azura signed, Amity still continued to translate.

 

“And Wintley, is it true you told young Azura here to ‘suck it up’ when she brought her genuine concerns to you?”

 

“Maybe,” Wintley mumbled, barely audible to the room.

 

“Then please apologize to the young lady,” Alstad sighed, “You should know better than to talk to a student that way.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Wintly said, unconvincingly.

 

“Is that all she’s going to get,” Luz spoke up suddenly. “She sends my daughter home crying and all she has to do is apologize?”

 

“Mrs. Noceda, please,” the principal replied, “Wintly has been with us a long time, and she made a mistake. Just like everyone else, she is still learning.”

 

“Isn’t she, like, 70?” Amity rebutted.

 

“68, thank you,” the old witch replied bitterly, “In any case I really need to get home and I have no desire to argue this point anymore. So congratulations, Azura, on getting out of this assignment.” The last part was oozing with sarcasm that even Azura could detect. Before Wintly left, however, Azura heard her say under her breath, “Even if you could speak, I’m sure you’d do bad.”

 

Those last words flipped a switch in the young witch. Those weren't just the bitter words of a bitter lady, those words were a challenge. All her life she’d gotten looked down on by others, all because she couldn’t speak. She was sick of it.

 

She had something to prove.

 

Azura began signing, and Amity immediately began translating again, “I’ll participate in the recital?” Amity’s voice was full of confusion.

 

“I thought you couldn’t speak,” Wintly said with a smug smile.

 

“I can’t, but I can play guitar. I want to prefer a guitar piece on stage instead of singing,” Azura replied.

 

“That’s not- '' was all Wintley could get out before she was interrupted by Alstad.

 

“That’s a wonderful idea!” The principal said, full of joy, “This seems like a fun way to get Azura involved in the recital, so no one is truly left out, don’t you agree?”

 

“I-” Wintley straightened out her poster and a smug smile crept on her face, “Yes I suppose it is.”

 

“Hold on,” Luz said and she and Amity turned to their daughter, “Azura, are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to.”

 

“I’m sure,” Azura transmitted through her pendants, afterwards both Luz and Amity gave proud smiles to their daughter.

 

“We support this as well,” Amity spoke with a huge smile, her hands flapping against her lap slightly.

 

“Since we’re all in agreement, Azura will participate in the recital with her guitar,” Alstad announced, “I now dismiss all of you from this meeting.”

 

“Finally,” Wintly sighed as she walked out of the office, “See you at class tomorrow.”

 

“Once again, we are so proud of you,” the anger in Luz’s voice had been replaced with pure joy.

 

“You’re going to do great out there, Sundrop!” the violet haired witch said with a smile.

 

“Thank you both,” Azura replied through her pendants, a proud smile on her face as well, “Now, can we go home? I need to practice.”

Notes:

Hey chat,

I hope you all don't mind the flashbacks, I'm adding them in to add to Azura's character a bit, so I hope they don't bother you all

Have a great day!

P.S. the wip title for the chapter was "Luz and Amity Kill a Woman"

Chapter 4: Silent Carving

Summary:

Azura attends Palisman carving day featuring special guest star Hunter!

Notes:

Hey chat,

So I know I've alternated between this and Pyramid but I'm getting pretty into writing this so Pyramid might be put on hold for a bit. It's not canceled, just on hiatus. Also, I'm going to be kind of busy the next few weeks, I'm visiting family and then taking a vacation to Colorado but I'll see what I can get done in the mean time.

Until then please enjoy this chapter, it's a bit shorter than the previous ones but it does what I need it to do!

Special thanks to Terra and Feather, for the Beat reads. Feather also came up with the chapter title

You: I can't sleep 

 

Ottava: Not my poor bby :(

 

You: Ottava, I'm struggling here

 

Ottava: And what made you believe I'd be awake 

 

You: You always work out this early 

 

Ottava: You know me too well

 

Ottava: So what's keeping you up

 

You: Mostly the recital stuff

 

Ottava: Shortstuff, you still have like a month and a half until it's here

 

You: I know, but I can't help but feel like I'm not doing enough

 

You: I've made no progress in my experiments, and even after that I'll still have to write a whole piece for it

 

Ottava: Zura, please lay down, you're not going to accomplish anything at 5AM

 

You: I've been trying, but I'm too anxious.

 

Ottava: Try focusing on something else, then

 

Ottava: Like Palisman carving day is today for you, that's exciting, right?

 

You: What if I struggle to find what I want and my Palisman doesn't wake up?

 

Ottava: <_> There's no winning with you 

 

Ottava: You don't have to know tomorrow, you have forever to figure it out

 

You: I know 

 

You: What are you thinking about carving?

 

Ottava: Oh I'm not going, I’m going on the adoption trip instead 

 

You: Aww I was hoping to carve ours together 

 

Ottava: I'm sorry to disappoint you sweetie

 

You: It's fine lol don't worry about it

 

Ottava: Alright

 

Ottava: Do you have an idea on what to carve?

 

You: Actually I do

---

Azura sat restlessly at the dinner table. It was sancocho night at the Noceda's, but more importantly, tonight was the night for Azura to practice Boiling Isles sign language.

 

She'd already mastered American Sign Language, but BISL was a whole other beast. But it would ultimately be the most useful to the young witch.

 

Luz walked over to Azura and placed a bowl in front of her daughter filled with her cooking. 

 

“Thank you,” Azura signed in Boiling Isle sign language.

 

“You're welcome,” Luz replied with a smile. Today was also an opportunity for Luz and Amity to practice reading boiling isle sign language, even if Azura would mostly use her pendants when communicating with her parents.

 

Luz also handed Amity her bowl before she sat down across from Azura. Despite the pressure to sign well, the tension in the air was limited. Her mothers made it clear that even if she didn't do well, they would in no way be disappointed in her. They were all learning together, after all.

 

“So,” Luz began, “How was your day at school, Mija?”

 

Azura took a deep breath before she began to sign, “It went alright, we learned about Palismen today.”

 

“That sounds nice,” Amity replied.

 

“It was!” Azura continued to sign, “My teacher also told us we should  ask our parents how they decided what to carve for their Palismen, actually.”

 

“Well, we'd be happy to tell you!” both Luz and Amity said in unison before they both chuckled.

 

“Why don't you go first?” Luz said.

 

“Sure,” the lavender-haired witch replied, “So, back when we were teenagers, Pailstrom wood was very rare due to a very evil man.”

 

“B-E-L-O-S?” Azura spelled out.

 

“Yeah that guy,” Luz answered, the disdain in her voice was very apparent. Azura knew enough that her mothers had a history with Belos. It seemed like every other time she went out her mothers were approached by someone thanking them for defeating him. They never really talked about it with Azura. Anytime she asked, she was told ‘It's a story for when you're older.’

 

“Anyway,” Amity continued, “That year, with it being as rare as it was, the school held an adoption day for abandoned Palisman.”

 

“So you adopted Ghost?” Azura signed.

 

“No,” Amity replied, “Back then, my side of the family was rich enough to afford Palistorm wood and at a very bad woman's insistence I carved Ghost.” Azura knew enough that asking about this ‘very bad woman’ usually ended with her mother getting very upset.

 

“So why did you carve a cat?” Azura asked.

 

A blush covered her mothers face, “Oh, uh, you know.”

 

“Actually, I don't,” Luz interrupted, “You've never told me why you carved Ghost like that.”

 

Amity's blush got even redder, “Uh, well, you know that old hoodie you used to wear?”

 

Luz just looked back at her wife, nearly speechless, “Did you seriously carve a cat because my old hoodie had cat ears?”

 

“I was,” Amity couldn't look at Luz, “very gay.”

 

“You still are,” Luz chuckled before planting a kiss on Amity’s cheek, “For what it's worth I think that's adorable.”

 

Amity was now the reddest Azura had ever seen her, “Why don't you tell Azura your carving story Luz?”

 

“I'll tease you later,” Luz smiled smugly, “Anyway, I was at school when they had the adoption day, however none of the Palisman that day were drawn to me since I wasn't sure what I wanted yet. But your Grandma and Uncle went on a little adventure and found some Palistrom wood for me.”

 

“So what made you decide on a snakeshifter?” Azura inquired.

 

“I didn't,” Luz answered, “When I carved Stringbean, she was originally an egg.”

 

“Wait, you can do that?” the young witch signed.

 

“Yes!” Luz said proudly, “I did it so when I finally bonded with my Palisman, they could come out however they wanted. And when I eventually did, the egg hatched into Stringbean, and she was perfect.”

 

Azura sat back in disbelief. What her Mama was describing sounded incredible. She loved the concept of giving your Palisman a choice for how to appear.

 

“I think,” Azura began to sign, “I want to do that.”

---

It had been two weeks since Azura agreed to perform at the recital. It was certainly daunting, but Azura had a plan to wipe the smug grin right out of Wintley’s face. Unfortunately that required Azura to figure out how to make her acoustic guitar sound electric, but she had time.

 

She definitely wasn't still worried about it, nope.

 

But right now wasn't the time to worry about the recital, now was the time to worry about Palisman carving. Her class was currently seated in the Palistrom forest as they waited for the head carver to appear.

 

The noise from the class was unpleasant to say the least. A lot of laughs, a lot of yells, and a lot of noise. It was bad enough that Azura had put in earplugs to give her a fighting chance against the noise.

 

Of course, it was made a bit better by the fact that Periwinkle was there. Even if Azura didn't have the nerve to talk with her, she still got to see her crush for an extended period of time which was nice.

 

“Hello everyone,” came a voice that silenced the noisy crowd. Azura peered up to see a Blond-haired man smiling at the crowd nervously, a blue bird perched on his shoulder.

 

Hunter Deamonne, Peri's father, was there to guide the class through carving day. He was an old friend of her parents, and he even watched her from time to time when she was younger. She was also aware that, like her and her parents, he was autistic.

 

She was also aware of his past as The Golden Guard, a fact Hunter preferred to stay private.

 

“My name is Hunter, I'm the head carver here and I've been carving Palisman for almost 20 years at this point,” the man had a big smile on his face. He then pointed his finger towards Peri, “I am also the proud father of the captain of Hexside's grudby team, Periwinkle, who is here today!”

 

“Daaaaaad!” Peri groaned as an embarrassed blush covered her face, also causing Azura's heart to flutter over the cuteness of it, “Don't embarrass me!”

 

“Okay, honey,” Hunter responded, “Anyway, I, along with the rest of the carvers here will be guiding you one-on-one through carving your Palisman throughout the day. All of the carvers here have a list of students that we'll call up in order,” the witch explained.

 

Azura would put good money Hunter made sure Peri was his first student.

 

“Before we begin a reminder: It's perfectly okay if you don't bond with your Palisman today, you're all young and still figuring everything out so don't fret if you don't know today,” Hunter explained, “Now then, time to start calling up students. My first one is,” Hunter pulled out a list of names, “Periwinkle Park, what a coincidence!”

 

Hunter was unconvincing in his tone. Clearly some nepotism was going on, but it was harmless. No one was about to complain about a father wanting to help his daughter carver her Palisman.  Peri seemed happy about it too, her radiant smile lit up the dim forest as she walked up to her father. 

 

As the first set of student names were called, Azura found herself waiting for the time being. Instead, Azura got up with a yawn and stretched, and made her way to one of the many tables filled with snacks for the students while they waited their turn. Unfortunately for Azura, most of the snacks were no-gos. The slimy texture or eyeballs and the overwhelming taste of griffin cheese cubes always made Azura uncomfortable.

 

Until then, Azura simply pulled out her scroll and checked her notifications and responded.

 

Mama: How's carving day so far, Mija?

 

You: Alright so far, haven't carved anything yet

 

Mom: I just felt like reminding you how proud I am of you, please never think I'm not.

 

You: I know mom, I love you 🤟

 

Vincet: Sorry I'm not there but the school wouldn't let me attend since I carved my Palisman already 

 

You: It's perfectly fine

 

Ottava: You feeling any better?

 

You: A little, I'm still tired though

 

Once all her messages were replied to, the young witch simply placed her head down on the table. She had enough sleepless nights to be used to dealing with days like this, but any chance to get some amount of rest was appreciated.

 

“There you are, Voiceless!”

 

Of course that wouldn't last long. 

 

Azura didn't move her head up but she heard Mercy take a seat next to her. Azura figured if she ignored her she'd eventually go away.

 

“A little birdie told me you're participating in the choir recital,” Mercy began, “How is someone like you going to participate in a choir recital? Hmmm?”

 

“Birds don't talk and also I'm not singing, just playing an instrument,” Azura thought to herself, her head still remaining down.

 

“Not going to say anything, Oh right, you can't!” Mercy said like it was some big embarrassment, “Oh well! Though I'll be sure to catch your performance, I'm sure you won't bomb.”

 

Azura got confused for a second before it hit her that Mercy was being sarcastic.

 

“Anyway,” Mercy continued, despite Azura's lack of acknowledgement, “I do wonder how you're supposed to bond with your Palisman, how are you supposed to when you can't even tell it what you want.”

 

“Huh?” Azura thought as she finally lifted her head up and looked at Mercy confused, avoiding eye contact.

 

“Oh did you not realize it yet, Voiceless?” the demon said with a smug grin, “How are you going to bond with your Palisman if you can't tell it what you want?”

 

Azura quickly pulled out her scroll and opened her text-to-speech app and typed, “I'm sure I can bond with it even without saying anything.”

 

“Are you sure?” Mercy asked, “I've never heard of someone bonding with a Palisman without talking to it, and do you honestly expect your craving to read your thoughts.”

 

Azura was about to type more to argue her case but was cut off by Hunter calling her name up to start her carving session. Azura collapsed her scroll and began to head towards Hunter, thankful for an escape from Mercy.

 

“Oh, looks like you have to go. Good luck, Voiceless,” Mercy chuckled as Azura walked away. 

 

Rationally, Azura knew Mercy was just trying to mess with her but that didn't stop the fear that was building inside her. Could she really not bond with her Palisman without speaking? It was something she was definitely going to have to ask Hunter about.

 

Speaking of, the blond witch was sitting happily, tapping his foot up and down rapidly, at a small work bench with carving tools and a piece of Palistrom wood on it.

 

“Hello Azura, I hope you don't mind but I made sure you were on my list since I'm the only one here who knows sign language,” Hunter said as Azura took a seat across from him.

 

“I don't mind,” Azura gave a smile as she signed her response, “But before we begin, I wanted to know if it's possible to bond with my Palisman without verbally saying what I want?”

 

Hunter went silent for a moment as he got lost in thought, “Yeeeees,” he eventually answered, unconvincingly.

 

“You don't sound confident,” Azura pointed out.

 

“Well, I don't know if we've ever had someone in your situation yet,” Hunter admitted, “But Palisman are smart, I'm sure if you just think what you want it'll bond with you.”

 

“And if that doesn't work?” Azura asked as she got increasingly worried.

 

“It'll work. Probably,” Hunter said nervously, “Let's not worry about that, and just start carving.”

 

The two did exactly as Hunter suggested, despite the man not exactly helping soothe Azura's anxiety. Regardless, carving her Palisman went smoothly. Hunter was an excellent teacher and was able to guide Azura through the process of carving an egg out of the chunk of Palistom wood. The tools took some getting used to but she eventually got the hang of it and was finally sitting with her Palisman egg in front of her. An egg just like her Mama had.

 

“Looks like we're done here!” Hunter exclaimed excitedly, “You did a great job with carving, you and Peri are the first students I've had who didn't cut themselves.”

 

“Thank you,” Azura wore a proud smile at the praise.

 

“Now why don’t you try bonding with your Palisman,” Hunter suggested.

 

Azura simply nodded her head and gently placed her hand on the egg, and began to think, “I want to be a great musician.”

 

A few seconds passed and nothing happened.

 

“Okay, how about I want to figure out how to make my acoustic guitar sound like an electric one?”

 

Nothing happened again.

 

“I want to find true love?”

 

Nothing.

 

With a large sigh, Azura fell back into her chair, defeated.

 

“Oh it's okay,” Hunter reassured, “Plenty of the students don't know what they want yet, give it time, you'll figure it out!”

 

“But what if I have to speak my desire to bond with it?” Azura signed.

 

“Let's not go there,” Hunter replied before walking over to a table filled with baskets full of blankets and brought one over to the young witch, “Why don't you put your egg in here and take it home for the time being.”

 

“Alright, thank you for everything today,” Azura signed before she picked up the basket and headed back towards the snack table.

 

“Tell your moms I said hi!” Hunter shouted as she left Azura gave a thumbs up in response.

---

Azura walked through the front door of her house, more tired than ever, and the basket with her Palisman egg in hand.

 

“Welcome home, sundrop,” Amity said with a bright smile from the coach.

 

“How did carving day go, Mija? I see you still have your egg,” Luz also smiled brightly at her daughter from next to Amity.

 

“Fine, as you can see I haven't bonded with my Palisman yet,” Azura sent through her pendants.

 

“Oh don't worry about it,” Luz said with a reassuring tone, “It took me forever to bond with Stringbean.”

 

“I know,” the green-haired witch replied, “But I'm also worried that I can't bond with them if I can't speak what I want.”

 

“Oh don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll understand when the time is right,” Amity replied.

 

“I hope so,” Azura sent through her pendants before dropping her head. Luz and Amity gave each other a quick glance before they both got up and wrapped their arms around their daughter.

 

“It's going to be okay,” Luz whispered. “We both know you'll figure it out eventually. You're too stubborn not to.”

 

“You get that from your Mama,” Amity added which garnered a chuckle out of Azura and an offended ‘Hey!’ out of Luz. “Point is, you've got this.”

 

Luz and Amity both quickly gave a kiss to the top of Azura's head before pulling back. She was still stressed about everything, but she was feeling a lot better. Her mothers were always good at helping with that.

 

“Gracias,” Azura transmitted through her pendants, “Te Amo.”

 

“Yo también te amo,” both Luz and Amity replied in unison.

 

Azura let out a yawn before transmitting more thoughts through her pendants, “I'm going to take a nap, wake me up for dinner.”

 

“We will,” Amity said with a caring smile.

 

“Sleep well,” Luz ruffled Azura’s curly hair before the young witch began to make her way up the stairs.

 

Before she reached the top Azura made sure to send, “Oh Hunter says hi,” before heading to her room. Once inside, Azura gently placed the basket from Hunter on her nightstand before she closed her curtains, leaving her room dim.

 

Azura shook off her shows before she climbed under her weighted blanket. It was a nice shade of orange with mini music notes covering it. Once she was sung in her blanket Azura summoned her scroll and opened her messages between her and Ottava.

 

You: How'd adoption day go?

 

Ottava: Not good, I didn't bond with anyone.

 

You: Sorry to hear that :(

 

You: If it helps I didn't bond with mine either.

 

Ottava: Aww that sucks, but at least you got an egg for your troubles right?

 

You: Yeah, I just hope I can bond with it

 

Ottava: You'll get there, any Palisman would be lucky to have you as their owner, sweetheart 

 

You: Same to you

 

Azura turned her gaze towards her egg and placed her hand on it once again, “I hope we can meet buddy, I really do,”  Azura thought as her drowsiness began to catch up with her.

Notes:

Hey chat, hope you all have a wonderful day!

Chapter 5: Chasing Rainbows

Summary:

After a grudby game, Peri needs Azura's help finding a gift for Ottava.

Notes:

Hey chat, I managed to get this chapter done! This might be the last one for a week or two since I'll be vacationing but we'll see.

Chapter title is from the song Chasing Rainbows by Shed Seven

Special thanks to Feather, for the beta read!

“GOAL!” screamed the announcer, which was Azura and the rest of the band's cue to start playing their school’s anthem. It was a cool Saturday afternoon on the Boiling Isle and the atmosphere at Hexside was electric. Ottava had just tossed in the game winning goal after an incredible pass from Peri and the school was currently undefeated in the season and heading straight for a title. 

 

Of course the loud crowd wasn’t the best thing for Azura’s over sensitive ears. Neither was the sound of her drums and the rest of the band's instruments. But with her ear plugs it was manageable. Joining the band wasn’t the best idea Azura had but it allowed her to be there to support her best friend while gaining elective credits.

 

It also allowed her to watch her crush play which was a huge bonus. Plus, grugby was way more interesting now that they finally got rid of the rusty smidge and just let teams actually play the game.

 

As the band relaxed on their playing Azura got a good look at the team celebrating at the hard fought win. She smiled at it until she caught a glimpse of Ottava and Peri hugging and her stomach dropped. She wanted to be happy for the two so badly, Ottava was her best friend after all and deserved to be happy but Azura's heart was having a hard time. The young witch wasn’t sure when she’d fully recover from the heartache but after three months she resigned herself that it would remain for the time being.

 

With a sigh, Azura detached her drum set and gently placed it down for one of the helpers to bring back to the band room for storage until their next practice. Azura proceeded to make her way down the bleachers and to the locker rooms to change, not before Azura caught a glimpse of Ottava running towards her.

 

“Hello,” Azura signed over to the triclops as they approched, somehow not exhausted after the game.

 

“Hi sweetie,” Ottava said jokingly as they stopped in front of the shorter girl, a smile on their face, “I have plans with my moms after this game so I can’t stay long but I wanted to just say hi before you left.”

 

“Thanks,” Azura signed, “You were amazing out there by the way.”

 

“Thank you! I think I set a personal record for points today,” Ottava wore a prideful look on her face as her face flushed slightly, “You were incredible today too, you were killing it on the drums out there.”

 

It was Azura’s turn to blush as her friend's compliment caused her to flap her hands as well.

 

“Aw I haven’t seen your flappy hands in a while, I missed them so much,” Ottava replied. Azura wanted to tell her to quit teasing her but her hands were too preoccupied with flapping happily for her to sign anything. Azura always said it was her version of being at a loss for words.

 

“Well I need to go get changed since I’m all sweaty and gross, see you later shortstuff!” Ottava said as they winked their forehead eye at Azura before leaving. Azura replied with a smile back before heading to get out of her band uniform and have a quick meeting with the rest of the band.

-

Azura walked silently through the empty halls of Hexside. The meeting went well, her band director was very happy with the band and even said Azura was a stand out performer that day. Azura may not have been the biggest fan of being in the band but she still tried her best at it and it was nice to hear her best was good.

 

On most days where Azura had to perform, her mothers also attended to cheer her on and take her home, however, both of them had work plans that could not be canceled so Azura was walking herself home today.

 

Technically, she was supposed to ask Vincet to fly her home, however, Azura didn’t want Vincet to take her home, so she didn’t ask. Her mothers wouldn’t be home till later anyway so even if she walked home she’d get back before them. 

 

As Azura exited the school building she heard her name called in the distance. She looked over to where the voice came from to find Periwinkle walking towards her while Ms. Park was chatting with another parent, much to Azura’s surprise.

 

Before Azura could summon her scroll, Peri was in front of Azura and brought her hands up and was…signing? At least Azura thought she was. Her hand movements were very slow and unrefined but Azura could make out, “How are you doing?”

 

Azura quickly summoned her scroll and began typing in her text-to-speech app, “Are you using sign language?”

 

“Yeah,” Peri awkwardly chuckled, a chuckle Azura found all too cute, “I asked my dad to teach me a few phrases last night. I just felt it was a nice thing to do since I wanted to get a bit closer to you.”

 

Azura stepped back in shock as her face once again flushed before she started swiftly typing, “You wanted to get closer to me?”

 

“Yeah,” Peri replied nervously, “You’re Ottava’s friend and I figured it would be a good idea if we were a bit closer is all.”

 

Clearly Azura had died and gone to heaven because her crush was currently asking to get closer to her. Granted it was just because she was their partner's friend but that didn’t stop Azura’s heart from fluttering like a pixie.

 

“I appreciate the effort of learning sign language and would like to get closer to you as well,” Azura typed out. There was a part of her brain currently yelling at her that this wasn’t a good idea. That getting closer to the girl dating your best friend that you have a massive crush on was just going to leave you even more hurt. But that part was drowned out by the part telling her to jump on this opportunity.

 

“Good,” Peri’s awkward smile faded to a serious expression, “Because I kind of need your help.”

 

“SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP AZURA HOLY TITAN,” shouted a voice in the emerald hair witch’s head. A voice Azura silenced enough to type out another message, “What do you need my help with?”

 

“Well Ottava and I’s three month anniversary is coming up and I kind of wanted to get them something to celebrate,” Peri began, “But I’m kind of at a loss for what to get them. They can be a bit closed off at times so I’m not sure what they’d appreciate.”

 

“Why do you need my help?” Azura typed, her gayness making her temperoly forget that she was Ottava’s best friend and probably knew them well enough to give gift ideas.

 

“Well you're their best friend,” Peri explained, “Ottava talks about you constantly so I figured if anyone knew what they’d like it’d be the person they call ‘The coolest person I know.’” 

 

Azura blushed at Ottava’s apparent praise before typing some more, “I guess I can help, what were you thinking?”

 

“I was thinking something not super expensive but shows that I care,” the scarlet haired witch replied, “Like it’s just been three months so I’m not trying to get like a diamond ring or anything but just something they’d appreciate.”

 

Azura put her hand on her chin as she thought for a moment before her mind came to a place. Azura began typing again, “Are you able to come to downtown Bonesborough?”

 

“I could probably fly us there,” the older witch replied before she outstretched her arm and in a flash summoned her pailsman staff. On the end of it was a cute purple finch. Azura was enamored by just how cool she looked in that moment, “Let me go ask my Mom if she'll let us go.”

 

Azura gave a thumbs up and Peri walked away. Azura quickly turned around to take a few deep breaths to get her gay panic in order. A benefit of not being able to speak is that she at least didn’t have to worry about being a stuttering mess like her Mother’s can be.

---

 After a 15 minute flight to downtown bonesboroh that Azura definitely didn’t spend the duration of freaking out over the fact that she got to essentially hold onto her crush the entire time, they arrived at the place Azura had thought of.

 

“Is this the place?” Peri asked as the pair hopped off the older witches Palisman, who Azura was happy to learn was named French Toast.

 

Azura gave Peri a nod as she led Peri into a tent in downtown Bonesborough with a sign next to it that read “Miss Toasty’s Pride Emporium: The First Pride Shop on The Boiling Isles!”

 

Once the two entered, Azura and Peri were met with rows of pride merchandise. From flags, to shirts, to plaques that read “be gay do witchcraft,’ to even cute socks.

 

“Wooow,” Peri looked around amazed at the items in the tent.

 

Azura summoned her scroll and began to type, “This is one of my favorite shops around here. My mothers and I shop for gifts for each other here all the time. I figured you'd be able to find something nice for Ottava here.”

 

“I think you may be right,” Peri mused as she made a b-line for the Non-binary section of the tent, Azura following behind her, “So how did you discover this place?”

 

Azura started rapidly typing on her scroll, “Okay, so…”

---

“We’re here,” Amity sang as she landed Ghost in front of the large tent, Azura hanging on behind her. Today was the grand opening of The Boiling Isles first official pride shop. Until recently, the isle didn’t have the same concept of pride as the human realm did. There were no flags or parades. Of course, Luz managed to change that. She introduced the concept of pride to the whole isles and now there was enough interest for the very first pride shop to open up. And of course, Amity had to be there for its grand opening. Luz would’ve been there as well, however, she was out helping her Tia pick out a wedding dress.

 

“Well what do you think?” Amity asked as the mother and daughter entered the tent. Azura looked around and was amazed at all the pretty colors around her.

 

“It’s so pretty in here!” Azura signed in ASL.

 

“I know!” Amity smiled down at her daughter, “I’m definitely getting me and your mother some pins.”

 

“So what do all these different flags mean?” Azura signed, “I think I only know the rainbow one.”

 

“Oh you don’t know yet,” Amity replied, “Well today is a good day to teach you!” Amity said excitedly. “Okay so that one,” Amity pointed towards a flag with green and blue stripes, “Is used by boys who like other boys! Our friend Gus and his boyfriend use that one. That one,” Amity pointed towards a flag with red and pink stripes, “Is the lesbian pride flag, it’s for girls that like other girls. It’s the flag I use along with your Aunt Emira and Aunt Viney.”

 

Azura’s eyes winded and ears perked up at that one.

 

“That one,” Amity was now pointing at a flag with a purple, pink, and blue stripes, “Is the bisexual flag, it’s used by people attracted to both men and women, your mama uses that one. That blue, pink, and yellow one is the pansexual flag, it’s used by people who are attracted to anyone regardless of gender. Tia Vee and Ms. Park use that one.”

 

“What about the pink and blue one? It’s very pretty,” Azura asked.

 

“Oh that one is used by trans people, those who identify as the opposite gender from what they were assigned at birth,” Amity smiled.

 

“So like Periwinkle?” Azura asked.

 

“Yes,” Amity confirmed, “Then there’s the yellow, white, purple, and black one which is for non-binary, or people who identify outside the gender binary like your cousin Vincet and your friend Ottava. Then the black, gray, white, and purple one is for people who identify as asexual, who are people not attracted to anyone. Your great aunt Lilith uses that one.”

 

“Wow,” Azura signed, “I love them all!!”

 

“Same,” Amity smiled, “There’s more than these but it seems those are all they have in stock for right now but I heard the owners are adding more soon. If you like I can teach you about more of them when we get home.”

 

“I’d like that,” Azura smiled back at her mom before her eyes went back to the lesbian pride section. Suddenly, Azura walked towards a row of flags before turning back towards her mother.

 

Amity looked curious as her daughter did this, “What is it, Sundrop?”

 

Azura simply pointed towards the flags with one hand before pointing towards herself.

 

“Azura, are you saying you're a lesbian?” Amity asked in disbelief.

 

Azura nodded her head.

 

“Oh wow I-'' Amity's hands began to flap up and down as did her ears as tears began to run down her face. Suddenly, Amity rushed over towards her daughter and picked her up in a big hug, “I’m so proud of you for coming out and so happy you felt comfortable to tell me.” Azura tapped on her back a few times to signal that it was a bit too tight for her, “I’m sorry,” Amity said through her tearful eyes before she placed Azura down, “Do you want to get a flag for your room?”

 

Azura nodded her head with a smile.

 

“Great, I’ll get you the biggest one,” Amity said before she stopped and looked at the other merchandise, “What about this pin?” And before Azura could even respond Amity just continued, “Oh and this shirt is cute! What about this plush? Oh This plaque is cute! I’m definitely getting you these socks and-”

 

Before Azura knew it the two had left the tent with 300 snails worth of pride merchandise and Azura couldn't be happier.

 

“Your Mama’s going to kill me,” Amity mumbled as the two hoped back on to Ghost to fly home.

---

“Awww that’s a really cute story!” Peri replied as they continued to search through the non-binary section of the store, “I remember the day after I came out as trans my dad stitched me a big trans flag for my room.”

 

“That’s nice,” Azura responded through her scroll, “So have you found anything you like yet?”

 

“Yes!” Peri said, “How about I just get them a Non-binary flag?”

 

“No, they have one above their bed already,” Azura typed out, surprised that Peri didn’t already know that.”

 

“Oh,” Peri replied before she turned around and picked up a shirt that had several flowers colord like the Non-binary flag, “What about this shirt?” 

 

“No,” Azura typed in response, “Ottava hates getting shirts as gift, they think it’s boring.”

 

“Oh I didn’t know that,” Peri looked around some more, “How about a couple pins?”

 

“Their corkboard is too full as it is,” Azura replied.

 

“Socks?” Peri asked?

 

“Same problem as the shirts,” Azura typed in response.

 

“I give up!” Peri exclaimed in frustration as she tossed her hands up. Azura wasn’t sure what else to do. She was also at a loss for what to do until her eyes landed on something.

 

It was a cute stuffed bear, a mythical creature that her Mama swore was real, holding a heart. One half of the heart was the Non-binary flag and the other half was the pansexual flag. Azura’s eyes lit up as she quickly grabbed the bear. She walked over to Peri and gave her shoulder a tap to get her to turn around and presented the bear to Peri.

 

“What’s this?” Peri looked rather puzzled as she took the bear in her hands.

 

“A stuffed bear with both you and Ottava’s pride flags on it,” the shorter girl typed, “I think they’d like it a lot.”

 

“Are you sure?” Peri questioned, “Ottava doesn’t seem like a plushie witch.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Azura typed, “Ottava loves plushies! They have a bunch in their room!”

 

“Oh,” Peri replied, “I’ll uh take your word for it.”

 

“Trust me, they’ll love it!” Azura happily typed out.

 

“I just hope that-” Peri began before sighing, “Nevermind.”

 

“What’s wrong?” Azura gave a worried look to Peri.

 

“It’s just,” the red haired witch sighed once again, “Ottava and I have been dating for three months now and they’re still very reserved with me. Like we haven’t even kissed yet and they barely want to cuddle with me. I don’t want to rush them or do stuff that makes them uncomfortable but it is a bit frustrating is all.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Azura typed, bewildered how anyone would pass up the opportunity to kiss and hold the amazing witch in front of her, “I don’t know what advice I can give you. I’ve never had a relationship before.”

 

“Don’t worry,” Peri reassured, “I’m not asking for advice here and I don’t mean to dump all this on you. I just hope that maybe this can change that a little?”

 

“Good luck,” was all Azura could think to respond with. She didn’t exactly trust herself to give relationship advice, especially to Peri. She could not live with herself if she said anything to ruin Ottava’s relationship. Her friendship with Ottava was much more important than her dumb gay hearts pining.

 

“Thanks,” Peri huffed, “I’ll go pay for this I guess, do you want a ride home?”

 

“Yes,” Azura replied as she followed Peri to the register. After Peri had paid the 20 snails she owed for the stuffed bear, the two left the store for the Noceda’s. After another 15 minutes of flying they landed in front of Azura’s house.

 

“Welcome home,” Peri mused as Azura jumped off French Toast, “Thank you so much for your help today.”

 

“You’re welcome, anything for Ottava,” Azura typed out, a smile on her face.

 

“Yeah…” Peri mumbled. Azura  began to walk toward her home before Peri spoke again, “They really do care about you a lot. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said they talk about you all the time. I’m a bit jealous.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Azura typed as she turned back around to face Peri, avoiding eye contact as she usually did.

 

“Don’t be,” Peri replied, “As long as you make them happy, it’s all good.”

 

Azura replied with a simple thumbs up, not sure how to respond to Peri.

 

“Listen,” Peri continued, “Maybe some time in the future we can hang out a little. I know we haven’t really hung out since we were little but I’d like to at some point, you’re pretty cool.”

 

Azura’s big dumb gay brain short circuited, “SHE THINKS YOU’RE PRETTY COOL AZURA!” it yelled at her as a blush formed on her face. Luckily for Azura she was able to be rational for a moment as she typed out, “I’d like that too,” in her scroll.

 

“Great,” the grudby star replied, “Well I’ll see you around school until thing, thanks again,” And with those final words Peri flew off as Azura waved goodbye. Once Peri was gone, Azura began to once again flap her hands in a happy stim. Her crush called her cool! Nothing could ruin her day now!

---

“Azura Manuela Noceda,” Luz said sternly as she and Amity looked down at their daughter, “Do you mind telling us why we got a message from Willow that you went downtown with Peri without asking AND that Vincet wasn’t with you.”

 

“Azura you were supposed to ask Vincet to fly you home,” Amity pointed out, “What’s going on?”

 

“Please just be honest with us,” Luz said as she adjusted her glasses. It wasn’t often when her mother’s got mad at her, but when they did, Azura knew she really messed up.

 

“Because Vincet is annoying!” Azura sent through her pendants, “All he does is coddle me when I don’t need it! He flies slowly, messages me constantly to make sure I’m okay, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them following me around school some days.”

 

“Okay that sounds like a lot,” Amity conceded.

 

“Yeah that’s pretty bad,” Luz agreed, “But you still shouldn’t have gone downtown without asking us first and you should've said something to us if you didn’t want  your cousin to fly you home.”

 

“I know,” Azura relented, “I’m sorry but I just can’t deal with them anymore. Could you talk with him?”

 

Luz and Amity glanced at each other before they looked back down at their daughter and said in unison, “No.”

 

“What?” Azura replied, shocked.

 

“You need to talk with him yourself,” the human replied.

 

“We love you Sundrop, but we can’t do everything for you,” Amity continued, “You’re growing up and you need to handle situations like this on your own.”

 

“But I don’t know how!” Azura cried through her pendants.

 

“Just tell him how you feel,” Luz suggested.

 

“That's all you really can do,” the lavender haired girl said. Azura remained silent.

 

“Just think about it,” Luz sighed, “Until then, you’re doing all the cleaning around the house for the next week, and I don’t want to hear a single complaint about it.”

 

“Fine,” Azura sent through her pendants as she got up from the coach and made a b-line to her room to go practice for the recital.

 

“You know you would’ve done the same thing at her age,” Amity mused as Luz and her watched their daughter leave the living room.

 

“Yeah,” Luz chuckled, “She’s going to be just fine.” 

Notes:

Hey chat, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have a good week!

Chapter 6: Listen for Once

Summary:

Azura finally confronts Vincet. It doesn't go well.

Notes:

Hey chat, back from Colorado (It was wonderful there btw) and with a new chapter! rewrote the second half of this after finishing it on the drive home lol. Hope you all enjoy.

Special thanks to Feather, and Story for the beta reads and Buff for spanish help

Azura collapsed down on one of the beanbag chairs she kept in her room. Not only was she a bit tired from having to do the dishes but she was simply frustrated. Not even just about Vincet. Sure, that was part of it, but she was no closer to making her acoustic guitar sound electric and if that wasn’t bad enough, her palisman still hadn’t hatched.

 

Azura flipped over and turned her gaze upwards to the egg which was resting on her nightstand, still in the basket that Hunter had her, and let out a sigh.

 

Azura reached up and placed her hand gently on the egg and began to think, “I want Vincet to stop babying me all the time.” It was a very specific want but it was worth a shot at least.

 

Nothing happened.

 

“What if I said I wanted my parents to talk to Vincet about it?” Azura once again thought. Again, probably too specific but she was willing to try anything.

 

And once again nothing happened.

 

With another sigh Azura turned back around. Afterwards, Azura let out a soft whistle that caused her guitar that was resting in its stand to hover over toward her, figuring she may as well practice some more. Once it was close enough Azura grabbed it out of the air and began to tune it.

 

Once properly tuned, Azura began to strum out a piece she had been working on for the recital. It was supposed to start off as a slow and soft acoustic piece until it got loud and bombastic when she started using her magic to make it electric.

 

Key word being supposed to.

 

As Azura got to the part that was supposed to become electric, she began to glow red as she attempted to use her magic to manipulate the sound of her guitar. However, her magic just began to cause random objects around her room to float. Frustration began to take hold of the young witch as her strumming got more intense, and with it her mind began to wander through all the frustrations in her life, which seemed to only cause her to strum herder. It first went to Professor Wintley and her awful condensing attitude towards her, then Mercy’s constant bullying, and finally to Vincet always treating her like she's still a little kid. It was all starting to build up, her strumming got more and more intense and the sound of the guitar got more and more strained.

 

“I’m not a baby,” Azura began to think, “Why does everyone have to treat me like I’m five. Why can’t they just treat me with respect. Why can’t-”

 

SNAP

 

In an instant all the objects that had been floating fell back down with a loud thud as the sound of an off sounding chord filled the air, breaking Azura out of her trance with it. The emerald haired witch looked down at her guitar to find that one of the strings had snapped.

 

“Dammit,” Azura thought as she got up from her beanbag to grab her spare strings from one of her drawers. Once acquired, Azura brought her guitar up to her bed as she began to replace the snapped guitar string. Azura enjoyed restringing her guitar. For whatever reason it relaxed her.

 

As she worked on guitar, Azura's mind went back to what her mothers had said a few hours earlier.

 

“‘You need to talk with him yourself,’” Azura thought, “Like that ever works.”

---

“Why don't you two go get some ice scream while we talk?” Amity said as she handed a few snails over to Vincet.

 

Amity and Vincet had both been brought along for a lunch between their mothers and as usual they were being sent to go get themselves ice scream so their mothers had a minute alone. 

 

As the two walked over to their usual ice scream stand, Azura began to think of what she wanted to order. She usually got chocolate with sprinkles but today she was thinking about getting booberry today.

 

As they walked up to the stand, Azura went through in her mind what signs she needed to use to tell Vincet what she wanted. She and Vincet had just recently gotten to the level where they could regularly communicate with each other using Boiling Isle sign language but it still took Azura a second to remember some signs.

 

Azura was just about to get Vincent's attention when he said to the worker, “We'll have two chocolate cones please.”

 

“Wait no. That's not what I want,” Azura thought as she began to panic, “Why would he not ask me?” 

 

In response Azura tugged on Vincet's shirt causing him to turn around and look at his baby cousin, “Huh? "What's wrong, Azura?”

 

Azura was about to reply that she wants a different flavor before Vincet interrupted her, “Oh right!” Vincet turned back to the worker, “Put sprinkles on one.”

 

“No no no! That's not it!” Azura thought as she began tugging on her cousin's shirt some more.

 

“Azura, stop,” Vincet said firmly, “The man is putting sprinkles on it, you're getting what you want.”

 

But it's not what she wants, and Vincet isn't giving her a chance to speak so-to-say, and before she can tell Vincet that, the ice scream is ready and the enby has handed her a cone.

 

“Here you go!” Vincet said to the visibly distraught Azura, “Wait, now what's wrong?”

 

“This isn't what I wanted,” Azura signed, finally getting something out.

 

“But this is what you always get,” Vincet replied confused.

 

“I know but-” Azura began before the older witch once again cut her off.

 

“Azura, they put sprinkles on it! Stop worrying about that!” Vincet held out Azura's cone towards the shorter witch.

 

Azura just looked at the cone in frustration, not in any mood to eat it at this point.

 

Vincet let out a frustrated sigh, “What? I got you what you wanted? Right?” Vincet fixed his gaze down at Azura with a look that said his patience was running thin.

 

“Nothing,” Azura signed, not in any mood to get yelled at by her cousin before grabbing the cone she didn't actually want and began walking back to her parents.

 

“Whatever,” Vincey mumbled as they followed behind her.

---

It was a few days later and Azura needed a break. Bad.

 

All of her classes that day offered some flavor of stress. History was a group project she was forced to do with two other students who didn't want to contribute, history of instruments had a pop quiz that Azura just knew she bombed, and tomb-bones and other boney instruments went well enough that it ended with a femur in Azura's curly hair.

 

Lucky for the young witch, it was lunchtime and that meant Azura could go to her private room in the library while she ate her lunch, just the cool down she needed. Maybe she'd also message Ottava to complain while she had the chance.

 

Azura made her way through the halls of the school. They were nowhere near as busy as the start of the day but Azura still would rather not spend her time in them. Luckily for her she was almost out of the school and into her peaceful oasis in the library.

 

“Azura?” 

 

The emerald haired witch was suddenly brought to a stop like she was a unicorn in a light spell. Standing in front of her was Vincet, who was supposed to be at the other side of the school. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but, as far as Vincet knew, Azura spent her lunches in the lunchroom, not the library. A small lie Azura told to insure that her older cousin never found out about her secret room.

 

“What are you doing? Shouldn't you be in Intermediate Alchemy?” Azura quickly signed.

 

“The room is currently covered in slime from the last class so it got canceled, I was just walking around to pass time,” Vincet explained, “What are you doing here, shouldn't you be at lunch?” 

 

Azura was suddenly put on the spot. Now she needed another fib to give Vincent so they didn't find out about Azura's private room. Vincet was the last person she needed to know about it.

 

“I need to check out a book for a class,” Azura signed, praying that was enough to get him off her back.

 

“What class? And wouldn't it be better to do this during a study hall or after class so you don't miss lunch?” Vincet raised an eyebrow at Azura, clearly suspicious.

 

Great, more questions.

 

“Whistling spells for beginners,” Azura quickly signed, “Also I'm not that hungry today so it's fine.” Vincet was about to respond again before Azura cut him off with more signs, “I got to go, see you later!”

 

Vincet attempted to protest before being pushed aside by Azura as she rushed to the library. She didn't waste much time making her way through the library to the shelf that housed her getaway spot.

 

She pulled the old book that housed the mechanism for the small room and entered inside, making sure to close the shelves behind her. Azura placed her things onto the floor and flopped onto a beanbag chair, deciding to not bother with her radio for the moment. Azura closed her eyes as she began to relax, glad to finally get a break from classes for the next half an hour. 

 

That's when the false shelf began opening up, causing Azura to open her eyes in horror when she saw that Vincet, who apparently decided it was a good idea to follow her, was on the other side of the shelf. 

 

“Azura, what is this place?” Vincet asked, demandly, “Why aren't you at the lunch room? Does Malphus know about this room? And you shouldn't be here anyway, what if you get stuck in this room and starve?”

 

Azura barely registered her cousin's questions. Rage began to build inside her. Vincent had officially crossed a line. This room was Azura's and Azura's alone. They had no right to barge in here and start rattling off questions. 

 

This was the final straw. Vincet was finally going to get some choice words from their cousin.

 

But first, he needed to be shut up. Without warning, Azura began to whistle out a tune and the taller witch suddenly found themselves completely stiff and unable to speak. It was a simple paralyzing spell, but an effective one.

 

Azura ceased her whistling as Vincet gained control again, but not before Azura began singing, “Okay Vincent, you've crossed a line. This is my own private space that my moms gifted to me and you're not allowed to be here. So I will kindly ask you to leave the room and not barge in here again.”

 

Vincet looked over at their cousin dumbfounded, “Why aren't I allowed here?”

 

“Because I say so!” Azura responded.

 

“But I’m your cousin,” Vincet whined, “Why were you keeping this from me?”

 

“Because you treat me like a child!” Azura pointed out, “Everyday I get like 5 messages from you asking if I'm okay, and it's annoying. Whenever we hang out you always end up speaking for me when I'd much rather speak for myself. And you can never take a hint when I just want to be left alone. LIke right now! You followed me here when I clearly didn’t want you to. I get it, you're just trying to help me but it feels patronizing at this point and I'm sick of it. So listen to me just this one time: please back off a little, I am my own person and I don't need you to baby me constantly.”

 

“I don't understand,” Vincet replied, “I'm just trying to help you!”

 

“And it's patronizing!” Azura signed back, “Look, I appreciate that you care about me, I care about you too! I would just like it if you'd give me some space. Or at least when we hang out you can treat me more like a friend than a child you're babysitting?”

 

“So I see,” Vincet was now getting angry, “You're being an ungrateful brat.”

 

Azura was taken aback by her cousin's name calling. This was the first time they'd talk to her like this, “I am not ungrateful!”

 

“Yes you are!” Vincet continued, “Do you have any idea how much effort I put into helping you?”

 

“Effort I never asked for!” Azura shot back, “And besides, I don't always need it!” 

 

“Yes you do!” Vincet continued, “I mean come on Azura, you can't talk for titan's sake you need help.”

 

“Yes, I do need more support than other people, but I don't need you to monitor me constantly, I'm a fully capable witch!” Azura signed in frustration, “Why can't you realize that?”

 

“Whatever,” Vincet rolled his eyes dismissively, “But fine, be on your own, I'm done helping you.”

 

“Fine by me if you're going to act like this,” Azura signed.

 

“Feel free to apologize when you realize how much you need me,” Vincet shouted before storming out of the secret room.

 

“That won't be happening,” Azura thought as she angrily shut the false shelf behind her cousin.

---

“I guess I'll have to fly you to school for a little bit,” Luz sighed as she held her daughter close. 

 

“Thank you,” Azura sent through her pendants. She was back home and  broke the news to her parents about her fight with Vincet, “Sorry about all this.”

 

“Hey we told you to talk with him about this and you did,” Amity said as she rubbed Azura's back soothingly, “We can't get mad at you for this even if we wanted to.”

 

“You still made us proud talking to him yourself, Mija,” Luz reassured, “I think we just wish this didn’t have to happen with a family member.”

 

“I didn’t even think of that,” Azura sent to her Mom’s, “What if Aunt Em and Aunt Viney hate me now?”

 

“They’d never hate you,” Amity rasured, “I can call my sister later to explain your side of the story if you’d like.”

 

“Don’t you want me to do it myself?” Azura asked.

 

“You’ve done enough today, Sundrop,” Amity replied, “Just let me handle this.

 

“And I know we said to handle this stuff yourself but next time maybe we can help you workshop what you want to say?” Luz suggested, “In hindsight it was probably a bit too extreme to just have you do it with no advice.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Azura replied. She stayed comfortably between her moms for a few more moments before pulling herself back, “I'm going to go practice on my guitar in my room for a bit, to help clear my head a little.”

 

“That's a good idea,” Amity replied with a warm smile, “We'll call you down when dinner is ready.”

 

“Te Quermos,” Luz said before both Amity and her leaned in and each planted a kiss on their daughter's head before both getting up to begin making dinner.

 

Azura got up as well and made her way to her room. Once inside she once again found herself flopping on one of her bean bags before she summoned her scroll to check her messages. There was nothing from Vincet which felt weird after growing accustomed to their concern messages. Azura wasn't sure how she felt about that.

 

There was a message from Ottava however.

 

Ottava: How's my favorite bard doing tonight :)

 

Azura: Not good, I got in a fight with Vince

 

Ottava: Uh oh, what happened?

 

Azura: I told him to stop babying me

 

Ottava: And he didn't take it well I assume?

 

Azura: Yeah

 

Ottava: I'm sorry, Vince has always been a bit…sensitive

 

Azura: Tell me about it

 

Azura: I just wish they'd see where I'm coming from here

 

Ottava: I know

 

Ottava: If you're feeling that down I can come over and we can have a sleepover 

 

Azura: As fun as that sounds, don't you have a date with Peri tonight?

 

Ottava: Oh, that, right

 

Ottava: I can cancel if you need me

 

Azura: I'll be fine, enjoy your date

 

Ottava: Alright, if you need anything tell me, Shortstuff

 

Azura: I will <3

 

Azura sighed as she collapsed her scroll, “They're too nice to me sometimes,” Azura thought before she picked up her guitar and started to practice, hoping the sounds of her guitar could drown out her frustrations at Vincent.

Notes:

Hey chat, sadly school starts up for me next week so idk if I can keep updating as consistent as I have so far, but we'll see.

Chapter 7: Everything You'd Want but Don't

Summary:

Ottava shows up at Azura's house needing relationship advice

Notes:

Hey chat, I'm back with another chapter, again classes have started for me again so it's possible chapters get a bit more spread out but I'll do my best to remain on schedule.

Special thanks to Terra and Feather,, for the beta reads on this chapter

Title for this chapter is inspired by Everything You Want by Vertical Horizion

“A griffin?” Luz guessed.

 

Azura shook her head no as she continued to flap her arms up and down to imitate flying.

 

“A fairy?” Amity guessed next.

 

Azura once again shook her head.

 

“Oh I got it: Eda!” Luz shouted confidently,

 

Azura pointed towards her mom and nodded.

 

“Yes!” the human exclaimed as she pumped her fist in celebration, “Luz Noceda cannot be beaten in charades!”

 

“I’m so proud of you, Batata,” Amity said fondly as she leaned over and gave her wife a kiss on the cheek.

 

“You’re taking this very well for someone who just got their butt beat,” Luz mused as a blush covered her face.

 

“Well, you’re cute when you win,” Amity smiled before the sounds of Azura fake gagging were being transmitted through her and Luz’s pendants.

 

“One day when you fall in love and get married you’ll understand why we’re like this, Mija,” Luz chuckled in response.

 

Azura rolled her eyes in response before making her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. It was later in the night, Azura had gotten some practice in, Amity had reassured Azura that her aunts weren't mad at her, and Luz had successfully gotten to 10 correct guesses in charades first for what felt like the 100th time in their weekly family game night. Before Azura could grab a glass however, someone began knocking at the door.

 

“I’ll get it,” Luz announced before Azura heard the door open. “Oh, Ottava, what are you doing here so late?”

 

Ottava was there? She told them not to come over.

 

“Hi Misses Noceda, I needed to talk with Azura about something urgent,” Azura heard her friend say before she rushed from the kitchen to the living room to find her best friend outside her house looking rather distressed, holding something in their hand. Upon closer expectation Azura realized it was the plushie Peri had bought for them at the pride shop.

 

“Hi, I’m here,” Azura signed over to her friend, who gave a relieved smile when they saw Azura, “What are you doing here? I told you I didn’t need you to come.”

 

“I know,” Ottava replied, “But this isn’t about that. I need some support.”

 

“What’s going on?” Azura signed while the two teenagers got concerned looks from Luz and Amity.

 

“Can we talk in your room?” Ottava asked before quickly adding, “If your parents are okay with that.”

 

“Be our guest,” Amity reassured.

 

“Let’s go,” Azura signed over to the triclops before Ottava stepped into The Owl House and followed Azura up to her room. Ottava remained silent as they made their way up the stairs to Azura’s room. Once inside, Azura closed the door behind them and was about turn around to sign to start questioning Ottava about what was wrong before the enby began speaking.

 

“I think my relationship is over!” Ottava blurted out, sounding completely distressed, causing Azura to step back in shock. The room remained silent for a few seconds, Azura not sure how to respond, before Ottava broke it, “Please say something.”

 

Azura shook her hands for a second, something she liked to do while using sign language to let people know she was thinking, before she finally found the words to sign, “What happened? Whatever happened I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

 

“So we were celebrating our three-month anniversary today,” Ottava began as they took a seat on Azura’s bed, they were avoiding eye contact with Azura so the emerald haired girl was more comfortable, “And dinner went well. We discussed grudgby plans and some gossip about other players on the team, which by the way, Phoebe is changing her track to oracle.”

 

“She’s changed it again?” Azura signed, “This is the sixth time this semester she’s done this.”

 

“I know!” Ottava responded, “I told her to just multitrack but she keeps insistaint on only doing one.”

 

“Whatever, as long as she doesn’t end up in bard track again,” Azura responded, “Anyway, that’s not why you’re here.”

 

“Oh, right,” Ottava scratched their neck before continuing, “So after dinner Peri gave me this cute plushie. She told me she picked this out for me at this pride shop downtown,” Ottava held up the stuffed animal Azura picked out at the pride shop before placing it next to them on the bed. Azura resisted the urge to tell Ottava the truth, instead letting her friend continue, “So afterwards I said how much I like it and Peri came over and tried to kiss me, and I ended up kind of pushing her way a little.”

 

“Still not comfortable with that?” Azura asked rhetorically.

 

“No,” Ottava sighed, “And usually it just passes and we go back to doing whatever it is we were doing, but Peri started pressing me on it. We ended up getting in a huge fight, and she eventually accused me of being distant and not liking her anymore.”

 

“What did you say?” Azurra inquired.

 

“I didn’t say anything,” Ottava admitted, “I didn’t know how to respond to that so I went silent. Then she got more upset and after that she asked me to leave because she needed to do some thinking.”

 

“Thinking isn’t good,” Azura pointed out, “But why didn’t you respond? Do you not like her?”

 

“I don’t-I don’t know,” Ottava sighed, “I should, shouldn’t I? We’ve been dating for three months now and Peri’s been great. She’s always kind, she's pretty, she does so many nice things like getting me this stuffed animal, and we even like similar things. But when I think about her I feel nothing, especially lately,” Ottava admitted.

 

“Is that why you haven’t kissed yet?” Azura asked as she gave a sympathetic look to her friend.

 

“Yeah,” Ottava answered, “Anytime she goes for one I get a bit uncomfortable and pull away. At first I just figured it was just because the relationship was new, but at this point I don’t think that’s it. I don’t know what to do about this and I just kind of wanted your advice here.”

 

“My advice?” Azura questioned, suddenly feeling very nervous, “But I know nothing about relationships.”

 

“But I trust you,” Ottava countered, “There's literally no one else I'd rather get advice from than you.”

 

Now Azura really began to panic. Something like this was the last thing she trusted herself to give advice on. She had a crush on Peri for Titian's sake! She had reason to tell Ottava to break up with her! Literally the last thing the young witch wanted was to be in any way responsible for them breaking up! She had to get out of this.

 

“Listen,” Azura began to sign, “Why don't you ask your mothers? They've been in relationships! I'm sure they'd be better at this than I am.”

 

“Azura,” Ottava sighed, “I know why you're acting like this.”

 

“You do?” Azura responded, nervously swallowing.

 

“Yeah, I know you have a crush on Peri,” Ottava revealed.

 

Azura took a step back, completely shaken, “How did you know?”

 

“Because you suck at hiding these things,” the pink haired witch chuckled, “I've known you for years. I can tell when my best friend is crushing on someone.”

 

“I'm sorry,” Azura signed, “I really didn't want it to get between us.”

 

“And it didn't,” Ottava reassured, “The point is, I trust you with this even knowing you have a crush on Peri.”

 

“But why?”

 

“Because you were the one who told me to go out with her,” Ottava answered.

---

Azura sat quietly by herself, waiting for Ottava to arrive. It was a small little cafe in downtown Bonesborough that the two friends loved to frequent on the weekends, and today was no different. Though Ottava did message Azura that they were going to be a bit late today. Ottava had recently earned a spot on the grudgby team and practice today seemed to go long. Azura was happy for Ottava though, despite the inconvenience, the only issue was she was a bit jealous that Ottava got to spend so much time with Periwinkle.

 

Though now it was getting a bit worrying, Azura had been waiting for half an hour now and was contemplating messaging Ottava about where they were.

 

“Sorry I'm late, Shortstuff!” came a voice causing Azura to turn around and see Ottava rushing towards their table, “But something unexpected happened and I need to talk with you about it.”

 

“It's fine,” Azura signed as Ottava sat down, “But what happened? Did P-H-O-E-B-E change tracks again?”

 

“She did but that's not what I need to discuss,” the pink haired witch replied, “After practice Peri said she wanted to speak with me.”

 

A twinge of jealousy filled Azura, “What did she want?”

 

“Well she kind of asked me out on a date,” Ottava replied.

 

In an instant Azura's heart sank to the bottom of the boiling sea. Her crush had not only asked someone else out, she asked out Azura's best friend. Of course, Azura and Peri barely interacted to begin with so her chances with the other girl were slim, but it still hurt Azura.

 

“Did you accept?” Azura signed through her broken heart.

 

“I kind of told her I need to think about it,” Ottava admitted.

 

“Why?” Azura signed, dumbfounded that anyone would need to think about going out with Peri, “She's one of the prettiest and nicest girls at school, plus she's strong and an excellent grudgby player.”

 

“So you think I should accept?” Ottava asked, silencing Azura, “Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you with that, it's just I wanted your advice on this. I'm just a bit worried if it's a good idea, since we're teammates and all.”

 

Well there was the perfect opportunity to stop this relationship from happening. All Azura had to do was take it and save herself some heartache.

 

But it wouldn't be right. Ottava deserved better from their friend.

 

“I understand,” Azura signed, “That could get messy. But the big question here is do you want to go on a date with her. Forget about being teammates, if you weren't, would you accept?”

 

“I think so,” Ottava said unconvincingly. “I've never really thought about Peri in a romantic sense until today, but honestly I kind of want to see if we click. I do think she's cool and would make a good girlfriend at the very least.”

 

“Then I say go on the date,” Azura answered honestly, “I think it's worth a shot.”

 

“Are you sure?” Ottava asked for confirmation, if Azura knew any better than she’d think Ottava was trying to find an excuse not to go out with Peri, but no one who liked girls would say no to Peri as far as Azura was concerned. So Azura wasn’t about to let that happen, her friend deserved someone as amazing as Peri, even if the thought was killing Azura.

 

“It’s not everyday someone as amazing as P-E-R-I asked you out, it’d be stupid not to accept,” Azura signed, “And for what it’s worth I think she’d be lucky to have you as well.”

 

“I think I will then,” Ottava smiled, blushing slightly, “Thank you for the advice, you're the best.”

 

“You're welcome,” Azura returned Ottava's smile while internally she might as well be dying.

 

“I'll go grab us some fairy pie slices and we can talk about other stuff,” Ottava said as they got up, giving Azura a light hug before they left to go get their pastries. Azura sank down in her chair once Ottava was out of sight, her conscience clean, but her heart utterly broken.

---

“Since you did that I know I can trust you to give me an honest answer about this,” Ottava explained. Azura was a bit flattered that Ottava trusted her that much (even if she was still unsure if she deserved that trust). Azura sat back and thought for a moment on what to say.

 

“Alright,” Azura signed after the brief pause, “But promise you won't get mad at me.”

 

“I could never be mad at you,” Ottava replied, causing Azura to blush slightly.

 

“I think you should break up with her,” Azura signed, “It seems like you aren't really interested in her and there's no reason to stay in a relationship where you don't have feelings for the other. And if feelings haven’t developed in three months then I doubt they ever will. Plus, staying in isn’t fair to yourself or her.”

 

Ottava's expression visibly dropped, “You're probably right.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Azura signed apologetically, “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear.”

 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Ottava sighed, “I'll try and do it sometime tomorrow, before practice.”

 

“Are you sure you don't want to wait? Could avoid an awkward practice,” Azura pointed out.

 

“No,” the triclops said, “I'd rather rip the bandage off sooner rather than later.”

 

“You're not wearing any bandages though,” Azura signed.

 

“It's an expression,” Ottava chuckled before their expression dropped again.

 

“Hey, you'll find somebody else,” Azura pointed out, “Any witch would be lucky to have you as their partner.”

 

“Thanks,” Ottava mumbled, “I was just hoping this would work out for personal reasons.” The look of sadness on Ottava’s face was killing Azura but she wasn't sure what else to say to help her friend feel better. So instead of saying anything, Azura simply sat next to them on the bed and brought the taller witch in for a hug, the stuffed bear falling off the bed in the process. Ottava accepted as they wrapped their hands around Azura.

 

“Thank you,” Ottava said, their voice coming out shakey, “I really needed an Azura hug.”

 

Azura didn't exactly have an easy way to respond at the moment so instead she hugged her friend tighter in hopes to convey a ‘you're welcome and anytime.’ They stayed like that for a few minutes, Azura running her hands up and down Ottava's back in a comforting motion as she held onto the enby tightly, the only sound filling the room being Ottava's sniffles.

 

“Hey, Azura,” Ottava said through their sniffles, “Can I stay the night tonight? I would just rather be here with you than at home right now.”

 

All Azura could do to respond was use one of her fingers to spell out ‘Y-E-S’ on Ottava's back.

Notes:

Hey chat, hoped you enjoyed! Have a great week.

Chapter 8: Me and Cinderella, We Put It All Together

Summary:

Azura has an opportunity to get what she's wanted for awhile now.

Notes:

Hey chat, hope y'all have been well!

Not much to add here besides I'm going to cut a planned chapter since I would rather just merge chapters 10 & 11, sorry but I think it'll be for the best

Big thanks to A big thanks to Terra and Sanmei for the beta reads along with Buff for help with some Spanish!

Chapter title is from the song One Headlight by The Wallflowers

“C’MON WITCHES, PICK UP THE PACE! YOU’RE ALMOST DONE!” shouted Hexside’s grudgby coach to her athletes. Azura sat quietly in one of the front bleachers, observing the players go through their drills, Ottava and Peri among them.

 

Azura was supposed to have band practice this afternoon, however, her band instructor’s partner had gone into labor earlier that morning so it had to be canceled. Unfortunately for Azura, that left her stranded as her parents were still busy with work and VIncet still wouldn’t talk with her. This was usually her sign to spend time in her secret room in the library, however, something was telling her to watch the grudgby team practice.

 

That something was her concern for Ottava. The triclops had made it clear they were breaking up with Peri that day, and Azura just needed to make sure everything was okay. Especially since Ottava hadn't answered any of Azura’s messages. For what it was worth, everything seemed okay currently, Ottava had given a wave to Azura when she took a seat and to her delight so did Peri! Peri waving, at least, quelled the fear inside Azura that Peri would hate her for what she told Ottava (Ottava swore they wouldn't tell Peri what Azura said but she was still nervous it would come out somehow.)

 

Other than the waves, Azura was able to observe that the former couple were still playing well together. They were both good athletes however so Azura was sure regardless of how they were feeling neither would let it affect how they played. Ottava, while not playing badly, seemed more aggressive than usual. They seemed to be making harder tackles, casting more offensive spells, and just looking a bit more focused than usual. Azura was willing to just attribute it to the game Hexside had against Glandus coming up, it was the biggest game of the year for both teams and Hexside was favored to win this round after losing the past five, mostly thanks to Ottava and Peri.

 

“Alright witches, you all did great! Peri keep up the hard work and Ottava please rest a little bit, I appreciate the enthusiasm but if you keep going like this you’ll hurt yourself,” the coach called out to her team.

 

“I’ll try,” Ottava replied as they attempted to catch their breath.

 

Azura took the coach's dismissal of the team as her cue to exit the bleachers and check on Ottava. As Azura made her way towards the field, Azura saw Peri look in her direction and quickly begin jogging up to the shorter girl, causing Azura to freeze. She was internally freaking out as her crush got closer and closer. Azura also managed to miss the smirk Peri shot Ottava as she ran past them.

 

“Hey Azura!” Peri said cheerfully as she stopped in front of the shorter girl, “How you been doing?”

 

Azura quickly used the circuits in her brain not freaking out about being close to her crush in her cute grudgby uniform to pull out her scroll to communicate, “I’ve been fine. Mostly trying to prepare for the recital.”

 

“That’s cool,” Peri replied, sounding a bit uninterested, “So, uh, me and Ottava broke up.”

 

“Oh no,” Azura typed, glad her scroll couldn’t give away that she was lying, “How are you taking it?”

 

“Oh, y’know, fine,” Peri said unconvincingly, “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

 

“Uh oh,” Azura thought, “What if she suspects I told Ottava to break up with her?”

 

“I guess,” Peri continued, “I just wanted to know if you wanted to go grab something to eat. Like, as a date, I guess.”

 

Azura went stiff as a pailsman staff. Peri, her crush of years and the witch she never thought she had a chance with, just asked her out. On a date. This couldn’t be real.

 

“Uh Azura,” Peri said, snapping Azura out of her trance, “You okay?”

 

Azura shook her head before typing on her scroll, “You want to go on a date? Like a romantic type of thing?”

 

“Yep,” Peri replied quickly, “I know a good little restaurant downtown. Do you want to go or not?”

 

A blush formed on Azura’s face as she typed some more, “I would like that but where is this coming from all of a sudden?”

 

“Oh y’know,” Peri said, suddenly in a very flirty voice as she brought her hand to run against Azura’s cheek, something that felt weirdly uncomfortable to the shorter witch, “I guess I realized that you’re super cute and interesting. Isn't that enough of a reason?”

 

Azura was about to begin typing that it wasn’t a problem when she noticed Ottava, who had remained standing nearby, suddenly began to run back towards the school, seeming very upset. That’s when Azura broke out of whatever trance she was in. As much as she wanted to jump on the opportunity that had been given to her, she wanted to check on her friend more.

 

“Maybe some other time,” came the synthetic voice out of Azura’s scroll as she began to run after Ottava who had already made it near the entrance of the school. Peri tried to protest but Azura had already left her vicinity before she could get a response out.

 

Azura followed Ottava inside Hexside but the tall witch had already reached the far end of the corridor. Knowing she had no chance to catch the athlete, Azura sent a sharp whistle that echoed through the halls to get the enby’s attention. It worked as Ottava stopped and turned around, facing Azura.

 

“Shouldn’t you be on your date with Peri by now?” Ottava said bitterly.

 

“No,” Azura signed over, “Not when you’re clearly upset.”

 

“I’m fine,” Ottava said unconvincingly, “Go enjoy your time with Peri.”

 

“No, you’re not fine,” Azura responded, “Please, just talk with me, I don’t like seeing you like this.”

 

“I can’t tell you,” Ottava said, confused.

 

“Why not?” Azura signed. 

 

Ottava remained silent.

 

“Ottava, please,” Azura pleaded, “You can tell me anything.”

 

“I don’t,” Ottava began, “I don’t want to do this here.”

 

Azura gave a sympathetic look towards Ottava, “Where do you want to talk?”

 

“Somewhere more private,” the pink-haired witch answered.

 

Azura thought  for a few seconds before a light spell went off in her head, “Get out of your uniform, I know a place.”

---

Azura quietly led Ottava to the back of the library until they reached  the false door to Azura’s private room. Azura quickly pulled the book that caused the fake shelf to slide away and open the room.

 

“What is this place?” Ottava asked as the pair entered the cozy room.

 

“A gift from my mothers,” Azura signed before she closed the shelf behind them, “They told me to use it as my own private room when I needed a break from everything.”

 

“Who else knows about this?” Ottava inquired.

 

“Not a lot of people,” the emerald haired witch answered, “You’re the first person I’ve voluntarily shown this place to.”

 

“Oh, I guess I’m special,” Ottava mused as they took a seat in one of the bean bags.

 

“You are special,” Azura signed before she took a seat opposite of Ottava, “Now please tell me what’s going on.”

 

“I’m scared,” Ottava admitted as they avoided eye contact with Azura, for once Azura wasn’t sure if it was for her own comfort.

 

“Why?” Azura signed.

 

“Because what I’m about to tell you may break your heart,” Ottava said before taking a deep breath, “Peri doesn’t actually like you the way you want.”

 

Azura felt the air leave her lungs. It was like she just received the most lethal gut punch from a giant abomination fist. She wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Evidently Ottava could tell.

 

“When I broke up with her after your parents dropped us off, she didn’t take it too well,” Ottava began to explain, “We kind of got in a fight. I explained to her that I didn’t have romantic feelings for her, she just got really passive-aggressive and thanked me for, quote, ‘wasting her time.’ We fought some more, she said I was a bad partner,” Ottava had tears forming in their eyes now, “And when we were done and I go to leave for class, you know what she asks me? She asks, “Azura is single right?” And I just knew what she was planning.”

 

“She asked me out to get back at you,” Azura signed, now feeling both angry, heart broken, and ashamed, “I’m sorry. If I knew I never would have considered it.”

 

“It’s fine, Shortstuff,” Ottava sniffled, “I know you liked her so you wanted to believe she finally liked you back. I also should’ve just messaged you what happened, but I just,” Ottava took a deep breath, “I just got scared you would get mad at me.”

 

“I could never be mad at you,” Azura signed with a reassuring smile, “You did the right thing telling me. I was bound to get hurt either way and I would rather you be the one to do it, if that makes sense.”

 

“In an Azura way, it does,” Ottava chuckled. A silence fell over the room before Ottava decided to break it, “Can we, uh, stay here for a bit? Being with you is comforting,” A blush had come across Ottava’s face.

 

“Sure,” Azura signed as a blush covered her face as well, “Would you like to listen to some music? That usually helps me feel better.”

 

“Yeah, why not,” Ottava said, sounding a bit better. Azura picked herself up off the bean bag and made her way to the radio. She flipped through the CD case until she found a disc labeled ‘Cam and Manny Mix Vol. 3’ and took it out.

 

“What are those things?” Ottava asked as Azura placed the CD in the stereo and the sound of a guitar filled the room.

 

“C-D,” Azura signed, beginning to be forced to spell it out since Boiling Isle Sign Language didn’t have a sign for them.

 

“I take it they’re a human realm thing,” Ottava said.

 

“Yeah,” Azura began to explain, “I actually got most of these from my grandma.”

---

A young and curious Azura sat at the bottom of the older TV. She was currently staying at her abuela’s house for the day. It was very sudden and her mom’s weren’t super forthcoming about why she had to stay at her abuela’s, though she was able to gather it had something to do with grandpa. It wasn’t really much of an issue however, since she loved spending time at her abuela’s. She always made the best food and even let Azura stay up till 9!

 

However, in the current moment boredom got the better of the young witch as she began searching through the shelves under the TV in the living room. Inside, she had found numerous tiny plates with holes in the middle. Azura had no idea what you’d even eat off of them. Eventually Azura pulled one out and looked over it. One side had writing on it that read ‘Cam and Manny Mix Vol. 3.’

 

“I see you found my CD collection,” came a voice from behind Azura. The young girl turned around to see Camila coming back from the kitchen with a large plate of cookies, a warm smile on her face.

 

Azura looked towards her abuela with a confused look on her face. One Camila was able to read.

 

“They play music when you put them into a CD player. Here let me show you, Mija,” Camila said as she placed the cookies down and bent down by her granddaughter. She took the CD from Azura’s hands and started placing it into an old player she kept under the TV. “All these are old mixes your Aubelo and I made when we were young and in love,” Camila fondly recalled as she pressed play on the old stereo. Soon a slow and melancholy guitar riff filled the air of the room.

 

“So long ago I don’t remember when; That’s when they said I lost my only friend,” came the pleasant voice of the man over the backing track.

 

“What do you think of an old lady’s old music,” Camila asked with a chuckle as Azura listened intensely. 

 

In truth, she liked it.

 

She liked it a lot.

 

Like so much that she wasn’t really sure what to do with herself. The happy emotions were eating her up inside. So much so that she suddenly stood and started flapping her hands while pacing, needing to stim to let the happy energy out.

 

Camila looked back fondly at her granddaughter, a giant smile on her face, “I’m glad you're enjoying this, mija.” 

 

Eventually, the CD came to an end after many songs from Camila’s childhood, much to Azura’s disappointment.

 

“It’s getting late, mija,” Camilla said, “I think you need to start getting ready for bed.”

 

Azura slumped down on the coach, disappointed.

 

“I’m sorry,” Camila said sympathetically as she took a seat next to the young witch, who very clearly didn’t want the moment to end. That’s when Camila got an idea, “I have an idea: What if I give you my old CD collection, I think you’ll get more use out of these things than I have in recent years. And I’m sure your abuelito would be delighted to share these with you ”

 

Azura’s eyes lit up as she looked towards her abuela. Suddenly, she launched herself into Camila’s arm, clearly agreeing to Camila’s idea.

 

“Promise me you’ll take good care of them,” Camila said as she returned the hug, “these did mean a lot to your abuelo and I.”

 

Azura simply responded by nodding her head yes.

---

“That’s a sweet story,” Ottava said, a smile now on their face.

 

“It’s ultimately why I picked up guitar,” Azura signed, “Unfortunately there isn’t really a good way to play electric instruments here, which is why I’m trying to use my magic to do it.”

 

“Yeah, that sucks,” Ottava replied, “But now that you mention it, how’s it going with the whole magic guitar thing?”

 

“Not the best, honestly,” Azura confessed, “Everytime I try to change how it sounds I just end up making everything hover.”

 

“I mean, that’s cool on its own,” Ottava shrugged.

 

“I mean any bard worth their weight in unicorn horns can do that,” Azura pointed out,”I just feel like I’m getting close but anytime I feel like the guitar is about to change I lose it.”

 

“Sounds very frustrating,” Ottava replied.

 

“It is,” Azura signed as the music from the stereo played on.

 

“Hey, um, feel free to say no, but-” Ottava had an embarrassed look on her face, “Can you play for me? Maybe even show me the magic you’re doing?”

 

Azura gave Ottava a confused look.

 

A blush once again covered Ottava’s face, “I just haven’t heard you play in a while and I like hearing it.”

 

“I guess I could get some practice in,” Azura signed before she began pulling her guitar out of its bag, along with a guitar pick. She began to turn the old guitar. She let out a quick whistle that shut the old stereo off and began to play. Ottava watched intently as Azura began her routine, it went the way it usually did, she started off relaxed as she went through the planned acoustic section before she began to channel her magic through the guitar. The same thing as always happened, objects began floating as Azura began to get more frustrated.

 

“Shortstuff, stop!” Ottava suddenly interrupted causing the emerald haired witch to break out of her trance, “Sorry, but I’ve just noticed you’re gripping the guitar way too tightly, you’re squeezing it when you need to be cradling it,” Azura stared back confused, “It’s just- here,” Ottava replied before the made their way behind Azura, “My mom told me once that to change how a harp sounds with magic, it’s better to remain relaxed and to keep your hold on the instrument gentle, I imagine it’s similar for a  guitar. Can I touch your hands real quick?”

 

Azura nodded her head yes.

 

“Alright,” Ottava took a hold of Azura’s smaller hands and gently moved them into place on her guitar, “Your hands feel very tense, try to relax them a little for me.”

 

A blush had found its way across Azura’s face as she attempted to follow Ottava’s advice. She managed as she felt the tension leave her hands and the rest of her body.

 

“Okay, good,” the enby said encouragingly as they let go of Azura and moved to be back in front of them, “Now try again, and keep yourself relaxed.”

 

Azura took a deep breath and did just that. As she began strumming and sent her magic though the guitar, it still sounded acoustic as she continued on, but nothing was floating for once.

 

“Stay relaxed,” Ottava said softly.

 

Azura took a deep breath in, not letting her frustration take hold of her. The sound of her guitar remained the same, however.

 

Until they didn’t.

 

Suddenly Azura heard an electric chord in the middle of the acoustic ones. More acoustic followed before she heard another one, and then a third and fourth one until eventually for maybe ten seconds she had it sounding electric. It didn’t last much longer as she eventually lost it but she had it! She knew it was possible! In a moment of triumph, Azura stopped playing and began to flap her hands up and down in excitement.

 

“You did it!” Ottava exclaimed, “Not for too long but you got it for a bit! Won’t be long until you have it perfected.”

 

Azura’s stimming soon stopped and she began to sign to Azura, “Thank you for the advice! You’re the best!”

 

“Please,” the pink-haired witch began to blush again, “You should thank my mom. She’s the one who taught me a bit about this stuff.”

 

“But you’re the one who showed me,” Azura rebutted.

 

“I guess you’re right,” Ottava sighed before they pulled out their scroll to check the time, “Listen, I think I need to get back home soon. I want to practice some more before the game friday.”

 

“Didn’t your coach tell you to rest a bit?” Azura questioned.

 

“I’ll be fine,” Ottava tried to reassure her, but Azura was not convinced and apparently Ottava could see it on their friend's face, “I’ll try to rest a little. I promise.”

 

“You better,” Azura signed over before she began to put her guitar back in its bag. Once she got it packed up, Azura opened the false shelf and the pair exited the private room before they headed toward the exit of the library.

 

“You know Azura,” the taller witch said once they found themselves outside the building, “You deserve better than Peri. You’re an incredible witch and you deserve someone who isn’t going to just ask you out to rebound. You deserve so much, I-” Ottava stopped and looked back towards the smaller witch. Azura didn’t know how to respond to what Ottava had said and just stared back. Ottava turned back away, “I’ll talk to you later, goodbye and thanks for spending time with me.” Ottava didn’t give Azura a chance to respond before they began making their way back to their house, leaving Azura at the entrance of the library with a mad feeling in her stomach.

Notes:

Hey chat, Next chapter will be fun :)

Have a great week and Happy Labor day!

Chapter 9: Our Hearts, Littering the Topsoil

Summary:

Hexside faces off against Glandus in grudby

Notes:

A big thanks to Terra and Sanmei for the beta reads

Chapter title is from the song Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World

The stadium was packed. The crowd had been chantingbetween almost every play. The parents were screaming louder than the students. The ground was shaking. There was a  swirl of emotions though the entire audience, an unholy combination of excitement and nervousness to be exact.

 

This wasn’t a regular game day though.

 

It was rival game day.

 

Each teams' fans were yelling and cheering different things. Hexside was singing their fight song and Glandus was chanting ‘defense.’ Both teams' fans were stomping on the bleachers in separate rhythms, making an oppressive wave of sound that blanketed the field. All the different, disorganized sounds had mushed together into pure noise, with no better way to describe it. The noise had been especially bad when Glandushad to burn a timeout. And then there were Azura’ parents, who were the only members of the crowd clearly cheering for the band.

 

There was more on the line than just winning this game. To many It was about pride. To the players, it was about proving yourself worthy of the team. To former team members in the stands, it was about reliving your glory days from your youth. To the parents, it was about being able to go to Pennstagram and gloat under every opposing fan's post.

 

And for Azura, it was torture.

 

She hated it. It was loud, too cramped, too cold out, the bleachers shook way too much, and now she could barely stand to look at her crush.

 

The only redeeming factor she had was that Ottava was out there absolutely killing it.

 

Seven times now they had scored for the team, the most of any player and a personal record for the witch. Though they still seemed…frustrated? Mad? They definitely were not happy.

 

They'd been running through the opposing team all day with what seemed like very little care for anyone's well being. It was concerning.

 

Azura desperately wanted to check on Ottava before the game started but there wasn't a moment to do so. From the minute Azura had arrived at the school she was ushered into the band room for last minute rehearsals with no chance to try and find Ottava. What made it worse was that Ottava hadn't answered her messages that morning. All this had made Azura particularly tense that morning.

 

Of course, that tension was most likely matched by the team. Currently, there were only a few seconds left in the fourth quarter, the score was tied, Hexside had just used its final timeout, and all the players were in what might be the final huddle of the game. A score here would win the game and prevent another grueling quarter of the game and officially cement Hexside as the better team until the rematch next year.

 

Suddenly, the team disengaged from the huddle, the crowd started back up and Azura was forced to cover her ears, even her earbuds weren’t enough to help her at this game. But as the team got into formation the noise settled.

 

Everything went silent. The crowd. The coaches. The team.

 

The anticipation in the air was thick enough to be cut by an abomination sword.

 

Suddenly, the ball was snapped to Peri, the opposing team rushed forwards as they held up potential reserves.

 

Ottava got away though and quickly made their way downfield. Peri, without a second thought lobbed the ball to the witch who jumped up and grabbed it. They made their way closer to the end of the field when suddenly a plant wall from one of the Glandus witches began to rise in front of Ottava. Ottava attempted to leap over the fast rising wall before throwing the ball.

 

Ottava's ankle got caught on the wall as they fell to the ground.

 

The ball however, went into the goal.

 

Time expired.

 

The entire crowd erupted into a massive cheer. The team started jumping up and down in celebration. The announcer yelled out the results. The band began to play Hexsides anthem.

 

Everyone in the band except Azura. Her eyes had never left Ottava.

 

Ottava was currently on the ground by the goal. Laying on their side. 

 

Their leg shouldn't be bent like that.

 

Ottava grabbed ahold of their leg, and let out a gut-wrenching scream. In a single moment the entire stadium fell deathly silent, aside from Ottava's scream. Tears began spilling out of their three eyes. 

 

Azura looked on in horror as the first people to their side were their mothers. Skara ended up at Ottava's side and took her child's hand into her hand. Boscha ended up taking Ottava's head into her lap.

 

Azura was close enough to hear the white-haired witch tell Ottava, “Breathe, breathe, breathe. You're okay.”

 

“CAN WE GET A HEALER OVER HERE ALREADY!” the pink-haired witch shouted in desperation.

 

Azura was in a panic. Her friend was right there, on the ground in pain and the school seemed completely unprepared. In a moment of irrationality, Azura detached the carrier that held the drumset from herself and attempted to run over to the field. She was, however, stopped by her band director who grabbed ahold of the young witch.

 

“Azura, stop, I can't let you go out there. Let the professionals handle this,” her director said. And as if her band director had cast a summoning spell, three healers descended onto the field after what felt like an eternity. Azura also noticed that both teams never left the field and were currently kneeling out of respect.

 

They shooed away Ottava's parents as they made a point to check the injured witch's vital signs. One of the healers drew a spell circle that caused a blue glow to appear around the injured leg, most likely some sort of pain killer spell. Another healer drew a circle and summoned a stretcher and the third one picked up Ottava and placed them on top of it. 

 

The three begin to roll the cart in the direction of the tunnel next to where the band was stationed, followed by Boscha and Skara. Azura made her way to the ledge of the bleacher to get a look at Ottava. As they were wheeled by Azura, she locked eyes with Ottava. The triclops remained silent, however they gave a weak wave in the emerald-haired witch’s direction. Azura did everything she could to hold back her own tears at that moment.

 

As Ottava disappeared through the tunnel, the crowd began clapping and cheering for them. 

 

Azura had never wanted silence more than at that moment.

---

“You're going to have to try harder than that,” the pink lizard demon taunted as she held the white board out of Azura's reach. 

 

Azura wasn't sure why she became a target for this bully. She was just minding her own business, sitting quietly by herself during recess, which was indoor due to boiling rain at the time, doing her best to get through the first day of school. But this demon, whose name was Mercy as Azura would find out from the witches that were picking on Azura with her, decided it was a good idea to take the whiteboard that the school provided for Azura to communicate with.

 

But now she was desperately trying her best to grab it back from this demon who kept it out of the shorter girl's reach.

 

“What's the matter?” Mercy cruelly teased, “You want your little whiteboard back? Then you can have it, just ask.”

 

“Yeah, just ask,” another bully in the group parrorted.

 

Azura couldn't, and that was the point. Defeated, Azura stopped her attempts to get the whiteboard back from the demon and ran to one of the corners of the room. She sat down and began rocking herself as she cried into her arms. What was she supposed to do? The teachers already saw the display and ignored it,  and she couldn’t ask anyone for help at this point. There wasn't any way for Azura to get them to understand her, no one understood even the basic sign language Azura did and her only form of communication with the adults in the room had been stolen from her.

 

“Hey, what's wrong?” came a caring voice. Azura lifted her head from her arms to see a young witch with three eyes, pink braids, and dark skin staring back at her, Azura immediately broke eye contact. “Why are you crying?” They asked, “Can I do something to help?”

 

Azura wasn’t sure what to do. Someone was offering help she really could use and she had no way to convey her problems. Azura landed on drawing an X over her lips.

 

The mysterious witch looked over Azura quizzically before a realization hit them, “You can't speak can you?”

 

Azura shook her head as her eyes lit up slightly, happy someone understood her.

 

“Do you know any sign language?” the witch asked, “My grandma can’t hear so I know a little.”

 

“Yes, a little,” Azura signed back, happy to finally meet someone else who knew a bit of sign language.

 

“Can you sign what's wrong then?” the pink-haired witch asked.

 

“Demon. Took,” Azura signed with her limited knowledge before pointing towards Mercy.

 

Her classmate looked over to Mercy along with Azura to see the demon scribbling on the white board she stole.

 

“Is that your whiteboard?” her classmate asked.

 

Azura nodded her head.

 

“Then let's get it back!” her classmate said as they extended a hand out to Azura with a smile. Azura accepted it as the taller witch pulled her up from the ground and the two made their way to Mercy and her crew.

 

“Hey!” the witch shouted, getting the group's attention. Azura’s classmate crossed their arms and took an assertive stance, “That whiteboard belongs to my friend here, would you please give it back?”

 

Mercy chuckled, “No, if your loser of a friend wants it back she can ask herself.”

 

“Let me rephrase myself,” Azura’s classmate said as their voice got more serious, ”Give my friend her whiteboard back.”

 

Mercy’s mood went from amused to annoyed very quickly. She walked over to the pink-haired witch until she was right in their face, “No. I won’t. And you can’t make me.”

 

“I think I can,” the witch said and in one quick movement they grabbed both of Mercy's wrist and managed to hold the demon in place.

 

“LET ME GO!” Mercy begged as she struggled to get free of the pink-haired witch's grasp.

 

“Drop the whiteboard,” the witch demanded. Azura looked on in complete awe, whoever this witch was, they were really cool.

 

“Fine,” Mercy said weakly as she dropped the whiteboard to the ground. Azura quickly retrieved it and erased the scribbles Mercy had left on it.

 

“Thank you,” the witch said before pushing Mercy away and into the arms of her followers, who  were looking on in fear at the pink-haired witch, before they all hurried away.

 

Once they had left, Azura quickly wrote down, “Thank you,” on her newly rescued whiteboard and held it for her savior to see.

 

“You're welcome,” the witch smiled. “My moms told me to look out for bullies and to teach them a lesson if I could.”

 

Azura cleaned off her whiteboard before writing a new message that read, “You're the coolest!”

 

“Aw thanks,” the pink-haired witch blushed, “You seem pretty cool yourself.”

 

Azura erased the marker on the board again before writing, “My name is Azura,” and showing it to the witch.

 

“My name is Ottava,” the pink-haired witch said, “It's nice to meet you Azura.

 

“That's a pretty name,” Azura wrote under her previous message.

 

“Thanks, and your name is pretty too,” Ottava responded in kind. Azura couldn't help but flap one of her hands slightly before stopping to write some more.

 

“Will you be my friend?” Azura wrote on the last remaining free space on the board.

 

“Of course I'll be your friend,” Ottava smiled as they jumped up in excitement.

 

Azura responded with an excited smile before beginning to write another message. She turned it around to reveal she had written, “Playdate tonight?” on it.

 

“I'll have to ask my moms but I'd like that,” Ottava answered. Azura had never felt this excited in her life. After years the young witch finally made a friend that wasn't her cousin. She didn't know what else to do with herself and before she knew it she had thrown her arms around the taller witch in a big hug. Ottava happily returned it.

---

“What do you mean I can't visit?” the synthetic voice of Azura's scroll called out to the receptionist.

 

“Sorry, but only family is allowed at this time,” the receptionist replied.

 

“Hey, that witch is our daughter's best friend!” Luz snapped back, “She deserves the right to see them!”

 

“I'm sorry miss but the rules are the rules, I can't let you in,” the receptionist stated firmly,

 

After what had happened, Azura really wanted to see Ottava. However, she was forced to wait for the ceremony to celebrate Hexside's win to finish before she could leave. Despite what should've been a happy moment for the school, the sense of unease at the stadium after what happened has been suffocating.

 

“But the show must go on,” Azura's band director had said, so Azura was forced to play the victory piece as the team was handed rights to some old trophy the two teams traded back and forth after the game. It felt like an eternity to Azura. The second she was able to leave, her mothers flew her directly to the healers that Ottava was receiving treatment at so she could see her friend.

 

But she wasn't allowed to see them.

 

“Luz, let's just go,” Amity sighed as she placed a hand on her wife's shoulder, “I'm sorry Sundrop, it looks like you'll have to wait.”

 

Azura hung her head down and began to walk towards the exit of the building.

 

“See what you did to my daughter?” Azura heard her mama say to the receptionist before both her and Amity began following their daughter. Once outside, Azura took a seat at a bench outside the healers office, her parents joining her as they sat on opposite sides of her.

 

“I'm really sorry,” Amity said as she brought in Azura for a hug.

 

“We know you’re upset,” Luz said as she also joined the hug, “But you’ll get to see them eventually”

 

“I'm just so worried,” Azura sent through her pendant, “That injury looked so bad, and I just want to make sure Ottava is okay.”

 

“We know, mija,” Luz said as she and Amity tightened their hold on Azura.

 

Azura wanted to yell. Everything that had happened in the past week was getting to her. First she fought with Vincet, then she learned her crush asked her out for some petty revenge, and now her best friend was hurt. It wasn't fair. 

 

“Hey,” suddenly came a weak voice, causing Azura and her parents to look up and see a certain green-haired witch in front of them.

 

“Oh, hi Vincet,” Amity said, “We didn't see you there.”

 

“What are you doing here?” Azura signed to her cousin, not in the mood to see them right now.

 

“I, uh, came to check on Ottava,” Vincet replied before looking away, “I also wanted to make sure you were okay. And apologize.”

 

“Go on,” Luz egged on as Azura remained silent.

 

“Azura, I'm sorry I said what I said during our fight,” Vincet began, “I was wrong to call you ungrateful, I should have listened to what you were saying to me instead of getting defensive like I did. I'm also sorry for babying you and if you're willing to forgive me, I promise to work on doing it less.”

 

Azura sat back to digest her cousin's words before she began to sign her own apology, “And I'm sorry. I should've said something a lot earlier and not have it come out when and where it did.”

 

“If we're both sorry, can we just forgive each other?” Vincet asked, “I missed being able to talk to my baby cousin.”

 

“And I missed my big cousin,” Azura answered, “So I'm fine with that.”

 

“Wooooo,” Luz began to cheer.

 

“I'm so proud of both of you for being mature about this,” Amity said while clapping.

 

“Mooooooms,” Azura sent through her pendants, now embarrassed.

 

“So how's Ottava doing?” Vincet asked, changing the subject.

 

“They won't let me see them,” Azura signed frustratedly.

 

“Apparently It's family only right now,” Luz said in a mocking voice.

 

“Oh, that sucks,” Vincet replied. Vincet stayed silent for a moment as Azura could practically see the gears in the enby’s head turning until he spoke again, “I've got an idea.”

 

Suddenly, Vincet drew a spell circle and a puff of magic smoke engulfed Azura. Azura looked down at herself to see that her clothes had changed.

 

“Mija, you look just like Boscha!” Luz exclaimed.

 

“Just a simple illusion spell my mom taught me,” Vincet said proudly, “I say we fool the receptionist to let us see Ottava. I'll follow you there, invisible with another illusion spell of course.”

 

“I like this idea!” Azura signed as she stood up.

 

“Now wait a minute,” Amity said, “As your parents and responsible adults, we cannot encourage you to do something like this.”

 

Azura slumped down in disappointment.

 

A mischievous smile suddenly crossed Luz’s lips, “But as two bad girl witches, we're willing to let this slide.” 

 

“Go see your friend, we'll wait out here for you,” Amity said with her own mischievous smile.

 

Azura gave a thumbs up to her parents before signing, “I love you two.”

 

“Let's do this thing,” Vincet said as they cast another spell to make themself invisible, “Don't worry about any talking, I'll handle that.”

 

“Sounds good,” Azura signed over to the voice of her cousin before she began to walk back into the building, hoping that Vincet was still behind her.

 

Azura made her way to the receptionist, who looked up and said, “Ah Ms. Sandoval, you're back.”

 

“Yes, I'm here to see Ottava,” came the voice of Boscha from Vincet, “Can you remind me what room my wonderful child is in again. I long to hold my injured baby in my arms right now.”

 

“Okay calm down, Vince,” Azura thought.

 

“Uh, yeah,” the receptionist said, weirded out, “Ottava is in room 115.”

 

“Thank you so much and have a wonderful day,” Vincet began and Azura quickly moved away before her cousin could go on for longer.

 

Azura made her way through the halls of the healers office, following the signs until she reached room 115. She peered inside and saw Ottava laying down on the bed, one leg elevated in a cast.

 

“You go inside,” came Vincet’s voice, “I'll hide out here,”

 

Auza nodded before she opened the door and entered Ottava's room. Azura heard the witch moan as they turned their head to look at who had just entered their room.

 

“Mom?” Ottava said very weakly, “I thought you were back at home…getting it accommodated.”

 

Suddenly, another puff of magic smoke engulfed Azura and when it disappeared Ottava’s eyes lit up about as much as they were going to at the moment.

 

“Shortstuff!” Ottava said excitedly, “I am so glad...to see you.” Azura was about to sign that she felt the same before Ottava spoke up again, “Could you...use your scroll...they have me on a lot of medicine...my vision is pretty blurry right now because of it.”

 

Azura nodded and summoned her scroll and began typing, “How are you feeling?”

 

“Not great, shortstuff,” Ottava chuckled, “You being here...makes me feel a bit better.”

 

A blush formed on Azura's face as she began typing again, “How much pain are you in?”

 

“Not as much,” Ottava answered, “When I hurt my leg...I felt like I was going to die...but right now...They have me on a lot of potions...so that's numbed the pain a lot...I feel very loopy because of it...my head’s all fuzzy…it’s all a blur after they put me on the stretcher. I think there’s a marker on the table next to me…if you sign my cast I’ll know you weren’t just a dream.” 

 

Azura gave a thumbs up as she grabbed the black marker from beside Ottava's bed and signed their case, leaving a crude drawing of a musical note next to her name. Once finished, Azura put the marker back and began typing again, “So clearly it's broken, but how bad is it?”

 

“Really bad,” Ottava answered bluntly, “They told me there's little chance...I play Grudgby again...the doctors aren't even sure if…I'll be able to walk without crutches again.”

 

Azura felt her heart break as she typed out some more, “But your dream is to be a professional grudgby player, this isn't fair!”

 

“I know,” Ottava said, the pain in her voice evident, “I never should have...jumped up for that shot...I should've just...let it go to overtime.”

 

“Don't blame yourself,” came the synthetic voice of Azura's text-to-speech app, “You didn't know this was going to happen.”

 

“You're too nice, shortstuff,” Ottava said before going quiet.

 

Azura didn't know what to say at this point. Ottava clearly was hurting in so many ways. Azura wished she knew the pain splitting spell right then, just to take some of it away from Ottava. But she didn't. So Azura did the next best thing she could do. Azura walked over to Ottava and bent down at the side of their bed.  Azura then placed her head gently onto Ottava. It was the only thing Azura could think to do to provide any sort of comfort to her friend.

 

“Thank you,” Ottava sighed, “Not exactly an Azura hug...But it's nice. Kind of like a cat.”

 

Azura didn't respond, but a melancholy smile did cross her face. Azura didn’t move, she'd stay there as long as Ottava wanted, she was ready. Minutes passed in a comfortable silence. It wouldn't last long however.

 

“I love you,” Ottava suddenly said.

 

That was enough to get Azura to pull back from the bed and stand back up, completely in shock.

 

“I know you don't feel the same, clearly” Ottava continued, slowly blinking their half closed eyes, “But I have for a while…it's why I hoped the relationship with Peri would work out...so I could get over this...but I couldn't.”

 

Azura had no idea how to respond. Her best friend, in a potion-induced haze, had just confessed to her. How do you respond to that?

 

Azura wasn't going to get a chance to figure it out however. A loud crash averted her gaze from Ottawa to find that some poor healer had run into the invisible Vincet, causing a tray full of medicinal supplies to end up on the floor and Vincet’s invisibility to go away.

 

“What do you think you're doing here?” the healer shouted, demanding an answer.

 

“Azura, we need to go!” Vincet shouted over to her. Azura took one final look at Ottava, who appeared to have fallen asleep, and darted out the door, Vincet following behind her as they ran towards the exit.

---

After a successful escape from the healer’s office, Azura, her parents, and Vincet found themselves back at The Owl House, all enjoying some good old-fashioned delivery for dinner. It was a long day and no one wanted to cook. Azura had filled everyone in on Ottava's condition, choosing to leave out the love confession. That was something she was going to work out herself.

 

“So Ottava may never walk again?” Luz asked for clarity.

 

“Yeah,” Azura signed, “It's that bad.”

 

“Hmm,” Amity thought out loud, “Maybe I can do something about that.”

 

“You mean invent something?” Azura signed.

 

“I won't promise anything but I'll see what I can do,” Amity clarified before she went back to her food, “Just give me some time to study a few medical textbooks.”

 

“You'd really do that for Ottava?” Azura signed.

 

“Of course,” Amity replied, “I’m not going to sit back while my daughter’s best friend could use my help!”

 

Azura wasn’t sure what to say. All she could think to do was get up and embrace her mother. You’re the best,” Azura sent through her pendants.”

 

“And what am I?” Luz asked jokingly.

 

“Also the best,” Azura sent as she let go of Amity.

 

“So Azura,” Vincet said, getting their cousin's attention “Once again, thanks for forgiving me.”

 

“Don't mention it,” Azura signed over.

 

“No, really,” Vincet continued, “I said some awful things to you, so thank you for hearing me out when I didn't deserve it.”

 

"Hearing me out…” swirled through Azura's head, “That's it!”

 

Without a second thought, she began running toward her bedroom.

 

“Azura, where are you going?” Luz called out, Azura barely registering it.

 

Once she was in her room, Azura went over to her unhatched pailsman egg and placed her hand on it. She took a deep breath and began to think, “I want to be heard.”

 

Suddenly, the pailsman egg began to glow. Azura's entire room became covered in a white light as her parents and Vincet began to peer into the room.

 

“She finally figured it out,” Luz said proudly as the white light dissipated. What the three saw was Azura standing proudly and a red and black crow perched on her shoulder.

 

Amity let out a happy squeak as she began to flap her hands excitedly. 

 

“They look so cool!” Vincet said excitedly, “What's their name?”

 

“Sheryl,” the pailsman said in a low-pitched voice.

 

“She speaks?” Luz asked, surprised. Azura nodded her head with a big smile.

 

“Help mama,” Sheryl said, “Be her voice.”

 

“That's amazing, Sundrop,” Amity said through some happy tears, “I'm so proud of you for figuring this out.”

 

“Thank you,” Azura signed, “And thank you, Vincet, for helping me figure out what I wanted.”

 

“What was it?” Vincet inquired.

 

“To be heard,” Sheryl said as Azura pointed towards her new friend. Azura just met Sheryl but was more than willing to die for the pailsman. She loved her.

 

“You two have always been amazing at hearing me out,” Azura though as she touched her pendants, “I would just like that from everyone else.”

 

“Oh Mija,” Luz said, as she and Amity walked over and brought Azura in for a big hug. Sheryl joined in as she spread her wings around the three.

 

“Aww, Sheryl's joining in,” Amity said fondly, “She'll make a great addition to this family.”

 

“Listen, I hate to ruin this moment,” Vincet said, doing just what they said they'd hate to do, “But I need to get home.”

 

“Oh, right,” Amity said as the four broke their hug, “I'll fly you home, I don't want you flying home this late by yourself.”

 

“Alright,” Vincet replied before waving at Azura, “Bye Azura! It was nice meeting you, Sheryl.”

 

“Goodbye and thank you for everything today,” Azura signed to Vincet.

 

“Goodbye,” Sheryl sang out to Vincet.

 

“And I'll leave you two to bond,” Luz said as she gave a quick forehead kiss to Azura before leaving the room with Amity and Vincet.

 

That's when Azura's scroll went off. She summoned it to see that Ottava had messaged her. Azura quickly opened it.

 

Ottava: Did you visit me earlier? Your name is on my cast

 

You: Yeah I did, Vince helped me sneak in

 

Ottava: So you're cool with Vince again? That's good

 

You: It is

 

You: For the record you told me everything the healers told you about your leg

 

Ottava: So you know I may never walk again

 

You: Yes, I'm really sorry

 

Ottava: Thanks, it sucks, but if you taught me anything it's that a disability isn't the end of the world

 

You: You give me too much credit 

 

Ottava: I don't give you enough

 

"Oh, Ottava,” Azura thought, that statement meant so much more after what they told her. Speaking of which, she needed to know if Ottava still remembered what they said.

 

You: Do you remember anything from our talk?

 

Ottava: No, sorry

 

Azura didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed.

 

You: It's fine

 

You: Real quick before you get some rest I want to tell you my pailsman hatched.

 

Ottava: GET OUT!

 

You: I don't want to leave my room though

 

Ottava: No I mean that's amazing!

 

Ottava: Send me a picture right now

 

Azura and Sheryl quickly posed for a selfie with Sheryl on Azura's shoulder.

 

You: Sent a photo

 

You: Her name is Sheryl and I'd die for her

 

Ottava: I'd kill for her

 

Ottava: I'm so happy for you shortstuff! I can't wait to get out of here and meet her!

 

You: I can't wait for you to meet her, but first get some rest

 

Ottava: I will, goodnight sweetie.

 

Azura blushed a bit at Ottava's message before she sighed and collapsed her scroll and flopped on her bed. So much had happened that day and Azura could barely process any of it. Especially Ottava having feelings for her. It kept swirling around in her head.

 

“I love you.”

 

There was so much emotion behind those words. Azura couldn't stop thinking about them. They made her feel…nice? 

 

Titian, did she like Ottava too?

 

Sheryl wrapped her wings around Azura and she fell into a much needed sleep.

Notes:

Hey chat :)

That was a fun? chapter to write, and we're only two away from the ending of this fic now! Please give me some extra time for the next chapter, school is getting kind of serious and I've basically already spent all my free time writing so please, give me two or three weeks.

Also I know a lot happened this chapter but I really wasn't sure how to split this up into multiple chapters so I just settles on this, hope it's not too much

Also Story came up with the last name for Boscha!

Chapter 10: Louder Than Words

Summary:

Azura works through some feelings while preparing for the recital.

When the recital comes, she makes a choice.

Notes:

Hey chat, this took awhile. This chapter is nearly 7000 words and took me a lot to be happy with. Originally this was going to be 2 chapters but I decided to just have it be one, sorry if it's bloated because of it.

Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm really proud of it!

Huge thanks to Terra for the beta read and to Buff for help with Spanish in this chapter!

2 WEEKS UNTIL THE RECITAL 

 

Something was tickling Azura’s forehead. It took her a minute to register the feeling, but it was there. Slowly, the young witch opened her eyes to find Sheryl pecking at her.

 

“What are you doing?” Azura thought as she squinted at the pailsman.

 

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Sheryl replied before flying to perch on Azura's dresser. Azura sighed before she pulled her weighted blanket off. She turned to check the time on her clock. It was almost 8:00 AM, the time she liked to eat breakfast on during the weekends.

 

“Thanks Sheryl,” Azura thought as she smiled at the crow.

 

“Mama needs routine,” the bird responded before Azura leaned over and scratched her pailsman.

 

Azura let out a yawn before she stood up and Sheryl perched on her shoulder. The two proceeded to make their way downstairs where her mothers were up and enjoying some tea.

 

“Buenos Dias, mija,” Luz called as Azura set foot inside the kitchen. Sheryl left Azura’s shoulder and flew over to meet Ghost and Stringbean in the living room.

 

“Did you sleep well?” Amity asked though a yawn.

 

Azura nodded her head yes as she made her way towards the bag of bread on the counter. Toast was always a safe bet when she was hungry.

 

“That's good,” Luz replied as she took a sip of tea.

 

“We were a bit worried you wouldn't be able to after everything that happened yesterday,” Amity said, not hiding that her own worry kept her up as well.

 

“I was too,” Amity sent through her pendants, “But I think Sheryl was a big help.”

 

“Well, that's good to hear,” Luz smiled at her daughter.

 

“She'll fit in nicely,” Amity yawned again.

 

“Sweet Potato, why don't you go back to bed?” Luz suggested to her wife.

 

“I'll be fine,” Amity lied.

 

“Mom, please, you're making me tired just  watching you,” Azura sent to her mothers before she placed two slices of bread in the toaster. While waiting for the bread to toast, Azura turned around and glanced at the calendar that sat on the refrigerator. Something written on the calendar exactly two weeks from today caught her eye.

 

Azura’s recital at 6!

 

Oh no.

 

Everything that had happened in the past few days had caused Azura to forget that she still needed to practice for her recital. And she was running out of time to finally get her magic perfect.

 

“I gotta go practice!” Azura sent through her pendants before she rushed back to her room in a panic, completely forgetting the toast she was making that happened to pop out as she entered her room.

---

1 AND A HALF WEEKS UNTIL THE RECITAL

 

Azura knocked on the door to Ottava’s house. It was a nice house near the center of town. A ramp had been installed on the porch since the last time Azura had visited, which was a while ago. Ottava always preferred to come over to Azura’s house, they always said it felt cozier than their own.

 

The door opened after a few seconds to reveal Boscha on the other side, “Oh, hello Azura,” the pinked-haired witch said with a smile, “I’m assuming you’re here to check on Ottava?”

 

“Yes,” Sheryl sang from Azura’s shoulder.

 

“I hope this isn’t a bad time,” Azura signed over.

 

“No, of course not,” Boscha answered, “I think you came at a great time actually, Ottava’s been feeling down all day and you seem better at cheering them up than I am. They’re in their room currently,” Boscha was clearly beating herself up about how her child was feeling.

 

“I’ll try my best,” Azura signed to Boscha, unable to think of anything other way to respond. Azura walked past Boscha and into Ottava’s house and began to make her way towards her friend's room.

 

“Oh, Azura, I didn’t hear you come in,” Skara said, causing Azura to turn and see the white-haired witch holding a basket of laundry. A few years ago Skara had been diagnosed with the same condition her mom had so was now hard of hearing herself.

 

“Hi,” Azura began to sign, “I just wanted to see Ottava.”

 

“I’m sure they’ll be overjoyed to see you,” Skara said cheerfully, “Also I love your palisman, she’s very pretty,”

 

“Thank you,” Sheryl replied though Skara titled her head as she tried her best to pick up what the pailsman said.

 

“Did it just talk? I couldn't tell,” Skara replied confused.

 

“Yeah she can do that,” Azura answered, “She said thank you!”

 

“Well you're very welcome, just promise me you won’t eat any crickets you find here,” Skara said half jokingly.

 

“I promise,” Sheyrl sang.

 

“She says she promises not too,” Azura signed before continuing towards Ottava’s bedroom. The closer the witch got to Ottava’s room, the more nervous she got. After Ottava’s half-conscious confession, Azura wasn’t quite sure the best way to handle it so far. Azura wasn’t even sure if she had feelings for the enby or not for titan’s sake! But, she couldn’t just not visit her best friend while they were going through this, so she pressed on. 

 

Once she reached the door of Ottava’s bedroom, Azura gave it a few knocks before Ottava’s voice called, “Come in.”

 

Azura slowly opened the door to see Ottava laying in their bed, surrounded by all sorts of stuffed animals, and a huge cast around their injured leg. The enby looked like a mess; they had numerous bags under their eyes and looked just so, so sad. It broke Azura’s heart.

 

“SHORTSTUFF!” Ottava cheered as their face lit up upon seeing Azura, “What are you doing here?”

 

“Make sure you’re okay,” Sheryl sang in response.

 

“O-M-T,” the Triclops exclaimed, “Sheryl is even prettier in person, I want to pet her so bad!” Sheryl responded by flying over to Ottava’s bed and perching next to their head. Ottava outstretched one of their hands and gave the palisman some scratches before turning their attention back to Azura, “So, how have you been?”

 

“Fine, but I’m more concerned with how you’ve been?” Azura signed before taking a seat at a chair Ottava had in her bedroom.

 

“Not great,” Ottava sighed, “I’ve been stuck in bed mostly. Feeling bad for myself.”

 

“What happened wasn’t your fault,” Azura quickly signed, “It was a freak accident.”

 

“If I didn’t try to be a hero, I’d be practicing for the championship right now.”

 

“But you’ll get to be there next year,” Azura tried to reassure her friend.

 

“Oh please, I’m never going to be able to play, even if I get to walk again,” Ottava said, just accepting defeat. Azura thought about telling Ottava that her mother was going to try to inventing something to help them, but she didn’t want to get their hopes up. If she told Ottava and the invention didn’t pan out it would crush the witch more than they already were.

 

“Don’t think like that,” Azura signed in an attempt to comfort her friend.

 

“I just,” Ottava took a brief pause, “Can we talk about something else? Like how is practice for the recital going?”

 

“Alright,” Azura begrudgingly signed, “I’m getting more consistent on changing the sound of my guitar thanks to your help.”

 

“Well I’m glad I’m good for something,” Ottava replied, managing to break the emerald-haired witch’s heart once again.

 

“You’re good for a lot of things,” Azura signed. Ottava just looked at her in disbelief. “I actually wanted to ask if you think you’ll be able to make it to my recital? I’d really like you to be there.”

 

“I can try, but no promises,” the pink-haired witch said, “I'm still getting used to crutches and the school auditorium is not very wheelchair accessible.”

 

“I'll make it wheelchair accessible with my bare hands if I have to,” Azura signed, deaftly serious.

 

“Please, you need to practice,” Ottava said through a yawn, “Just record it for me if I don't make it, I do want to see you absolutely kill it out there.”

 

“I'm sure you'll be ready to go by then,” Azura reassured, “But first, you need some sleep.” 

“You're one to talk!” Ottava countered, you look even more exhausted than I am!”

 

“Well practicing for my recital is keeping me up!” Azura signed defensively, “What's your excuse?”

 

“My cast! It's so uncomfortable that it keeps me up,” the Enby answered, “At least mine isn't something I can control.”

 

“Well I guess we both need sleep then!” Azura signed.

 

“Yeah I guess we do!” Ottava conceded in the same defensive tone they had. After a moment both witches broke out into laughter, “Titian we're both hopeless aren't we?”

 

“Maybe we should just both never sleep again in solidarity with each other,” Azura signed joking.

“Yeah, maybe,” the pink haired witch replied with a smile Azura was glad she brought out. Ottava then paused for a moment as they began thinking, before long a blush formed on their face, “Do you want to uh, take a nap with me?”

 

“What? Why would we do that?” Azura signed as she began to blush as well.

 

“I was just thinking of when we had sleepovers when we were little and I could only fall asleep when we were in the same bed,” Ottava answered embarrassed, “I was just thinking maybe it’d help, but if you're uncomfortable, I understand.”

 

“No, I’ll do it if you think it’ll help,” Azura signed.

 

“Thank you,” Ottava mumbled as Azura got up and moved to the other side of Ottava’s bed. The shorter witch moved a few stuffed animals out of the way before laying down next to her friend. Sherly moved from beside Ottava’s head so she was lying on the far side of the bed from Ottava and near Azura’s head. Azura looked over as Ottava closed their eyes and mumbled, “Goodnight.”

 

Azura looked at Ottava. They looked peaceful at that moment, very relaxed, which Azura assumed they hadn’t been since the accident. Azura restrained herself from brushing her hand over the taller witches face, figuring it not appropriate. Azura wasn’t going to talk about what Ottava had said, not now at least. It wasn’t the right time for Ottava to hear about it, and Azura wanted to wait until they were feeling better. But Azura was going to talk about it with Ottava.

 

Especially because Azura was about 60% sure she had a crush on Ottava too.

 

Both witches ended up falling asleep quickly.

---

1 Week Until the Recital

 

Azura took a deep breath. In front of her were both her mothers watching excitedly from two of her bean bag chairs in her room. Azura finally felt like she had gotten the hang of her magic and was about to perform her routine for her mothers. Mostly for feedback.

 

“Mija, it’s okay,” Luz assured her daughter, “This is just practice.”

 

“We’re sure it’s incredible,” Amity said as she drummed her hands on her knees.

 

Azura flashed a smile to her mothers before she took another deep breath and  began to play. The piece she had been working on for months now began to fill the air of her bedroom. It started like it always did, as an upbeat acoustic piece, but about 30 seconds into it, Azura’s eyes began to glow and the sound of the acoustic guitar changed to the sound of an electric guitar. The rest of the piece was loud and bombastic. 

 

It was also kind of uncomfortable.

 

Not only was it a strain to keep the guitar sounding like it did with how complex the solo was, Azura also added a lot of advanced techniques that were difficult to perform. The neck of her acoustic guitar was wider than a real electric guitar, so she had to strain her fingers to reach certain chords.. But Azura was dead set on performing them, anything to make Professor Wintley eat her words.

 

Soon, the solo came to an end and Azura looked up to see her mothers looking concerned. 

 

“So, what did you think?” Azura sent while painting for air.

 

“Are you okay?” Luz asked as her eyes softened, “I don't want to lie to you, but you looked like you were struggling during most of it. Not the sounds of the piece, that was great, but you looked like you were hurting yourself. I'm a bit concerned.”

 

“Yeah, it sounded great, but,” Amity looked away a bit guiltily, “It was hard to focus on listening to the music when you looked like you were in pain.”

 

“Well, it gets a bit uncomfortable at times,” Azura admitted, “But I can handle it if it means making the best piece for this recital possible.”

 

“I think the best piece possible wouldn’t be hard for others to watch,” Amity replied. “I know you want to prove something, but I don’t think you need to go this far.”

 

“It’s too obvious you’re showing off,” Luz injected, “And it detracts from the piece.”

 

Azura didn’t respond, she just took out a frustrated sigh and placed her guitar down before taking a seat on her bed. That piece had taken so much time and effort to compose and her own mother was practically telling her it sucked.

 

“Don’t look too down, mija,” Luz said before she took a seat next to Azura. “You’re extremely talented, which is why we know we know you can write a piece more true to you.”

 

“Your mama is right, Sundrop,” Amity took a seat on the other side of Azura, “There's a song in your heart that only you can hear. But if you’re set on that piece we won’t stop you, it’s ultimately what YOU feel is best.”

 

“But please take what we said to heart,” Luz leaned down and gave a kiss to Azura’s forehead, “Raine once told me that a musicians first instrument is their body, listen to what it's telling you.”

 

“I’ll try,” Azura sent through her pendants to her mothers.

 

“That’s all we can ask for,” Amity said before also kissing her daughter’s forehead, “We’ll leave you alone to think about it. We love you.”

 

“I love you two, too,” Azura sent to her mothers.

 

“We’ll call you down when dinner is ready,” after Luz’s last words the two left the room leaving only Azura and a sleeping Sheryl inside. After a few more moments of thinking, Azura came to a conclusion.

 

Her mothers were right, as usual.

 

“I hate when they’re right,” Azua thought before she let out a sigh. Azura proceeded to grab her guitar and sat down on one of her bean bag chairs. It was back to square one with only a week to go, but she was determined to make her piece the best it could be.

 

Even if she missed a few nights of sleep.

---

4 DAYS UNTIL THE RECITAL 

 

Azura couldn't sleep. For the past week and a half, all Azura could focus on was two things.The first thing was her piece for the recital, which she was still struggling with. The second thing was, of course, Ottava. At this point Azura was 90% sure she liked Ottava back. But she was still conflicted with what to do, and she couldn't sleep because of it.

 

Which is why she found herself outside her parents bedroom at 2AM, knocking on their door. It took a few seconds but she finally heard movement from the other side before a tired Luz opened the door, wearing pajamas with otters all over them.

 

“Mija? What’s wrong?” Luz said as she finally registered that it was Azura at her door, which seemed to knock the tiredness out of the woman.

 

“I need some relationship advice,” Azura answered through her pendant.

 

“Oh, this is urgent,” Luz said, deathly serious, “come sit down.” 

 

Azura entered her parents room and looked around. Not much ever changed, there were plushies on the bed (Along with Amity still sleeping soundly with Ghost and Stringbean on top of her), plenty of books about various topics from novels, to parenting advice, to multiple books on dealing with PTSD. Both of her parents had a number of empty potion flasks and a handful of pill bottles on top of their dresser. Azura didn't know everything about her Mother's past, but she did know that both her moms went through a lot fighting against Belos that left both of them traumatized. She also knew her grandma was a very bad woman who was awful to her mom, aunt, and uncle. It wasn't uncommon to wake up to the sound of one of her mothers having a panic attack or in a dissociative state.

 

Luckily this wasn't one of those times. Luz set off some light glyphs before she walked back over to her and Amity's bed and leaned down to her sleeping wife and whispered, “Sweet potato, wake up.”

 

“Mmmmggg,” Amity moaned, “What is it?”

 

“Azura needs some relationship advice,” Luz replied, causing Amity to shoot up from her sleep, and garnering some annoyed noises from Stringbean and Ghost.

 

“I'm up, I'm up,” Amity said as she rubbed her eyes.

 

Luz took a seat on her bed next to Amity, “So what do you need advice about?”

 

“Okay, so,” Azura began through her Pendants, “The day Ottava broke their leg and I sneaked into their hospital room, they were really out of it from the medicine. While in their medicated state they kind of told me they have a crush on me.”

 

“You didn't know-”  Amity tried to say before Luz cut her off.

 

“WOW that’s… UNEXPECTED,” Luz said in a strangled voice, “What did you say?”

 

“You two could tell?” Azura sent through her pendens in shock.

 

“Yeah,” Luz said guiltily, “I guess we thought you knew.”

 

“Why would I know, I’m worse at reading people than you two are?” Azura countered, “Whatever, point is they told me and now they don’t remember what they told me and I’m not sure what to do.”

 

“I mean, do you like them back?” The purple-haired witch asked.

 

“I think so,” Azura admitted, “I never thought of them in that way, but since Ottava confessed, I can’t stop thinking about them. The more I think about being in a relationship with Ottava, the more…..the more I like it,” A blush was forming on Azura’s face.

 

“Let me guess,” Amity had a smirk on her face, “You keep thinking about what it’d be like to cuddle with her.”

 

“Maybe,” the green-haired witch sent though her pendants embarrassed.

 

“And you keep thinking about spending holidays together?” Luz said with her own smirk.

 

“And about dinners together?”

 

“And about your first kiss?”

 

“And about-”

 

“Okay, okay I get it, I like Ottava back,” Azura sent through her pendants, currently a big tired blushy mess.

 

“Well, that’s great!” Luz exclaimed as her leg bounced up and down.

 

“Our little baby’s getting a partner!” Amity was flapping her hands again.

 

“But what if it doesn’t work out, I can’t lose Ottava as a friend,” Azura pointed out.

 

“That’s a valid concern,” Luz conceded.

 

“If I may,” Amity butted in, “I felt the same before your mom and I started dating. But if there’s one thing I learned is that you don’t run away from love. It can be scary, but if you get lucky, it’s the best thing that will ever happen to you.”

 

“I agree,” the brunette added, “You have to take the chances you’re given, don’t let this slip away.”

 

“I still don’t know,” the green-haired witch stared back at the warm smiles of her parents, illuminated by soft light spells. “Is this supposed to be so scary?”

 

Both her mother’s chuckled before Amity replied, “Yes it is.”

 

“You don’t have to decide anything right now,” Luz reassured as she went to hug her daughter, “You should try and get some sleep, but think about what we said.”

 

“We wouldn’t tell you to go for it if we thought it’d end badly,” Amity said lovingly.

 

“Thank you,” Azura sent through her pendants as she pulled away from her mom, “I love you both.”

 

“We love you too,” both Azura’s parents said in unison.

 

“Goodnight,” Azura sent through her pendants with a smile as she began her walk back to her room. Once she got back to her room, Azura fell down into her bed, knowing exactly what she was going to do before falling asleep. She dreamt about her and Ottava cuddling together on a human realm beach.

---

3 Hours Until the Recital

 

Azura did a spin as she showed off her red and black dress. Hunter had specially made it for Azura. It was made of a soft material that was comfortable enough for Azura to stand wearing a dress, plus she didn’t wear it tight at all. “What do you all think?” Azura signed to her parents and cousin.

 

“¡Qué bonita eres!” Luz said with tears in her eyes.

 

“Oh I promised myself I wouldn’t cry,” Amity sniffled, “But how can I not when my little baby is all grown up,” Amity then began to ugly cry into Luz’s shoulder.

 

“Uh, you look good,” Vincet said, “That dress is very pretty.”

 

“Thank you all,” Sheryl sang as she perched onto her shoulder.

 

Hexside recitals were a big deal so Azura wasn’t the only one dressed up. Luz was wearing a nice tuxedo, Amity wore a wonderful purple dress, and VIncet was going in his own green dress.

 

“You two get going,” Luz sighed, “Once I get your mother to stop crying we’ll meet you there.”

 

“Are you ever going to tell me what this surprise you’re picking up is?” Azura signed. VIncet was there to fly Azura to the school for the rectal since Azura was still new to flying and her parents had some surprise they were going to pick up before they arrived at her performance. Azura wasn’t stupid, she was pretty sure it was just going to be her grandparents, but she was excited to see them all the same.

 

“You’ll see soon enough,” Luz smirked as Azura rolled her eyes. Amity continued to cry.

 

“Can we go now, I already got to fly back in the dark. I'd rather not fly there in the dark as well,” Vincet said.

 

“Fine, crybaby,” Sheryl sang out.

 

“Oh shut up,” Vincet sighed as Azura picked up her guitar and draped it across her back. Last night Azura finally got a piece composed she was happy with, she just hoped the rest of the crowd agreed.

 

“See you soon,” Luz called as Azura followed Vincet out the door.

 

“Hold on one minute,” Azura signed to Vincet as he got his pailsman out. Azura proceeded to pull out her scroll and open her messages with Ottava. She viewed her previous messages to her friend

 

You: Hi, the recital is today, are you coming?

 

You: I’d really like you to be there

 

You: If you don’t want to you can tell me, I won’t be mad.

 

You: 5 hours, are you coming?

 

Azura sighed, nothing from Ottava yet for some reason. She really did hate seeing her friend like this, they deserved better than to feel like this. In one last desperate attempt to hear back from the triclops, Azura sent one more message before closing her scroll and hopping on Vincet’s palisman.

 

You: Please come, I can’t do this without my bestie

---

1 Hour Before the Recital

 

The feeling backstage was tense. All the nerves Azura had tried to ignore throughout the day were at the forefront as she paced around. Her classmates were everywhere warming up their voices. Azura eventually made her way back to one of the chairs that had been provided for the students. She took out her guitar from its case and began to tune it, figuring she may as well channel her anxiety into something useful.

 

Once done, Azura examined her guitar. She kept it looking almost as good as when she first got it; the lesbian flag sticker was truly the only modification she ever made to it. It was perfect the way it was.

---

“ A Guitar!?” Azura sent mid-gasp, in disbelief of what she opened her eyes to. It was Christmas morning at the Noceda household. Azura had gotten through all her presents so far and just when it seemed like she opened everything, her mothers told her to close her eyes while they got her her last gift.

 

And when she opened her eyes she saw what she wanted most: A brand new acoustic guitar, straight from the human realm.

 

“Yes,” Luz said with a proud smile, “We weren’t going to let this day pass without getting you one.”

 

“We were so proud of you when you said you wanted to be a bard,” Amity added, “So we figured you should get to study the track using an instrument you’ve always wanted to.”

 

Azura was ecstatic, she couldn’t stop flapping her hands even if she wanted to. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Azura sent through her parents eventually before she picked up the guitar. It was big and heavy, but Azura knew she’d grow into it. The wood was smooth to the touch and the strings were super high quality.

 

“So how do you like it?” Luz asked.

 

“It’s perfect!”

---

As Azura finished tuning her guitar she began to strum out the beginning of her piece. She just wanted to get a little bit more practice before she was due up.

 

“Stop doing that, you’re distracting the other students,” came the demeaning voice of Professor Whintly. Azura looked up to find the mean professor glaring at her angrily, she was looking as unpleasant as always. Azura didn’t respond, and instead gave her own glare back before placing her guitar down. 

 

“Oh Azura,” sang Luz’s voice as Azura looked up to see her mother had arrived backstage, “We have a surprise for you!”

 

Both her mothers moved to reveal Camila, Eda, and Raine behind them. This wasn’t a shock to Azura by any means, but she wasn't going to pretend she wasn't excited. Azura quickly stood up from the chair and ran into the arms of her grandparents.

 

“Oh it's so good to see you, Mija,” Camila said.

 

“It's been too long,” Raine chuckled.

 

“We wouldn't miss this for the world,” Eda added, “Though can you believe they made me leave my hook outside?”

 

“Yes, very much,” Raine replied as Azura pulled away.

 

“Luz, Nene, have you been feeding Azura? She looks thin,” Camila said as she observed her granddaughter.

 

“Yes mom,” Luz sighed, “We're feeding her.”

 

“Thank you all so much for being here,” Azura signed

 

“Hey, anything to see you knock the socks off that miserable professor,” Eda said with a wink.

 

“I hope I'm not interrupting anything,” came a voice, causing Azura to look over and see Ottava standing behind them, crutches in both their hands. Azura just looked at their friend in shock.

 

“Hey, we need to go save our seats everyone!” Amity suddenly blurted out before she ushered everyone out backstage, despite a protest from Eda, leaving Azura alone to speak with Ottava.

 

“You made it,” Azura signed in disbelief.

 

“Yeah, I did,” Ottava replied. They were wearing a burgundy suit that Azura couldn’t help but feel made them look fantastic, “Sorry I ignored your messages I just….didn’t decide until the last minute and I didn’t want to get your hopes up but I decided I wasn’t going to miss out on my favorite person’s recital because I’m feeling sorry for myself.”

 

“Thank you so much,” Azura signed with a blush, “I wouldn’t want to do this without you here, especially since you’re a huge reason I was able finally get my magic to work.”

 

“You would’ve figured that out without me,” Ottava couldn’t fight the smile that came across their face.

 

“I don’t think I would,” Azura signed, “Whenever I’m struggling to get the guitar to sound just right, I think of what you told me and it comes out perfect.”

 

“You’re perfect,” slipped out of Ottava’s mouth before their eyes widened as they realized what they said. Both witches had huge blushes on their faces.

 

Before either could acknowledge what was said, a voice called out, “Ottava! Azura!”

 

Azura turned around to see Periwinkle heading toward the two. “What do you want?” Ottava said, annoyed that Peri was even there.

 

“Well I just wanted to wish one of my brothers good luck before his performance,” Peri said, reminding Azura that Peri had 5 siblings, “But since you’re both here, I wanted to talk to you two.”

 

“Make it quick,” Sheryl sang as her staff appeared before she popped off it and placed it on Azura’s shoulder. Azura crossed her arms as Ottava squinted their eyes at their ex.

 

“The bird?” Peri questioned.

 

“I can speak for mama,” Sheryl replied with a headshake.

 

“Right,” Peri replied a bit weirded out, “Anyway, I just want to apologize for the other week,” the red-haired witch looked at Ottava, “I was upset and I never should have asked Azura out just because I was mad at you Ottava,” Peri turned to Azura, “And I never should have involved you in my dumb revenge plan to begin with, that was awful of me.” Peri began scratching the back of her neck, “I don’t expect forgiveness but please know I’m sorry.

 

A silence enveloped the three tennagers before Ottava let out a loud sigh, “I appreciate the apology, and I’d be willing to forgive you, so long as Shortstuff over here can forgive you,”  Ottava tapped Azura’s back with one of their crutches. Peri’s eyes went to Azura in anticipation as the shorter witch began to think.

 

After a second of making Peri wait, Azura had Sheryl sing out, “Fine, just don’t do it again.”

 

“Thank you,” Peri said sincerely, “Before I leave though, if you’re willing I would actually like to take you out on a date, no ulterior motives, just me taking a nice witch out.”

 

There it was. Azura’s biggest want for the last two years was staring her in the face, ready for her to pounce on it like a horse spider. Azura knew what she needed to do.

 

“No thanks,” Sheryl sang for Azura, Ottava gave a smirk Azura couldn’t see.

 

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Peri sighed, “Well I’ll see you around. And Ottava, I hope your leg gets better soon, the team needs you.”

 

“I hope so too,” Ottava replied before Peri left backstage. Azura turned back to the pink-haired witch to continue their conversation before they were interrupted yet again, this time by Wintley.

 

“Okay, performances begin in five minutes, everyone not a performer or a staff member leave backstage and take your seats,” the miserable professor called out, “I need to go take my place as a judge if you’ll all excuse me.”

 

“Knock 'em dead!” Ottava said to Azura before they left Azura backstage, blushing at the wink and confused why Ottava would want her to kill people.

---

5 Minutes Until Azura Takes the Stage

 

Azura watched from backstage as another classmate finished up their moving performance. Azura got stuck being the last act, and it was not helping her nerves. Everyone before her was doing wonderful and despite it not being a competition, she couldn’t help but feel like her performance would be inadequate.

 

“Next up, a special performance by Azura Noceda,” announced one of the staff members. Azura took a deep breath and grabbed her guitar; there was no time for last minute jitters now. Azura walked past the last performer and made her way on stage to numerous applause, the loudest was, of course, from her parents. Azura had already put in her earbuds so it was manageable for the witch. 

 

Azura quickly made her way to a stool that had been provided for the students and took a seat, guitar ready around her neck. Before beginning however, Azura summoned her scroll and opened her text-to-speech app and pasted in a quick statement she prepared for the moment. She adjusted the microphone to be at her level and held up her scroll to it and pressed play.

 

“Hello everyone, my name is Azura Noceda. Before we begin I would like to let everyone know that I will not be signing. You see, I am autistic and am unable to speak. However, I still wanted to participate in the recital with the rest of my classmates, so I have elected to perform an original piece on my guitar. I would like to give thanks to my Abuela who gave me my love of music, to my grandparent Raine who helped teach me to play, to my Grandma who would find a way to curse me if I didn’t thank her, to my cousin Vincet who has always looked out for me, to my best friend Ottava who has been by my side every time I need them for years, and last, to my Mothers, who never, ever let me give up on being a bard just because I couldn’t sing. I wouldn’t be up here without any of these people. With all that said, I proudly present my piece, ‘Louder Than Words.’”

 

A round of applause broke out again among the spectators as Wintley rolled their eyes. Once the applause died down, Azura looked around the crowd at all the people who helped her get there. First to her grandparents who each held up their own recording device, then to her parents who both already had tears in their eyes, then to Vincet who was giving her a huge thumbs up, and then to Ottava, who was in the back of the crowd, watching with a confident smirk.

 

All the nervousness left Azura’s body as she smirked back at her best friend, before she began splucking the first notes of her piece. It started off like it always had, a slow and acoustic section. It was a beautiful, melancholic piece that was successful in capturing the audience's attention. Wintley looked unimpressed but Azura wasn’t going to be discouraged.

 

Suddenly, Azura began to glow a bright red as the guitar changed from sounding acoustic to sounding electric. Unlike her previous piece however, it didn’t become loud and bombastic, it stayed slow and majestic. She had listened to her mother’s advice and stayed true to herself. Azura wasn’t some in-your-face person, she wasn’t always the center of attention, but when she needed to be, she’d make herself heard.

 

The performance wasn’t perfect, Azura missed a few notes here and there, but it didn’t need to be. She wasn’t doing this for the crowd that she stopped paying attention to, or to pass her choir class, or even to prove Wintley wrong, she was doing this for her friend, her family, and most importantly, for herself.

 

As the piece winded down, she transitioned from the electric guitar back to an acoustic outro. The outro picked up the pace of the song however, until she was strumming lightning fast as the outro rang through the auditorium, before she played the final note that rang out through the building.

 

A few seconds passed as Azura caught her breath, when suddenly, the whole crowd erupted into a round of cheers and applause, the loudest was, again, her parents who were openly sobbing. Professor Wintley was also giving her own applause, and it didn’t seem forced for once. Azura then looked over to Ottava, and saw that they were clapping, on the verge of tears themselves, but with a big grin on their face.

 

“I knew you could do it,” the witch mouthed to the green-haired girl. Azura couldn’t help but smile.

---

It didn’t take long after the recital ended for Azura to be ambushed by her family backstage. “You were so incredible, Mija,” Luz praised, still very much crying.

 

“We could not be prouder of you, Sundrop,” Amity sobbed as they both opened their arms for a hug. Azura gladly accepted.

 

“Thank you so much,” Azura sent through her pendants to her mother’s.

 

“Thank you for being the best daughter two mothers could ask for!” Luz replied.

 

“You’re the best mother a daughter could ask for,” Azura shot back.

 

“Our little baby’s going to be a star,” Amity cried through her continued sobs, sounding more and more like a dying sting whale. Azura pulled back and Amity reached back as Amity pulled out a tissue to clean off her face.

 

“That piece really was beautiful,” Vincet was currently holding several tear stained tissues from his aunt in their hands.

 

“Thank you,” Azura signed, “I’m honestly just glad it's over, maybe now I can get some decent sleep.” Azura glanced around and finally noticed the abscence of her grandparents. “Where’s everyone else?”

 

“Oh, Eda punched a kid so the other three are talking with security right now,” Luz answered, causing Azura to chuckle, that was certainly her grandmother.

 

“Ahem,” Azura turned around to see professor Wintley standing, looking slightly less miserable.

 

“What do you want,” Luz snapped to the older woman.

 

“If you fail my child after that performance I’m going to sue you for everything you’re worth,” Amity sneered, finally breaking out of her sobbing fit.

 

“I’m not going to fail Azura,” Wintley sighed, “I just wanted to say before I left that I was thoroughly impressed with your performance tonight.” Before Azura could respond, Wintley simply turned around and left.

 

“You hear that, Mija?” the brunette said.

 

“You certainly made her eat her words,” Amity continued with a smirk.

 

Azura simply shrugged her shoulders and began to sign, “This stopped being about her awhile ago, all I wanted to do when I got up there was prove that I could do it for myself.”

 

“That’s…very mature of you,” Amity replied, shocked.

 

“But,” Azura continued, “It was pretty cool to stick it to her.”

 

“Heck yeah!” Luz put out her hand for a high five that Azura gladly returned, “Now let’s get home and celebrate!”

 

“Can I come too?” Ottava’s voice called out as Azura looked to see the enby had made their way backstage again.

 

“Oh, Luz we have to,” Amity began, trying to think of some excuse to leave before failing, “Aw forget it, let’s go!” Amity, Luz, and Vincet quickly made their way from backstage, leaving just Azura and Ottava alone, with all the other students already gone.

 

“You were really great out there,” Ottava said first, “You were like some sort of siren.”

 

“Please, I wasn’t trying to lure anyone to their deaths,” Azura signed with a blush.

 

“I know I would have followed you to my death,” Ottava replied before immediately regretting it, “That is to say, you were, uh, that good, yeah.”

 

Azura glanced away for a moment  and took a deep breath. Now was as good a time as any to have this discussion.

 

“Actually Ottava, can we talk?” Azura signed.

 

“About what?” Ottava asked, now seeming worried.

 

“I wanted to talk about something that happened when you first broke your leg,” Azura began, “You see when I met you while you were heavily medicated you-”

 

“I’m sorry!” Ottava blurted out, “I really was hoping that was all a dream, but I guess it wasn’t. I know that wasn’t appropriate for me to say and I kind of hope we can just forget about it. I’m sorry if my crush makes you uncomfortable.”

 

Azura just gave the taller girl a sympathetic look before beginning to sign again, “I don’t want to forget about it though.”

 

“What do you mean?” Ottava asked, confused, “Are you not comfortable being friends anymore?”

 

Azura was about to do something brave. Braver than confronting Wintley. Braver than sneaking into Ottava’s hospital room. Braver than performing in the recital.

 

Azura slowly walked over to Ottava, took their face in her hands, got on her tippy toes, and planted a kiss on Ottava’s black-lipstick-lined lips. It didn’t last long, but it was wonderful. Ottava’s lips were soft and comforting, and at that moment all doubts that this was the wrong choice were removed from Azura’s mind. It felt right.

 

Azura pulled away to see Ottava looking back shocked.  “Don't joke with me, Shortstuff,” Ottava pleaded, “You never joke like this, don't start now!”

 

“I'm not joking with you,” Azura signed, “I think I have feelings for you too.”

 

“But back at the healers you looked so disgusted when I told you,” the pink-haired witch still couldn't believe it.

 

“I was just shocked,” Azura signed, “If I was disgusted with you, would I have gone to your house and napped with you?”

 

“I don't-” Ottava stuttered as tears formed in all three of their eyes, “I don't know what to say.”

 

“Just answer me one question,” Azura signed with a smile, “Do you want to be my partner?”

 

“Yes, of course!” Ottava said as a big, goofy smile crossed their face.

 

Azura responded with her own goofy smile as she embraced Ottava, careful not to knock the poor witch over.

 

“I love you,” Ottava replied happily, unable to return Azura's embrace. Azura responded by drawing a heart on Ottava's back.

 

The two ended up getting some much needed rest cuddling each other back at Azura's home.

Notes:

Hey chat, really hope you enjoyed this one!

Final chapter will be a short epilogue, so look forward to that!

Have a great day!

Chapter 11: Epilogue: Everything's Okay

Summary:

One year later

Notes:

Hey chat,

So I know this is the last chapter and I'd really prefer to not have to say this but please don't make sexual jokes about my characters, they are minors and it makes me uncomfortable. This happened in the comments of last chapter, I'm not naming names and will delete the comments so no one gets harased just don't do it again please?

ANYWAY

Final chapter, I'll put all my thanks at the end but I legit can't believe it's over. The small notes I made in a google docs has turned into a story a lot of people seem to love, me included. So enjoy this one last chapter!

A familiar tension filled the air. A little over a year later after their last meeting, Hexside was once again facing Glandus on the grudby field. So it was no surprise that Azura found herself with a drum hanging off her body, watching Ottava huddled with the rest of the team. It was once again a tied game with time for one more play. Hexside had the ball and was determined to avoid overtime once again. There were two main differences this time.

 

The first was that Azura and Ottava were now dating. The second, was that Ottava was wearing a leg brace. Amity had successfully designed a brace that allowed Ottava to play grudgby still. They only wore it for games and practice, however. Outside of those moments, Ottava now used a pair of  black forearm crutches to help them get around. In their most recent assessment, the healers told Ottva that more likely than not they were going to need the crutches for the rest of their life, a reality Ottava came to terms with rather quickly.

 

But that didn’t matter right now. Ottava had worked hard through the past year to get back on the field and they were thanks to plenty of physical therapy and their leg brace, and Azura couldn’t be prouder of her partner.

 

Suddenly, the team broke up their huddle and the entire stadium watched restlessly as the team got into position, Azura the most focused of all. In a moment, the ball had been spiked to Peri and the receiver went off running . Ottava had managed to break free of the defender assigned to them rather easily with their speed, leaving them wide open for the ball to be thrown their way. 

 

Peri recognized Ottava’s openness easily and lobbed it over to the triclops.The throw was perfect and was caught easily as they began a mad dash to the goal, determined to win the game for the team. As they approached the goal however, they once again were faced with a plant wall forming in front of them.

 

Azura’s heart sank in that moment as a feeling of deja vu crept over her. She almost looked away out of fear that, once again, Ottava was going to get hurt. However, the enby knew better now. Before the wall could fully extend, Ottava drew a spell circle and started creating a staircase of bricks that cut off the wall from forming. The construction witch ran up the stairs as the crowd began to cheer them on before she threw the ball through the goal, winning the game for Hexside for the second year in a row.

 

The entire crowd erupted into cheers, students began to rush the field in excitement, and the band members began to play the school's anthem.

 

All except Azura.

 

Azura had detached her drum and jumped from the band's place on the bleachers, making sure her director didn't stop her this time, and began making her way towards her partner.

 

Azura pushed her way around various students and parents until she finally found Ottava, who's eyes lit upon seeing their girlfriend. “Shortstuff!” they shouted as Azura ran towards the triclops. Without a moment of hesitation, Ottava lifted Azura up in the air and spun her around before lowering the emerald haired witch and planting a soft kiss on her lips.

 

“You're going to have to stop calling me that!” Azura signed once they let go of each other. Over the past year Azura had hit a growth spurt and was now almost as tall as Ottava with no signs of stopping!

 

“I'll never stop calling you that,” Ottava replied with a cheeky smile, “You’ll always be Shortstuff to me.”

 

Azura couldn't help rolling her eyes at her partner before singing, “You were awesome out there today, you looked so dashing.”

 

"Thank you,” a blush covered Ottava's face, “You were incredible today too, there's never been a prettier drummer in the band.”

 

It was Azura’s turn to blush as she began to flap her hands at the compliment, finding herself at a loss for words.

---

“So at what point are your mothers going to stop being more excited about our relationship than us?” Ottava asked as they laid back in their bean bag chair in Azura's hideout.

 

“They're not that bad,” Azura signed, “They're just happy for us.”

 

“Sweetie, they reserved us a wedding spot on the thigh 10 years in the future,” Ottava pointed out.

 

“Oh they're just joking around,” Azura signed, brushing it off.

 

“They've each messaged me on separate occasions catalogs for wedding dresses and suits,” Ottava countered as they crossed their arms in their letterman jacket.

 

“You too?” Azura signed.

 

“Yeah,” Ottava sighed, “Listen I love your mothers but could you tell them to calm down a bit?”

 

“I will will,” Azura signed, “I know they can be a lot sometimes but they mean well.”

 

“I know,” Ottava smiled. The game had ended awhile ago and after Ottava had finished celebrating with the team and Azura listened to the half-hearted earful from her band director, the two had changed from their uniforms and met at the library for a date.

“So what would you like to wear to our wedding,” Azura suddenly signed with a blush, “Hypothetically, of course.”

 

“Hmmm,” Ottava began to ponder for a moment, “I don't know, but I know what I want you to wear.”

 

“What do you mean?” Azura asked as she looked at the triclops confused.

 

“Sit down in front of me for a moment,” Ottava requested. Azura granted their partners request as they moved to sit down with their backs facing them, feeling like she knew what was about to happen.

 

“Is it okay if I touch you?” Ottava asked. Azura nodded her head in response. Ottava then proceeded to remove Azura’s white overcoat and replaced it with their own letterman jacket.

 

Azura loved it. It was warm, cozy, and fit her perfectly.

 

“Turn around, I want to see you in it,” Ottava said. Azura turned around and saw Ottava's three eyes light up, “You look so pretty!” They squealed before pulling their girlfriend into a big hug that Azura happily returned. Once the couple let go of each other, Azura returned to her bean bag chair and looked over to see that Ottava had put on the overcoat they took from Azura.

 

“You stole my coat!” Azura pointed out.

 

“I was cold,” Ottava chuckled, “If you don’t want me to wear it I can take it off.”

 

“No, it looks better on you,” Azura signed with a blush.

 

“I don’t know how that’s true,” Ottava smiled, “But I’ll take your word for it.”

 

“Trust me, on this,” Azura signed before a silence filled the room, “So now what?”

 

“Actually, would you mind playing me something on your guitar?” Ottava asked as they rubbed the back of their neck embarrassed, “ I want to hear you play as much as possible.”

 

“I'd love to,” Azura signed with a smile before she picked up her guitar case and removed her guitar from it. She tuned it and began playing for Ottava. Azura caught a glimpse of the smile on Ottava's face as she played and smiled back, being reminded that despite all that had happened the previous year, that right there, everything's okay.

 

The End

Notes:

Hey chat,

So first, huge thank you to Terra, Feather, Story, Hellhound Havoc, ValeriesValentines, JoeJoeSpagettio, Buff, and Sanmei

This fic would not be anywhere near as good without their help so I am forever grateful to them! I would also like to give a special thanks to Story who's comment on the second chapter legit changed how this whole story played out, and for what I believe is for the better!

Finally, the biggest thanks goes to DreameBoat Who came up with this idea in the first place! Without her this fic would not have happened at all. So big thanks to them for giving me this idea and also letting me bounce ideas off of her while I worked on this!