Better Together | A Winter Story

Settling in

It was pouring hard outside. Luz stood in front of the old cabin, her hands were shaking, no, her whole body was shaking. After opening and closing the door repeatedly, she stopped. No one said a word, they all just stared at Luz whilst Gus started breaking down. Hunter looked over at Gus and rushed over to him, cuddling him in his arms. Luz looked back at everyone, her eyes were wide, she didn't say a word. Hunter helped Gus calm down using Gus' breathing technique, which eventually helped Gus slowly calm down and get back up on his feet. Willow sat there, looking over at Gus and Hunter, then at Amity, and then at Luz. Luz stepped off of the cabins porch and started heading towards outside the forest, the rest looked at each other before following her.

Hunter tried his best to shelter Gus from the rain, but it wasn't enough. The rain feels nice... I'm glad it doesn't boil here. He looked over at Willow, who was next to Amity. They all didn't say a word to each other, and kept following Luz. Finally, someone spoke up and said something, "Luz... where exactly are we going?" said Amity, looking at Luz. She didn't reply, she kept walking. I could have pulled him into the portal with us... I could have helped him... and now he's gone and so is Eda. Hunter looked around, he was startled by the cars passing by and looked down at Gus who was still shaking pretty badly. Hunter frowned. He doesn't deserve this, none of us deserve what's happening right now.

After a few minutes of walking, they all finally arrived in front of a house, Luz made her way up the steps as she knocked on the door and waited for a reply. A woman who seemed to be around her mid-thirties opened the door, and when she did, she covered her mouth and let out a gasp.

"Hey, mom" Luz's voice was trembling while she tried to hold back tears, "I'm back." She put on a smile while her mom looked like she had just seen a ghost. "Mija...?" Camila was shaking as she stepped out of her house and pulled her daughter in for a tight embrace. Tears began streaming down from both of their faces as Luz tightly hugged her mother back, "Mami-" Luz began breaking down in her mothers arms as Camila frowned and led them all inside. They were all surprised when they saw a basilisk there, they began asking themselves questions but decided to save them for later as Camila ordered Vee to bring the kids some towels so they could warm themselves up from the rain.

"Mija, qué pasó? What's wrong?" Camila and Luz sat down in the kitchen as Luz tried to catch her breath. She looked up at Camila, who had a worried look on her face, she began to speak. "It was all my fault, Mamá! I could have helped my friends, the Boiling Isles, my other family! But I failed to save them all! And now I don't even know if King or Eda are safe and I just-" Luz buried her face in her hands as she began to cry again, "I couldn't save him... and now I've dragged my friends and my girlfriend away from their families and I just don't know what to do, Mom...!" Luz said as her voice was trembling, "I don't know what to do..." Camila pulled her daughter in for a hug as she began talking, "It's not your fault, Mami. You sound like you were put in a difficult situation and had to choose from helping save the Boiling Isles and returning home, right?" Luz nodded, "Don't blame yourself, Luz. We'll take things one day at a time, okay?" Vee came into the kitchen asking if she could make the crew some coffee or hot coco. Camila nodded and said she would help as she told Luz to go back to her friends.

As everyone dried themselves, Luz walked back to the living room and sat down next to Amity. She laid her head on her girlfriend's shoulder as she sighed. Camila and Vee came back with the hot coco's and gave a mug to each kid. Camila began speaking softly, "To take our mind off of things, why don't we introduce ourselves?" The crew looked at each other before nodding, Camila began, "I'm Camila Noceda, Luz's mother. Thank you all so much for taking care of my daughter while she was with you guys" Camila gave them a smile as they drank their hot coco, it was Hunter's first time trying it, so when he took a sip, he slightly smiled. "I'm Vee, I'm from your world, a shape-shifting basilisk!" She smiled at everyone, she had finally met people who were from her world, she felt comfortable around them. Willow cleared her throat as she began to speak, "I'm Willow, Willow Park," she looked over at Gus, who was sleeping on Hunter's lap. It seemed like he finished his hot coco, "the one sleeping is Gus, Gus Porter" Camila smiled at Willow, and Willow smiled back, "It's nice to meet you, Willow, your hair is very nice, whoever braided it did an excellent job!" Willow giggled, "actually, she's sitting next to me" Willow pointed towards Amity as she nervously waved at her, "I-I'm Amity, Amity Blight, it's so nice to finally meet you, Ms. Noceda! Luz had said a bunch of things about you" Amity gave her a soft smile as Camila replied, "Thank you for taking care of Luz, Amity, she seems to have taken a huge liking to you, perhaps you're the girlfriend she mentioned?" Amity's face turned red as she nodded, which made Camila smile. "And what about you, sir?" She looked over at Hunter who was looking at the picture frames all over the living room of Luz and Camila, some had Luz's dad in them. "O-Oh! M-My apologies!" Crap... I already messed up. "I-My name is uhh.. Hunter.. Hunter-" Oh crap.. I don't have a last name... do I? It's not Wittebane, is it? N-No... I can't use his... uh- Maybe I can go with Bloodwilliams? Willow placed her hand on Hunter's shoulder, she softly smiled at him as he woke back up to reality, "Just call him Hunter."

Camila noticed that Luz had fallen asleep, she offered to carry Luz back to her room but Amity picked her up with no hesitation, they both smiled at each other as Vee showed Amity where Luz's room was. Hunter took Gus in his arms as Vee came back and showed Hunter the guest bedroom, Camila looked at Willow, "Hunter has gone through a lot... so it'll take time for him to warm up to another parental figure" Willow smiled at Camila, and Camila smiled back. She guided Willow to the same room Gus was sleeping at. Vee, Luz, and Amity shared the same room whilst Gus and Willow shared another, Hunter had his own separate room.

Amity was in a sleeping bag, she looked up at Luz's bed from time to time and smiled. Luz is... resting peacefully now. She deserves a good rest. Amity closed her eyes. Hunter on the other hand couldn't sleep, he looked out the window several times and noticed that it stopped raining. He opened the bedroom door quietly as he made his way downstairs to the living room, where he saw someone else. It was Willow, "Can't sleep either?" He shook his head no "I was trying to find the bathroom but ended up back here" she whispered as she chuckled. Hunter smiled and offered to help. After a while they found the bathroom and Willow thanked Hunter as he headed back to his room. Shortly after, Hunter headed over to Willow and Gus' room, he laid near Gus as he stared at the ceiling, eventually falling asleep.