Tom sat nervously at a small table across from an empty seat, waiting and watching the small, burning candle in front of him. He snapped his fingers to extinguish its flame, snapping them once more to reignite it. He took a look at his watch, then around the dining room of the restaurant at the other tables, each with their own human couple enjoying their meals together. He snapped his fingers again and watched the wisps of smoke rise from the smoldering wick before lighting it again with another snap.

"Sir," the waiter said, having appeared seemingly from nowhere, "I must ask that you cease doing that, you are making some of the other diners uncomfortable."

"Oh, I'm, I'm sorry," he replied with a stammer, clenching his teeth in slight embarrassment.

"Thank you, sir," the waiter said, looking to the empty chair across from Tom. "Would you like to order something or are you continuing to wait for your companion?"

"Oh, um, I'll keep waiting," he said as he laced the fingers of both his hands together and rested them on the table.

"Sir, there is no shame in being stood up," the waiter coldly explained.

"Thank you," said Tom, wrinkling his forehead in contempt to the service staff, "But she promised to be here."

"Quite," was the reply as the waiter left the table's side, "Haven't heard that a million times before."

Tom took a sip of water from his glass before the doors of the restaurant were flung open and a dirty, grimy Janna walked in carrying a burlap sack over her shoulder. She found Tom and came to his table, dropping the sack on the floor, causing a large clanging sound. "All right," she said, "I'm here, let's get this over with."

"What's with the sack?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow, "And...why are you...dirty?"

"It's copper pipes," replied Janna as she picked up the menu and started flipping through it. "I was stripping them from an abandoned building a few blocks over."

Tom paused, both eyebrows now raised in a look of complete confusion. "Why...were you doing that?"

"Well," Janna explained, "After the cleaning or whatever, I expected Echo Creek to just fall into complete anarchy and I developed a plan to protect myself. But seeing how it's been over three months and nothing's happened, I just decided to go for it anyway."

"You wanted there to be anarchy?" he asked when Janna started clapping her hands towards the waiter who approached.

"Yes, miss?" the waiter asked, "Can I direct you to the ladies room so you may freshen up or coat check your..." He looked down at the sack on the floor, "Parcel of lead pipes?"

"They're copper, garçon," Janna snapped, "And go find your own abandoned building if you want some." She looked across the table at Tom, "Hey, you're rich, right?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," he replied.

"What's the second most expensive thing on your menu?" Janna asked the waiter.

"That would be the fillet mignon, miss," he offered.

"Great, I'll take two. And make them to go, this isn't gonna take long," she said while handing him back the menu.

"Excellent choice, miss. And for you, sir?" the waiter directed at Tom.

"Oh," said Tom, "I guess a salad of some kind?"

"Very good, I'll put those into the kitchen straight away," he said as he left Tom and Janna to themselves.

"Wow, that was...rude," said Tom, referring to Janna, before taking another sip of water.

"Well, you can't find decent help these days," said Janna, ignoring Tom's inference. "And you remember our deal, I come on this," she used air quotes, "Date, and you finally drop this and we can go back to being friends."

There was an uneasy silence between the demon and the human girl for several minutes before Tom managed to break it. "Look, I've got to know why you've been so...cold to me...since..."

"Since you tried to kiss me?" she said folding her arms and staring Tom down.

"We did kiss!" he exclaimed, causing other patrons to turn in their seats and glance at him. "I just don't get it. After the whole cleaving thing, we were hanging out almost every day. Talking about the dark arts, playing ping pong, playing video games. I spent more time with you in a month than I did in an entire year with...with...her."

Janna leaned back in her seat and smirked. "And there it is, Horns," she said, "That's the problem."

Tom looked at her nervously, "What do you mean?"

"Well, that's just it," she declared, "I'm not going to be your rebound from Star."

Miles away from the contentious dinner, the sun had begun setting behind the Monster Temple. The flora which grew from its unique crevices covered in a light layer of snow and bathed in the golden light. Below, the merchants of New Monstertown were packing away their wares for the evening. Inside its walls, another dinner was being held. Although, it barely qualified as a meal as far as River was concerned.

"What even is all of this?" he asked staring down at his plate.

"They're vegetables, River," replied Eclipsa, "Globby managed to grow them in the conservatory over the winter. Isn't he clever?"

"I'm not happy with how the tomatoes or the zucchini came out, but these turnips are perfect," said Globgor before taking a bite.

With his elbow planted on the table, River rested his head in his hand and poked at the food upon his plate. "Not a single shred of meat..." he muttered.

"Oh, River," said Eclipsa, "Cheer up, Moon seems to be having a lovely time."

Moon wasn't listening to the conservation. She was busy fussing over Meteora, who sat in a high chair at her side. "Open wide," she said in a sing-song voice as she scooped up freshly mashed food in a spoon, "Here comes some nummy turnip." Meteora happily took the food in her mouth and clapped with joy. "Such a good girl," continued Moon, "Nummy, nummy."

"Moon," interrupted Eclipsa, "Would you like me to feed her? Your food is getting cold."

Moon snapped back to the adult world. "Oh, no, that's quite all right," she said. "Meteora's almost done with her dinner. Isn't that right?" she directed back at the half-monster toddler. "Just a few more nummy bites!"

"Well, while you finish with her," continued Eclipsa, "Perhaps I should explain why I asked you to join us tonight."

"Please do!" River exclaimed, "The sooner we can be done here, the sooner I can get some meat."

"Oh, River," smiled Globgor, "Please don't ever change."

"The reason I wanted to see you both," explained Eclipsa as she got up from her seat, "Is that there is a project I've decided is of most importance to the kingdom." She walked over to a large window with the drapes drawn shut and opened them. "That project to be specific," she concluded pointing out the window into the distance.

Moon failed to pay Eclipsa any attention as she continued fawning over Meteora. "That's right," she said with spoon in hand, "One more big bite."

"Moon!" yelled out Eclipsa startling both Globgor and River, "Would you please look out there?"

She finally turned to face Eclipsa and the winnow to clearly see what she was pointing towards. Beyond the gates of New Monstertown and the Earth-style structures of Echo Creek outside them, in the distance stood the towering ruins of Butterfly Castle and the dilapidated remains of its surrounding village. "Butterfly Castle?" Moon asked with her curiosity piqued, "What of it?"

"It has been brought to my attention," explained Eclipsa, "That the Monster Temple is not sufficient enough to house our government. Especially now that both Mewmans and monsters can call themselves our subjects."

"Plus those ministers do nothing but complain about the smell," added Globgor.

"Yes," agreed Eclipsa, "Any my policy of moving the offices of those I don't like into the dungeons hasn't gone over well either." She smiled at the thought.

"Are you saying," Moon stated as she stood from her seat, "That you wish to repair the Castle?"

"Yes," replied Eclipsa, "Not just repair, but expand and improve. A new capitol for a new era of the kingdom. I can think of no one better to oversee its rejuvenation than its last full time occupants."

Moon smiles as she looked out the window a the far off onion domes and imagined the marks of destruction from nearly a year prior no longer being present. "Of course we'll do it."

"Wonderful!" Globgor exclaimed, "Let me go get dessert, I picked a bunch of fresh strawberries this morning."

"For the love of..." stammered River, "How can you also ruin dessert for me?"

Janna sat across from Tom with her arms folded, maintaining her smirk at him. Tom looked down at the table, crestfallen and disappointed at what his crush had just said.

"You think," he began, "You think I'm only interested in you as a replacement?"

Janna's smirk disappeared when she saw how he took the comment. She wasn't interested in hurting him but there was truth from her side to the summation. "I mean," she replied cautiously, "You've got to remember I was around for a lot of that relationship."

Tom went wide-eyed. "Oh, yeah, I get it!" he exclaimed placing his hand over his chest. "I was a terrible boyfriend, I'm not going to argue..."

"It's not that," she interrupted, "It's how you felt...about her."

Tom's hand fell from his chest as he peered at her. "What...what do you mean, how I felt about her?"

"Well," she rolled her eyes slightly, "Let's start with the whole Blood Moon curse thing."

Tom put his elbows up on the table and covered his face with his hands. "That's right," he muttered, "I almost forgot...you know about that."

"Don't get me wrong," she continued, "Mad respect for trying to curse you unrequited love to fall for you for all eternity. Not a lot of guys would go to the trouble."

Tom began mentally beating himself up for the stupid things he did when he was fourteen. It may have only been two years ago, but it felt like another lifetime. Now he was being forced to relive one of those decisions in the worst possible way. "In fairness," he said, "It didn't work and I ended up having to help fix it."

"Is that supposed to impress me?" she asked, her smirk returning, "You tried to curse someone and failed at it?"

"Wait, hang on," he said, "You can't be upset I tried to curse her and that I failed too."

"And I know about the Mr. Candle thing," she continued.

"Crud, she told you about that?"

"No, she didn't," she replied with a beaming smile, "Marco did."

Tom was now feeling flush as the conversation became frustrating. "So, I suppose it wouldn't help to point out that plan failed too? Also, Star punched me in the arm pretty hard for that one, so I think it's sort of a wash..."

"Speaking of Marco," she cut him off, "How many times did you kidnap him?"

"Hey! It was only once...twice," he defended poorly, "And, and, only one of those times had anything to do with..."

"And then there were the text messages she showed me from when you were broken up," she continued.

"This is karma," he said to himself as he shook his head, "This has to be what karma is."

"I mean, talk about psychotic!" she exclaimed almost gleefully, "You can't be insecure and angry in the same sentence, dude."

"Dinner is served!" declared the waiter as he laid out a salad before Tom and two boxes before Janna. "Bon appétit!"

"Awesome," she said as she stood up, stacked the boxes on top of one another in one hand and slung the bag of pipes over her shoulder with the other. "Well Horns, it was fun reminiscing with you, thanks for the food." She left the table and made her way to the exit.

"Wait, hold on, Janna!" Tom called after her as he got up and attempted to pursue, only for the waiter to clear his throat at him.

"Sir, there is still the matter of the bill," he said.

"Oh, yeah, of course," replied Tom as he pulled his wallet from his pocket and began filing through it. "Earth money, Earth money, I know I have some in here." He finally pulled a wad of green cash out. "I only have," he quickly shuffled through the papers, "$650, will the be enough? I honestly have no idea what the exchange rate is."

The waiter took the cash from Tom and flipped through it before giving a slight smirk. "Normally, I wouldn't do this sir, but for you, I shall cover the difference," he said as he pocketed the money.

"Thanks," replied Tom as he turned for the door, "Janna! Wait up!"

Moon stood at the doorway of the nursery, watching as Eclipsa laid Meteora in her crib. She reached up to the mobile suspended over her daughter's head and gave it a nudge, causing it to turn. Meteora babbled with joy, raising he small hands up at the passing objects. Stars, moons and comets drifted past her field of vision. Moon smiled as she recognized the mobile. It had once hung over her daughter's crib and over her own well before that.

"You seem awfully distracted," said Eclipsa, breaking Moon's mental drifting, "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, yes," she replied, a little embarrassed, "It's nothing, really."

"Is it?" queried the Queen, "Seems that you have a little of the family way on your mind."

"Don't be ridiculous," the former Queen retorted, "I already have my family."

"I'm fully aware," came the reply, "Speaking of which, I should tell you about the conversation I had with the...what was he called?" she asked herself pondering the title, "I can't remember it, the man who is in charge of Echo Creek."

"Surely you mean a Mayor?"

"No, that wasn't what he called himself, it was City...something," said Eclipsa as she tucked Meteora in, "Anyway, I spoke with him about this nonsense with Star's party."

"Of course," said Moon, lowering her eyelids, "The human authorities."

"Indeed," nodded Eclipsa, "It seems no mistakes were made there, we were technically in violation of a new law and he said other laws have been enacted as well. They wish to restrict movement between us and them."

"Us and them?" Moon raised an eyebrow, "Is that really how he referred to it?"

"Quite," confirmed Eclipsa, "I told him I couldn't help finding it all a little unneighborly and that we would never attempt to harass any humans who came within our communities."

"What did he say to that?"

"He asked is many humans were coming to New Monstertown," she replied as she gazed on to her daughter lying in the crib. "And I honestly couldn't say. The only one who does come here on occasion is Marco. Although, I'm sure I've seen Janna shopping at the Necromancer's little store on the High street..."

"This may cause complications for a rejuvenation of Butterfly Village," a disappointed Moon said.

"It does," the Queen confirmed, "Their city sits between here and there as well as the Yurt Village where you and River live and many other villages beside." Meteora let out a big yawn as her eyes became too heavy to remain open. As she drifted off to sleep, Eclipsa tip toed away from her bedside and towards the door.

"And we can ill afford a conflict with the humans," she continued at a whisper as they both left the room. "Not with so many potential others on the horizon."

"Hold the bus!" Janna yelled as she balanced the take out containers in her, feeling the uncomfortable rustle of the sack of pipes on her back. She ran across the street to the corner where a bus was idling as passengers climbed on board it. Just as Janna reached the doors, out of breath from hauling nearly 50 pounds of metal, the bus doors slammed shut. The driver released the brake and accelerated forward, leaving Janna behind in a cloud of diesel smoke. "Your superiors will be hearing from my alter-ago!" she angrily shouted after it.

Looking around, with no other choice, Janna dropped the sack next to the bus stop bench and sat herself down. She opened one of the take outs only to retch with her tongue out. "Asparagus? Are you kidding me?" she asked aloud to no one, "Like the worst thing they could have garnished this with." She shut the box back up and threw them both into a nearby trash can.

"You know, you shouldn't waste food like that," came the voice of Tom as he walked up to the bench.

Janna folded her arms tightly and glared at him. "Thanks for the wise words, now beat it," she said with a sting to her voice. "I think we've said all we need to say."

"Can I...can I just explain my side?" he asked. Janna took a look at him and for the first time that night, saw that he had dressed up for the occasion. He was wearing dark slacks and a matching sport coat with a burgundy shirt underneath. She couldn't help but recognize that while she had done nothing special with her look, he'd put effort into his appearance. That he was quite handsome.

"The next bus will be here in ten minutes," she replied, not allowing her admiration of his outfit to distract her. "You've got 'til then."

Tom took a seat on the other side of the bench and exhaled. There was silence between them while he considered what he was going to say to her. Whether to just lay his cards out about his feelings or not. But, considering where their discussion in the restaurant had led, he decided to take a different approach. "Do you want to know why I obsessed over Star?"

"Huh?" Janna cocked her eyebrow at him in confusion, "I mean, it's kinda obvious..."

"It's not, really," he explained, "We met at this thing called the Silver Bell Ball. It's was this annual dance the Butterfly's would hold every year for all the royal heirs. It was my first one, I was thirteen..."

"And you asked Star to dance and you fell in love with her," interrupted Janna, "Yeah, I've seen that movie a thousand times and it makes me want to barf."

"No, it's not like that, all the heirs dance with each other, it's kind of a requirement."

"Oh," corrected Janna.

"I danced with Princess Jaggs, Spiderbite, Ponyhead, that was a...regrettable experience. And yeah, I danced with Star," he continued. "And I guess you could say that I fell for her, sure."

"You guess?" came a sarcastic interjection.

"Well, I had a reputation of sorts back then," Tom explained, "Of being a hot-headed jerk. Of losing my temper whenever something didn't go exactly my way. It wasn't totally undeserved." He paused needing to regain his composure before continuing. "All those girls, everyone, they were either afraid of me or already angry with me about something I did or said." He took a deep breath, "Except her."

Janna, being no stranger to social isolation, felt her heart soften before Tom concluded. "She was nice to me. She liked me. No one outside of my family was ever nice to me." He exhaled before finishing, "And until she came into my life, I guess I thought no one ever would."

The silence was deafening as Janna and Tom both looked towards the ground at their feet. She considered what he had shared with her, feeling empathy for his experiences. He, meanwhile, felt a weight lifted from him having had the ability to share a part of his life he normally kept hidden. Their individual thoughts were disturbed when another bus pulled up to the curb and opened its doors for them.

"There's your bus," he said as he got up from the bench, "I guess I'll be seeing you around?"

Janna took a look at the waiting bus and waved it off. "I can catch another one," she said as she too, stood. The bus closed its doors and roared off down the street without her. "C'mon, take a walk with me," she continued as she headed in the other direction.

"Wait, what about your pipes?" he asked seeing the sack remain at the side of the bench.

"Meh," she replied as she continued her walk, "There are plenty of other abandoned buildings." Tom didn't think about it any further and hurried down the sidewalk to catch up with her.

Eclipsa entered the small parlor where Moon was seated carrying a tea service. She placed the service on the table in front of her predecessor and busily began preparing two cups for them. "Sugar, dear?" she asked Moon.

"No, thank you," replied Moon, "Just some milk, please."

Eclipsa handed the cup to Moon as steam wafted from it. "You've no doubt heard about the issue with your former friend."

"She was never my friend," Moon said coldly as she sipped some of the tea and watched Eclipsa give her own drink a generous helping of sugar.

"Have you seen the literature she and her cronies distribute in the streets?" Eclipsa asked as she stirred the tea in her cup. "If you can look past the spelling mistakes, which are numerous, they make some rather fantastical claims about myself and Globby."

"My neighbor share one with me just the other day," said Moon as she leaned back in her chair. "Apparently, you both have been luring Mewman children away from their parents using candy."

"Apparently, buying Snookers bars in bulk is no longer something I should be doing." Eclipsa smiled. "What did your neighbor think of it all?"

"Oh, the Maizleys are completely uninterested in anything Mina has to say now," said Moon before solemnly adding, "Unfortunately, I sense that many in the Yurt Village don't feel the same way."

"It's not just there," Eclipsa affirmed, "Part of why I want Butterfly Village restored is because so many are still there becoming more and more desperate and more and more radical."

"Well," Moon rolled her eyes, "And your daughter destroyed the place."

"And it's not the good, fun kind of radical either, you know, with guitar solos and pyrotechnic displays. It's the rambling manifesto, death threats and terror kind."

"Yes, I got that."

"And every day," continued Eclipsa, "The knights bring me new reports of violence against defenseless monsters by Mina's sympathizers. She wasn't wrong about how her ideas would stick around."

"Yes, but they're not good ones and they smell much worse."

"Oh my," Eclipsa giddily replied, "Was that a fart joke, Moon?"

Moon blushed slightly, "I think I may be spending too much time with River."

"If anything, not nearly enough time."

"In any case," Moon regained her composure, "What real harm does some poorly edited literature really do?"

"It's not the literature," the Queen responded, "It's what it leads too. Mina is gathering a following and there is evidence that they plan to start a war with us."

"But," objected Moon, "You have the entire Butterfly army at your disposal as well as all the monsters."

"Yes, but I no longer have magic," she said, "For that matter, neither do you and neither does Star." Moon looked down at her cup of tea before Eclipsa added, "And I can't in good conscience have a war with my own subjects."

The twilight of the evening was giving way to oncoming darkness as Janna peered over the concrete side of the aqueduct down at the river below. She jumped onto the incline and slid down to the level base below and looked back above. "Don't wuss out on me now, Horns," she called up, "Come join me down here."

Tom looked over the incline down at Janna and considered his options. "You want me to slide down this concrete to you?" he asked before holding his leg up to show her his leather footwear, "In these boots?"

"Unless you got a better way," Janna replied to which Tom could only smile. He casually folded his arms as the unmistakable sound of a rocket igniting began to roar from the soles of his feet. Lifting himself up and over the edge, he gently descended down to where she stood watching him.

"This is less wear and tear on your shoes?" she asked as he extinguished his feet and dropped the final few inches for a perfect upright landing with a face dripping in smugness. She couldn't help muttering, "Ugh, I hate how cool that is."

"So," Tom asked basking in his ability, "What are we doing here?"

"No reason, I just like the river," she said as they began walking along the water's edge. "You find all sorts of great stuff down here."

"Such as?"

"Oh, you know, old shopping carts, abandoned cars," she listed, "A dead body or two."

"You're so weird," he said smirking.

"And you seem to like that," she playfully accused before adopting a more somber tone. "I'm sorry...if I was hard on you about...you know."

"It's okay," he responded, hands in his pockets, "I kinda deserved it."

"Not really," she said watching the ground in front of her as they continued walking. "I know just as well as anyone how amazing it is when someone decides to stick around when no one else will." She allowed a moment of silence between them as she considered whether she should share further. "There was actually this guy...he was kind of like my Star."

"Someone who liked you?" he asked.

"Despite my weirdness," she added for him, "Yeah, I mean, guys didn't like me at all. Girls didn't either for that matter. No one wanted to hang around with the girl reading books about the occult or playing with spiders on the playground. Except him, for some reason." Tom began chuckling to himself, disturbing her vulnerable confession. "Why are you laughing?" she snapped at him.

"Oh, c'mon," he replied, "You're talking about Marco. I just can't help but laugh at always being runner up to him."

"Ugh," she scoffed as she stopped walking, "He was one of my only friends. He even let me mess with him, play pranks on him and whatever. I joked all the time that we would end up together, I mean, I was being stupid and thought there was no way he'd ever find anyone better. Should've realized someone would snatch him up eventually."

"Yeah, well, he's pretty cool," he replied as he ceased walking.

Janna looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sure," she hesitated, "Otherwise, I just distanced myself from guys. Developed crushes on nineteenth-century poets and movie stars who died in car crashes because it was easier for me than having crushes on people around me."

"And now?"

"And now," she said exasperated, "I'm in the amazing world with monsters and vampires and...and...demons." She stepped closer to him and held her hand out which he took in his own. Feeling the warmth of her palm against his and mentally begging himself not to get clammy.

"Sorry I've been such a brat," she continued, "Are you really over her though?"

Tom looked down at her hand in his and swallowed hard. "I can't say I am," he admitted, "But I can tell you one thing."

"What's that?"

"With you," he said softly, "I don't have to pretend to be someone different."

Moon followed Eclipsa down the corridor and into the Monster Temple's large conservatory. She took in the rows of both familiar and exotic plants that grew along the glass paneled walls that allowed for a view of the distant Jaggy Mountains and the Forest of Unlikely Spiderbites. "Moon," said Eclipsa, "Have you seen this? Globby got it from one of the Earth shops. Imagine my surprise the other night when I saw the Diaz's have a dozen of them!"

Moon peered over to see what was unmistakably a cactus. "Yes, I remember these. Not the most friendly plant."

"Well, that's why I like it," said Eclipsa with a smile, "They can survive extremely harsh conditions, unbearable heat or shivering cold with little water. And yet, they still manage to bloom with the most beautiful flowers."

"Sounds familiar," said a reflective Moon.

"Globby!" yelled out the Queen, "Are you and River in here?!"

"Over here, my sweet!" came the voice of the unseen Globgor, "By the tomato plants!" Moon followed Eclipsa as she winded around the rows of greenery until they came upon Globgor showing off his recent acquisitions. "With these," he explained to a curious River, "You can allow the tomatoes to grow so much bigger and the plant won't fall over on itself."

River inspected the wire tomato cage encasing the plant. "That's ingenious!" he declared, "Do you suppose it would work for corn too?"

"And look at this thing," Globgor said as he held up a garden fork. "I haven't found a use for it yet, but I couldn't leave the store without it."

"Moonpie," said River, "We must go to Echo Creek and visit this...what did you call it? Hardware Store! Globgor has been raving about it. It sounds like they have everything you can imagine!"

"Yeah, it's fantastic," concurred Globgor, "They didn't even charge me for any of this, they just held up their hands and told me to take whatever I wanted."

Eclipsa forced a grin for her husband as Moon shook her head and asked her, "Do you think this may be why the Mayor or whomever doesn't seem to like us?"

"I presume you both had a productive conservation?" Globgor asked as he put the fork down and picked up a trowel to show River.

"My goodness, a tiny shovel!" said a wide-eyed River as he took the tool from him.

"Yes, very," Eclipsa replied to her husband, "I'm greatly looking forward to seeing what Moon can accomplish with the old place. Before long, we will have the kingdom fully restored."

"Excellent!" he declared to his wife, "So long as those Septarians don't cause anymore trouble, we have a bright future."

Moon felt her blood run cold. "Sep...Septarians?" she asked just above her breath.

Eclipsa gave her husband a dirty look before attempting to reassure the former Queen. "It's...it's nothing, really."

"Nothing?" Globgor continued, "They raided another Mewman village just last night."

"Raided?!" Moon nearly screamed, "How many of them are there?"

"Oh, must be at least a dozen," said GLobgor as Eclipsa continued to give him a deadly stare. "I mean, they didn't kill anyone at least, just robbed them and destroyed their homes and businesses."

"Eclipsa?" asked Moon.

"Moon!" she snapped back at her, "It is being handled, we are taking care of the families and the knights are investigating..."

"How are you planning to manage a war with Septarians, and deal with Mina, and the humans? All while keeping your subjects safe?"

"By rebuilding Butterfly Castle," Eclipsa said with wavering confidence.

"It's getting late," Janna said after standing with Tom in silence for several moments. "I should probably get home."

Tom looked up from their embraced hands and at her face. "Yeah, I guess so," he replied.

"Walk me back to the bus stop?" she asked, breaking from his sweaty palm and starting towards the concrete incline to leave.

Tom thought for a second, "Hang on," he said, "I have a better idea." He walked up to her and scooped her up in his arms in one fluid motion. Her face turned deep crimson as she felt his arms around her and heard the familiar sound from his feet. Before long, she was looking down at the rooftops of the city.

They flew from the river and over many of the city's landmarks, the park, the mud pits and Echo Creek Academy before Tom finally admitted a problem. "Hate to ask this, but which one is your house?"

"Dude, you've been to my house before!" she laughed.

"Yeah," he replied, "I portal there, not fly! I don't have a clue what your roof looks like!"

She pointed out her house in the distance, "It's that one over there!"

He leveled out and gently landed in her front yard, setting fire to a small bush. "Crud!" he exclaimed before setting her down on her feet and stomping on it in an attempt to put the fire out.

"Horns!" she snapped at him, "Snap your fingers!"

"Crud!" he exclaimed again, snapping his fingers and watching the flames die, leaving a blackened, smoldering thrush behind.

"Wow," she said looking down at it with him, "That was my dad's favorite too."

"What?!" yelped a now panicked Tom.

"Just messing' with ya, Horns," she teased as she walked to her front door, with him following a few steps behind.

"So," he started, "Are we...are we dating now?"

She reached the front door and turned to face him. "Yeah...we are," she confirmed, "But don't you dare take me to another frumpy restaurant again. Show me your world, don't pretend to be someone different for me."

Tom smiled and nodded as she leaned in and gave him a brief, but wonderful kiss.

"Oh, and can you not tell her about us?" she asked as she opened the front door, "Just not yet?"

"Yeah," he said not sure why he was agreeing but saw no reason to challenge it.

"Good night, Horns," she concluded with a smirk as she walked into the house, "Call me later." She closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the front yard. He turned away from the house and took a few steps before pulling his compact from his pocket and typing a message to his best friend.

I did it! Janna and I are dating. We kissed and everything.

He thought for a moment before typing another message out.

Also, please don't tell Star yet.

With that, he put the compact back in his pocket and held out his hands summoning a fire portal back to the Underworld. Before stepping in, he felt his compact vibrate and took it back out and flipped it open to read Marco's response.

I give it a week, ten days tops.

Moon reflected on all the information she had taken in that evening as she and River walked into the main hall of the Monster Temple, followed by their hosts. Everyone had been uneasily quiet since leaving the conservatory.

"Finally," muttered River, "We can go home and I can get myself some meat."

As they reached the front entrance, Moon turned to the face the Queen and the Monster King. "Well, it's been lovely," she said, "I will start working on some plans for the restoration. I'm sure we'll be in touch."

"Thank you, Moon," replied Eclipsa as Globgor rested his hands on her shoulders in an effort to provide comfort. "It is what's best for Mewni."

"Yes," Moon confirmed sullenly, "You need a fortress."

"It may have been your home, Moon," the Queen said, "But, it was always a fortress." She looked towards the ground before adding, "And for some of us, a prison."

River wrapped a cloak around his wife's shoulders which she adjusted to wrap around her front. "Of course," she said, "I understand."

"And despite the circumstances, our personal histories with that building, the great hall, the ball room, the tapestry room. Those should be brought back to their former glories."

Moon smiled at the mention of the tapestry room and recalled her mother's which probably still hung there in tatters. "Thank you, Eclipsa," she graciously said, "If there is anything you need in the meantime, don't hesitate."

As Moon turned and walked to the door with her husband, Globgor called out to them, "Wait!"

"What is it, my love?" asked Eclipsa, confused.

"We should ask them about the girl. Maybe they can help," he said.

"What girl?" Moon and River both asked simultaneously.

"Globby," Eclipsa said to her husband through a fake smile, "I'm so glad you insist on sitting in on every briefing I receive."

"What is it now, Eclipsa?" inquired an indignant Moon.

Eclipsa sighed. "There is a young woman who has become the target of some of Mina's minions and we were asked if there was a safe place she could stay until the threat was resolved."

"Why would someone target a girl?" asked River.

"Because," answered Globgor, "She's in a relationship with a monster."

Moon considered the request before stating, "I believe we know where she could stay."