Hunter felt bad that he woke Lil' Rascal up to quickly go to the grove, but Titan help him he was not going to keep Willow waiting. As Hunter landed in the grove he quickly looked around for the raven-haired girl, but was soon finding himself pinned in a tight and loving hug that toppled him to the ground. He let out a few chuckles, hugging Willow back, not being able to stop himself from burying his face in her neck. He didn't know how much he needed her until she was here.

What he felt was too soon, Willow broke the hug and cupped his face in her hands, making his cheeks burn red and his ears wiggle as she looked him over. " Are you ok? Did Belos hurt you? I swear I will turn the castle into a ruin of plants if he touched a hair on your-" Hunter leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers to stop her questions.

"I'm happy to see you too, flower-cake." He smiled, closing his eyes as he pressed his head against hers more. " I am fine, don't worry. I take it Amity told you what happened?"

"She did." Willow confirmed, smiling lightly before closing her own eyes with a small sigh. " She told me a lot…" She felt a want to talk about her worries right here and now, but with their heads pressed together, she didn't want to do anything but enjoy the moment.

"Are you doing ok?" Hunter asked, opening one of his eyes slightly to try and look at her, but she was too close to his face for him to see her properly.

"Why are you asking me?" Willow gave a small laugh, trying to hide her worry. Hunter gave a shrug before shifting, placing a kiss on the top of her head as he went to sit cross legged across from her. Willow smiled at him, folding her legs to the side and resting her hands on his. " Really, Hunter...I'm...I'm worried." She needed to get this off her chest. " The way Amity described your breakdown, I've noticed a few times when you talk how...your tone gets...I don't want to see you suffer like this." Willow looked up at him, his cheeks burning red as he looked down from her gaze at their hands, rubbing his thumbs across her knuckles in thought.

"I...know it's...How it looks on the outside is- I mean, I didn't mean for Amity to see-" He sighed, his false starts getting him nowhere. He had no idea how to explain anything. It surely wasn't as bad as Amity thought it was, so it isn't as bad as Willow thinks! How could he explain that? His thoughts froze as he felt her hand brush his cheek, making his ears wiggle as he looked back at her. She looked him over closely, before offering a small smile.

" If you are not ready to talk about this, we do not have to." Willow said, her tone gentle. Hunter had to give pause as he thought over her words. Perhaps she was right, he wasn't ready to talk about...any of that. Hunter bit his lower lip, he felt his ears moving as Willow brushed her hand back to the side of his head, resting her hand just below one of the traitors. " Is there...anything you do want to talk about?"

Hunter swallowed, feeling his throat going a bit dry at the question. He knew what he should talk about but felt too scared to. 'Come on, Hunter. This is Willow, if she didn't return your feelings she wouldn't be here right now.' Hunter breathed in deeply, trying to calm his nerves before he spoke. " S-So ar-RE we-" He stopped, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat, feeling his face getting redder by the second once more. " Um...I-I mean to say are we...you know?" Hunter shrugged, making a vague hand motion in hopes that Willow would finish his sentence.

"Do you want to be?" Willow asked, smiling up at him. Her own face reflected the blush he had. " I know you are busy a lot of the time...and I don't want to burden you-"

"Burden? No! No! Never! Never ever!" Hunter flicked his ear, before pausing and clearing his throat again, " I-I mean you would never ever be a burden." He squeezed her hand, forcing himself to look at her. "D-Do you wanna be?" He asked, despite having already asked before. Willow gave a small laugh, smiling up at him.

"I do, but...I think we should talk first about what that will mean."

"Are you sure it was ok to let Willow run off to see the guy?" King asked Luz from his position on the floor, squeezing Francois to his chest. King was in the process of setting up his plushies in the living room, lining his small army to better assess his troops. " I mean… he is…" King shrugged, looking up at Luz.

"I am sure it will be fine. Willow seems to know him pretty well, so we just need to trust her." Luz reached over to pet King's head, smiling down at him. " Besides, she wouldn't do anything to put us in danger."

"I know...and I do trust her, it's just…" King sighed, tightly hugging his favorite stuffed animal. " I guess I just don't know how to feel about him? He put me in a cage, almost threw you and Eda into the boiling sea, and the whole thing in the cave was...strange." King moved to get up on the couch next to Luz. " Lilith seemed to really hate him, but when he broke down...I couldn't help but draw connections. But, he seems a lot more desperate than Lilith was."

Luz thought over what King said, frowning as she thought back to her own encounter with Hunter. He was willing to let her get away with the palisman to save them from the horrible fate at Belos' hand, and looks to be keeping the little rascal cardinal hidden from The Emperor's eyes. Surely he was slowly starting to realize that Belos' rules on wild magic, how to use it, and how he controls his life in general is very wrong. With hope, Willow will help open Hunter's eyes as well. Luz looked back to King, who snuggled into her lap and closed his eyes, ready for a nap.

"I am sure everything will be ok, buddy." Luz reassured him, looking to the titan-blood soaked glove Amity left. She smiled to herself, proud of Amity for her actions in the cave. She hoped that Hunter was doing well, but at least she would know soon. Willow promised to tell them how he was doing when she saw him next, as well as confirming if Hunter was ok with the group hanging out with him.

Her tamagotchi made a noise, Luz smiled as she picked it up. Since the lake, Amity had finally figured out how to message her on the small device and they were using it often, given Luz's lack of a phone-scroll thing. The human smiled as she read the message.

'He's thumbs up, M8 hang soon'

_AN_

Thank you all for reading again! Sorry it is a bit of a short chapter this time, but I promise I make up for it in the next part! Stay tuned for more!