Luz looked down at their intertwined fingers. In her head, a reel of "before" started playing—a desperate attempt to remember why they were here, and why it was worth the heartbreak.

"I promised I'd take you on a real date," Luz croaked, pulling Amity into a fierce hug. "In the Human Realm. I didn't mean it to be like this."

They stood there together—the human and the witch—two halves of a whole that the Collector couldn't break, ready to start the long walk toward a way home.

The rain in the Human Realm didn’t feel like the Boiling Isles. It was cold, rhythmic, and lacked the searing heat of a Boiling Sea storm, but for Luz Noceda, it felt like the world was ending all the same.

"We’re okay," Amity whispered, squeezing Luz’s hand. Her purple hair was plastered to her forehead, and her Hexside uniform was torn, but her eyes—those gold eyes that used to look at Luz with such disdain—were now full of a fierce, unwavering devotion.