Eda and Luz looked at each other in silence for a moment, and none of the other people present said a word, as if they wanted to give them space... although they still kept their eyes glued on each other and their ears open, since they absolutely wanted hear anything they had to say to each other. Luz was scratching her arm with embarrassment and shame, and didn't take her eyes off the black feathers that had sprouted on Eda's arm and hand. "I'm sorry" she whispered. "I hurt you... and I treated you badly. I should have listened to you right away, or at least tried to talk to you and listen to you instead of doing my own thing. And I certainly shouldn't have said those things to you... Eda, I don't think that... well... I don't know how to say it, but... I don't think you're unfit to define yourself... well, I consider you a second mother, so what I told you was..."

"Hey, kiddo, it's okay" Eda said, touching her cheek with her good hand, then she added: "I've never tried to take the place of your mother, Luz, and it wouldn't have been right for me to do so. I have the I'm partly to blame for reacting that way"

Luz slowly raised her hands and touched the fairy's, and she pressed her palm even more against her cheek. "I know you don't want to replace my mother" she said. "But... to me you are like a mother. Don't get me wrong, I know very well that my mother is... well, my mother... Camila, that's it... and what I feel for her I can't feel for someone else... but for you I feel something very similar. I don't just consider you my fairy godmother, Eda, or a mentor, or a teacher, or one of the best things that ever happened to me... for me you are just like a parent"

Eda's eyes widened at those words, and she seemed to become totally incapable of speaking or thinking; she just stared at Luz and seemed to want to say a million things, but not even a breath could come out of her mouth. "What I mean..." Luz muttered more and more uncomfortably. "It's just that... I wouldn't dislike calling you mom at all... even if it will never be the same as my real mom... but... well... how can I say..."

She wasn't able to find the words to explain what was going through her mind, but she didn't need to: Eda took her and held her in a strong hug, so much so that she almost seemed intent on engulfing her in her arms. Luz was a little surprised by that sudden contact, but she recovered quickly and returned the hug with the same intensity. "Kiddo... you have no idea how happy these words of yours make me" Eda whispered in her ear, and even though Luz couldn't look her in the face she was pretty sure that the fairy had just shed a tear of emotion. "And it's the same for me. Don't worry, I will never ask you to consider me the same as your mother, I know I can't pretend that. But the simple fact that you consider me the way you say... fills my heart with joy"

Luz found herself smiling at those words, and instinctively held the fairy even closer to her as her heart beat wildly with happiness. Eda had always been like a second mother to her, not just a mentor; she had felt terribly guilty when she had ran away after telling her that she wasn't her mother, and the fact that the fairy had accepted her apology and even told her that it made her happy was a source of joy for her. And Eda in turn couldn't help but feel over the moon as she heard Luz say that she would really like to call her mom; she had heard the puppet call her a second mother many times, but this was the first time she actually said it to her face, fully expressing her feelings. That scene was truly touching, and in fact their spectators put on smiling expressions and shed a few tears of emotion, and Amity felt happy like never before in seeing Luz finally more serene after the bad moment they had experienced.

After a period of time that seemed infinite, Eda and Luz broke away, both with great difficulty since neither of them really wanted to put an end to that contact, and they looked into each other's eyes again; Luz noticed that the feathers on Eda's arm had diminished by more than half. "Eda..." she whispered trying to find the right words. "You were right, and... I was wrong. Pretty much everyone pointed it out to me tonight. I... I don't know if I'll ever be a real girl, but I'm going to keep trying and not give up... and I don't want that lamp. You're all right, if I chose that path I would only hurt myself... and I'm tired of being hurt". She shook her head vehemently: "I wish I could promise you that I won't do anything stupid like this in the future, but I know my flaws and I don't want to make any more promises that I don't know if I can keep, and so I can't guarantee that I won't behave badly again. But... I can promise you that I will never stop trying. I'm afraid... I'm constantly afraid that I'll never be able to do it on my own... and that I'll have to watch all of you die... but you're right, that fear won't go away even if I become human. I have to learn to live with it and not use it as an excuse to do bad things like stealing or disobeying you. And then... someone here promised me that whatever happens she won't die before me, and for how much none of us can know the future, I can't help but believe her" and upon hearing it Amity turned red as a tomato and turned away. "So, Eda... I'm sorry, for everything. And... I hope you can forgive me once again"

With every word Luz said, a feather fell off Eda's arm and then crumpled and turned to dust before it even touched the ground; and when the puppet finally spoke her last sentence, the claws retracted and turned back into nails, and the arm became exactly as before, and Eda could clearly feel every bit of the Owl Beast's corruption fading from within her and reactivating her magic; and Lilith felt the same, and the two fairies felt well again. Almost without thinking they returned to their true form, showing everyone that they were now okay again, and then Eda wrapped her wings around Luz: "Of course I forgive you, kiddo. I will always forgive you, no matter what. That's a promise I can do to you"

Luz opened her eyes wide as she saw the fairy return to her true form, then she realized that Eda was no longer sick and her eyes shone with happiness; again she hugged her very tightly. Even Amity, seeing Lilith return to full form, did not hold back and ran at her and buried her face and arms in her feathers. Both girls were over the moon.

Just at that moment Darius appeared behind them and exclaimed: "Look at this, in the end you all have made up! Thank goodness, finally there's only serenity around here!"

"Ugh! Weren't you gone away?" Eda grumbled when she saw him.

"Nah, since my dear friend was kind enough to throw me away, I stayed behind" Darius replied, and then he winked at the fairy: "What's with that frowning look? Don't tell me you're still mad at me for giving an anatomy lesson to your pupil..."

"Now I have all my magic again" Eda warned him. "And if you don't shut your mouth right now, you'll get a kick where the sun doesn't shine"

"Calm down, calm down, fairy. It is not my intention to contribute even more to the destruction of your pupil's innocence" Darius said, giving her a pat, which made Eda look murderous, but whatever the fairy wanted to do came immediately forgotten as soon as the djinn threw his lamp at Luz, who caught it. "Here. Make a wish, you have my permission"

"Uh... what?" Luz asked confused.

"You heard me. I don't usually entrust my lamp to anyone, but... after your last conversation, I think you are judicious enough to make this small concession without fear that you will regret it later. You can consider it a thank you gift from mine for freeing my best friend from that green haired bitch" Darius replied. "So? What do you want?"

"Um..." Luz didn't know what to answer, and she looked at Eda as if looking for instructions. But the fairy shook her head and smiled encouragingly: "The choice is yours, kiddo. I trust you. Ask him what you want"

Luz looked down at the lamp, with much conflict in her mind. For a moment she thought about taking back the words she had said earlier and asking to become a real girl... but that thought was so weak that it seemed ridiculous even to her. "I don't need this lamp. I don't want it to become a real girl... and beyond that, there's nothing else I could want. I already have everything that makes me happy... and even if I hadn't it, I would want to get it with my own strength. I don't want any more shortcuts" she said looking at all her friends around her. Then her gaze fell on Willow, Gus, and Matt, and suddenly her eyes shone. She motioned for Darius to come closer and then whispered something in her ear.

The djinn listened carefully, then he laughed: "Oh oh, I understand! Very well, I can satisfy you. So, do you want them as before or with some modifications?". Luz thought about it for a moment, then she whispered something else to him. Darius nodded and rubbed his hands: "Perfect, so be it! So, let's see if I remember all the steps correctly... head, torso, legs, arms... a few arteries here, a few veins there... yes, it's all here! Luz, your wish has been granted!"

And with that he snapped his fingers, and beams of purple liquid emerged from them and flew towards Willow, Gus and Matt, and enveloped them and dragged them into the air. "Hey, what are you…?" they tried to say, but soon their voice was no longer heard and they were completely covered in the strange liquid; the purple slime then expanded and grew larger, and took the form of three human beings; he modeled every part of their body to perfection, and then the slime exploded to reveal that three people had actually appeared beneath it, all of whom looked quite dazed.

It was Willow, Gus, and Matt, back in their human forms, but they had changed a little. Willow had remained much the same, but now her braids were longer and more elaborate, and she wore an elegant green dress with a yellow t-shirt embroidered with a blue leaf and two brown trousers that fell to her ankles, under which she they found two beautiful shoes. Gus, on the other hand, had grown taller and his face had lost much of its softness, making him more like a man, and now he wore a cyan shirt with black sleeves with what looked like an overturned ear of wheat embroidered on it, but which if observed well it could be possible to understand that it was actually the eight legs of a tiny spider hanging from his collar by a thread, plus two blue trousers and some red shoes, and he had a green hair on his head. Matt in turn had gained greater height and had more pronounced cheekbones, and was wearing a yellow jacket with beige sleeves torn in several places and two white trousers ending in two black boots. "Done!" Darius said satisfied. "Was that what you imagined, Luz?"

"Well...yeah, I'd say so" Luz replied. "It's…permanent, right?"

Darius nodded. "Yes, it is"

"What... what happened?" Willow exclaimed as she looked at her hands. "Why did we transform without our amulets? And why are Gus and Matt taller now? Luz, what did you wish for?"

Luz scratched her head: "Well... you always said that you wanted to become human permanently... and Eda said that to transform yourself forever you needed a being with life magic, and djinns have it, so... I asked Darius to make you human" she confessed. "Do you... well... like it?"

Willow, Gus and Matt looked at her with wide eyes. Luz was a little afraid: perhaps, she reflected, she should have asked their opinion first... in short, that wasn't a simple transformation, it was something permanent. What if they were angry with her? But that concern vanished when Willow jumped on top of her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you!" she shouted with tears in her eyes. "Oh, thank you, Luz! This is my best gift anyone has ever given me! Oh, you don't know how much I love you, you're the best friend I could ask for!"

"R... Really? You're okay with that?" Luz asked her a little hesitantly. "I mean... now you won't be able to go back to being a cricket... and you won't be able to fly anymore..."

But Willow shrugged. "Luz, there's almost nothing I can miss now that I'm no longer in a cricket's body. I had no ties to anyone while I was in that form, and all my friends were human. Now I can play, have fun, hug you and do all the things I love without even worrying about the weather anymore! Oh, and I can also run in the rain or take a bath without risking suffocation! I won't miss being a cricket at all. Of course, not being able to fly anymore is a little sad... but for that I have a dear friend who can give me a lift when I need it!" she said, and she gave Hunter a winking look. The boy for his part was quite impressed, and he didn't know exactly what he was feeling at the thought that Willow was now fully human, and for some reason unknown to him he felt his heart rejoice.

Gus also grabbed Luz and pulled her into a hug. "I don't know how to thank you!" he exclaimed. "I've spent my whole life studying and admiring humans, and now I can truly immerse myself in their world! Oh, and don't be afraid: the only thing that mattered to me when I was a spider was my friend Willow, but if now she's human too, I don't see why it should bother me to become one! After all, all my friends are human to me too, and I want to be! Thank you so much, Luz!"

The puppet smiled, then she looked at Matt: "And you...? Are you okay with this?"

The ex-crab looked rather doubtful for a moment, but then he simply shrugged: "Crab, human, it makes little difference to me. The only thing that might have mattered to me when I was a crab was my brother Steve, but he isn't in this world anymore and I want to move on. And since my... friend... is now a human and happy to be one, I'm fine with becoming one too"

Gus' eyes lit up, "So you admit that I'm your friend!"

"Don't make me take back those words" Matt grumbled, then he added with a small smile: "Anyway… thanks, Luz. It was a nice gift"

Luz smiled happily. It seemed that all three of her friends appreciated her decision. She had truly chosen the right wish. "I asked Darius to give you the bodies you had when you used the amulets... but I also asked him to make Gus and Matt a little taller, since they didn't like being short"

"Yeah, I noticed that detail! Damn, now I'm really cool, and none of you can tell me otherwise!" Gus exclaimed preening. "By the way, now that I think about it, do we still have the skills we had with amulets? Yeah, you know, jumping a lot and stuff...?"

"No" Darius answered him. "I had to give you a human body, so I couldn't leave you with the capabilities of when you were arthropods. There would have been some... problems in the bone and muscle structure. But I still made sure that these characteristics of yours are still at an excellent level of potential reachable by a human being"

Matt, Gus and Willow were a little confused by those words, then the latter decided to give it a try and jumped; she didn't reach ten meters as it did before, but she still exceeded two meters, which was quite difficult for a human being. "Well, I'd say we're still pretty decent anyway" she said quite satisfied. After all, she wasn't too sorry to have lost her previous abilities: even if they were useful, they still made her feel too different, more like a superhuman than a real human. Now at least she was closer to normal people, and she wouldn't have to be careful about measuring her strength when shaking someone's hand.

Darius clapped a hand on Luz's shoulder. "Making a wish not for yourself, but for someone else... I wasn't wrong to entrust you with the lamp. You're really judicious... even if you make a lot of mistakes, but that's part of the growing up process"

"Yeah. I'm proud of you, kiddo" Eda added, and from her expression it wasn't hard to tell that she meant it.

Luz felt her heart warm. She hadn't become a real girl yet, but she still achieved something that night. She handed the lamp back to Darius, who took it back satisfied, then she added: "Um... by the way, if it doesn't bother you, Skara wanted too..."

"No!" Skara suddenly exclaimed, almost making the puppet jump; the girl had turned red in the face and was sweating a lot, but she still had very determined eyes. "Luz, I appreciate the gesture, but... no. All that talk about how it's better to face your fears and not take the easy path... it made me think, and I decided that I don't want to use that lamp either". And with those words she turned to Boscha and almost shouted: "I have to tell you something!"

Boscha looked at her rather confused. "Um... ok, I'm listening..." she replied.

"Good" Skara said, but the moment she found her crush's eyes mirrored in hers all the adrenaline and courage she had built up vanished. "Um... so, I wanted to tell you the secret I was about to tell you at the library"

"Uh, that? I confess I forgot about that" Boscha admitted. "So, what's this about?"

"Well..." Skara began to sweat profusely. "You know that we have been friends for years, Boscha, and you and I have always told each other everything... and so it is right that I tell you this now..."

Tell her...

Skara had a moment of hesitation as soon as she heard that voice in her head, a voice that was practically identical to hers; evidently her subconscious was trying to help her... even though it seemed strange to her that it only spoke to her through her right ear. "The thing is... damn, I don't know how to explain this to you... recently... I started to understand something..."

Just tell her!

"Um... Skara? There is..." Boscha tried to say to her, but Skara quickly cut her off: "Let me finish, please! What I'm trying to tell you is that... well... ugh.. . It is hard to say..."

Coward...

"... but I have to tell you, because I don't want to keep it inside anymore... and I want you to know... even if it's difficult for me... but..."

Coward!

"... and I absolutely don't want you to feel obligated to reciprocate... so don't expect to have to do anything... just... for some time now I..."

COWARD!

"I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU!" Skara screamed in one breath, and as soon as she did so she looked like she was about to faint. "I didn't know how to tell you... but it's true! I don't want to just be your friend anymore, I want to be something more! I love you, Boscha!"

Silence fell between the two. Boscha had widened her eyes completely, and on the contrary Skara had closed hers and had become as stiff as a stockfish, as if she were a student waiting to hear the teacher's response after a test gone wrong. The silence lasted for a few seconds, then Boscha said: "Um... Skara, first of all... what I wanted to tell you was that Echo is next to your right ear"

"What!?" Skara exclaimed as she turned around, and saw that the little mouse was indeed present on her shoulder. "Wait… were you the voice I was hearing!?"

"Well, yes" Echo replied in her voice, then he cleared his throat and added in his normal voice: "You were taking way too long, so I decided to speed things up a bit. Don't thank me"

"Should I thank you because you called me a coward!?" Skara snapped.

"It took you a good five minutes to say something you could have said in five seconds. Draw your own conclusions" Echo replied, then he jumped off her shoulder before Skara could grab him.

Boscha brought her attention back to her with a loud cough. Skara fell silent again. "Um... I think I should give you an answer" Boscha told her. "Listen, Skara... I admit that every now and then over the years I've tried to imagine the two of us as a couple, and that a couple of times I've even wanted it... but now I can't tell you whether I reciprocate or not such feelings of yours, or if I feel them the same way as you. But... I can't even tell you if I don't feel them. So... we can try. Yes, I mean... let's go out together for a while, try this... and then we both draw our conclusions. Let's see if... it can work"

Skara's eyes lit up. "So… is that a yes?"

"Let's say more of a 'maybe'... but in the immediate future... yes, I would like to go out with you" Boscha replied, and with that said she took her hand and shook it.

Skara turned red, but then using all the courage at her disposal she returned the gesture and shook her hand in turn. "Why is it still so scary?" she whispered.

"Tsk! Come on. It's not that bad" Boscha told her, but she did so while looking away and in a voice that had strangely gone up an octave.

Fortunately, Luz's applause dispelled the embarrassment: "Yay! See, Skara? It wasn't that difficult!" she exclaimed joyfully, and soon the others joined her in applause. Both Boscha and Skara blushed visibly, but both seemed more relaxed now.

"Well, I'd say every problem is solved now" Hunter muttered. "I'd better go to the inn and put on some new clothes since mine are completely destroyed. I'll see you guys tomorrow..."

"Of course I'll see you tomorrow! Because tomorrow we're going to the beach!" Luz screamed.

Everyone looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Of course! Don't you remember? We really wanted to go to the beach, but we couldn't because Willow, Gus and Matt risked suffocating. Now that risk no longer exists, and it's right that they experience the thrill of taking a bath!" Luz said, then she leaned close to Willow's ear, "I'm giving you a chance to see Hunter wet and in a swimsuit. You'll thank me later"

Willow turned about the color of a cherry, and she became totally unable to speak. Amity, however, came forward and said: "Luz, are you sure? I mean... you... at the seaside..."

"I'll stay on the beach, it's no problem" Luz replied. "I'm made of wood anyway, I won't risk getting sunburnt! Don't worry about me, just think about having fun. And besides, Amity, there's not long left before you become a witch, and we still don't know if you'll be able to get wet again after that, so don't you can miss this opportunity! So, are you there?"

Amity seemed a little doubtful, and the same was true for the others... but seeing Luz so sure they decided to listen to her. "Okay. Then tomorrow day at the beach!"

"Yay! Hunter, we'll see you on the beach!" Luz told the boy, who obviously hadn't had any say in the matter and had found himself included in that unscheduled trip without even realizing it.

"Well, in that case you guys better go to sleep right now, or tomorrow you'll be zombies at the beach" Darius laughed, then said to Hunter. "Do you mind if I accompany you home? Don't get me wrong, I know full well you don't need help, but this way I will have something to pass the time with while waiting for my friend to return"

It didn't take long for Hunter to realize that the djinn wanted to speak to him privately, so he nodded. The two said their final goodbyes, then they disappeared in the night sky.

"Well, I guess we should listen to him. Come on, guys, it's time to go home" Eda said, and Lilith too nodded at those words.

"Wait! Can I walk Amity home?" Luz asked Eda.

The fairy thought for a moment, then she replied: "Okay, but go straight home afterwards". And after saying that she headed towards the Owl House followed by King, Willow, Gus and Matt.

The others in turn headed towards Bonesborough; they first brought Boscha and Skara home, and then went to the Blight Manor. Once they arrived outside the gate, Lilith greeted them in turn and headed towards her house; Edric and Emira instead rushed in giggling in a rather strange manner. In the end, Amity and Luz were left alone at the gate. "Why did you want to accompany me?" Amity asked the puppet.

"I wanted to thank you" Luz replied. "For what you told me. It made me understand... that I didn't need the lamp. And... I will never stop repeating that you are an angel"

Amity blushed visibly and scratched her head in embarrassment. "Well... you don't need to thank me" she replied. "Go home now. It's been a long night..."

"Yeah, definitely! We went through a lot of emotions tonight. Well... at least something good came out of it" Luz said. "Adrian and Terra are finally in prison where they deserve to be, King is now more confident, I have clarified with Eda, our friends are now human, and Boscha and Skara have become a couple. They are really cute together, by the way"

"Yeah..." Amity murmured a little hesitantly. She admired Skara for the courage she had shown in confessing her feelings, and she desperately wanted to do the same, but as soon as she tried, the words died in her throat and her legs began to tremble as if they were made of jelly. She decided it was best to change the subject: "Anyway... don't be afraid of not being able to become a real girl, okay? I know you can do it"

Luz nodded, and her eyes were more confident than ever. "I know" she said, looking up at the stars and clenching her hand into a fist, as if to give herself courage. "I will find a way... in my own time, but I will find it! And one day I will be a real girl, and no longer a puppet! And then we can all grow up together and all grow old together, and like you said we will end our years close to each other! This is the future that I want and that I will work to achieve, and I will make it... somehow. Or at least I will put effort into it"

Amity listened to her enraptured by her words, then a sweeter smile than ever appeared on her face. "Don't worry" she told her, not even thinking about what words were coming out of her mouth and simply letting her heart speak. "If there's anyone who can do what everyone else thinks is impossible, it's you, Luz. Don't ever doubt that you'll become a real girl, because you definitely will. You don't need to believe in this dream of yours, because it is not a dream, it is absolute reality. I know it"

And then it happened.

Neither of them realized what had happened for the first few seconds. It took Luz a moment to understand what that sudden warmth on her right cheek was, and it took Amity the same amount of time to realize why she felt a woody taste in her mouth. As soon as they did, Amity immediately put an end to that kiss and withdrew her lips, and Luz turned towards her, staring at her with an expression so shocked that she seemed to just have seen a goddess.

"Bold move, sister" Edric murmured as he and Emira observed the scene from one of the windows of the Blight Manor, and they both exchanged a knowing and satisfied look.

Luz opened her eyes wide, which seemed to become as bright as thousands of stars, and sucked in so much air that it felt like her wooden lungs were about to explode. Amity's face turned so red that anyone might have feared her capillaries would explode, and she squeaked: "Okay... good to see you, farewell forever!" and with that she rushed at full speed into Blight Manor while whispering to herself: "Why did I do that? Why did I do that? Why did I do that!?"

Luz continued to watch her until Amity disappeared behind the door and closed it behind her; then her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the street, her mind completely focused solely on that kiss.

"Ok, so, in this chapter we have put plot, greater mother/daughter relationship between Luz and Eda, the three arthropods who become human, Luz who improves in character, new couples... it's not enough, damn it! We need more, something to conclude everything that captures the audience's attention!"

"What about some Lumity, boss?"

"... genius. Genius! The employee of the month position is yours!"

However, jokes aside, for those who haven't understood, the look that Darius gave to Gus, Willow and Matt is that of the second season (until now their designs were those of the first)