Chapter Text
Luz Noceda turned fourteen years old on a warm day in April. It was as good as anyone in foster care could ever hope for. She turned fourteen with a cake, and presents, and good people around her. Mary and George Darling were as nice for foster parents as she could ever hope, and her siblings were very open to having a sister.
Her last family had been the Blights, a mother and father with twins two years older than she. Her siblings, Edric and Emira, had been nice enough, and Mr. Blight had been fine, but Mrs. Blight was cruel and controlling. Luz was glad to be taken out of that house.
Before them had been Mr. Bump. He had been a nice man, but he changed his mind about fostering. That was alright with her, she had never understood why he chose it in the first place. Usually when foster parents didn’t seem to want kids, or sometimes Luz specifically, they wanted the money instead. But Mr. Bump had been just fine on money, as the principal for a private boarding school. She wondered if fostering had been some sort of midlife crisis.
Before him had been the worst of them all, Terra Snapdragon. Mrs. Blight had been like a high school mean girl compared to her. She put Luz through all sorts of twisted trials, almost like a combination of militant and apocalyptic. Unfortunately, Luz spent quite a bit of time with her.
So, Mr. and Mrs. Darling were great parents. Luz could count on one hand how many birthday celebrations shed had, and this was by far the best one.
She even had her own room. It was painted a deep shade of pink that she had chosen for herself, and had her own bed with a green bedspread with snakes on it. It was the softest bed she’s ever had.
Luz sighed happily as she flopped down on it. She flipped over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. It was purple, complimentary to the pink walls. There was a ceiling mobile hanging down, the only sign that it used to be baby’s room besides for the size of it. Michael Darling, at four years old, was deemed old enough to share a room with nine year old John Darling. The room had been remodeled for her, much more than foster parents usually did for her. Luz was used to counting all her possessions, but Mary and George had bought her more things than she had ever dared dream of from a family.
She had her very own drawers, with her very own clothes in them. She had her very own bedside table, with her very own books. Closest to her, she kept her Azura book. It was her oldest possession, bought for her by her other favorite foster family, the Clawthorne’s.
They had been an older couple, Dell and Gwendolyn, and they had been more like grandparents than parents. Unfortunately, that was the problem. Despite all their good intentions, they just weren’t physically capable of taking care of a young child. Maybe if Luz had ended up with them when she was just a little older, and more capable of taking care of herself, they could’ve been a family. She thought about them more often than she wished, and when she had been stuck with Terra Snapdragon, she had fallen asleep to memories of Dell lying in bed with her and reading The Good Pirate Azura, showing her the drawings and never getting impatient with her when she interrupted or asked questions.
The book was tattered and beaten from moving from house to house, but she would never replace it because it reminded her of feeling young and loved. She kept it propped up against the lamp so she could see it whenever she turned out the light.
She had a few other books there that the Darling’s had bought for her. They’d taken her to a real bookstore and everything. Still, her Azura book was the one she read the most.
The Darling boys were very loud. The house was only quiet when they had gone to sleep. It was nearly eleven, and the house was quiet. Luz’s birthday was almost over.
She was supposed to make a wish when she blew out the candles on her cake. She never knew what to say. So she just smiled and said wishes don’t come true if you say them out loud. She’s heard that before, so they all accepted it.
As she looked back to the ceiling, Luz thought about what her wish would be.
Usually she wished for nice parents, but George and Mary were very nice. Her next wish would be her own room, but she had that, too. Luz wasn’t use to actually wanting real things for herself. She usually just focused on basic necessities. She had everything she could wish for, but still, deep down inside, a shameful part of her still wanted more.
She stroked the cover page of The Good Pirate Azura, wistfully thinking about all the adventures her comfort character got to go on. She sailed the seas, searching for treasure and love. She battled other pirates, ones who didn’t have her strong moral code. She romanced lovely maidens and charmed rugged sailors. She led a life full of adventure, thrill, romance, and lively music. The Good Pirate Azura had no family, but she made up for it with her crew of loyal pirates. Like Luz, she didn’t know who her parents were, or what happened to them. But where Luz got bounced around in foster care, Azura left her the town she grew up in to turn her fantasies into reality.
For just a moment, she wished with all her heart that she could live that kind of life.
Luz got up and opened the window, letting the night breeze ground her in her reality. She was not a pirate. She did not sail seas and fight for her beliefs. She was just a girl in Connecticut, who needed to grow up.