Hunter was sitting at a table in the Red Lobster Inn where he was staying, intent on enjoying a tasty dinner. Since it was now midsummer the fishermen were managing to catch numerous schools of migratory fish, and obviously the taverns bought these fish and transformed them into delicacies which they then served to customers. Hunter had never been the type who lingered much on food, since normally when he was traveling around the world he had to capture some monster and therefore it was appropriate for him to follow a specific diet to avoid weighing himself down, and when instead he was at his uncle's place (if it can be called that way... it would be more appropriated to say 'when he was with his uncle' and no more) he was already if he could get some raw fish; but now that he had to stay in Bonesborough for months without having to face any enemies he could afford to enjoy life a little, and therefore for a few weeks he had the innkeeper cook a different dish every time. That day he had treated himself to red mullet in tomato sauce with a side of prawns... and Flapjack seemed to like it a lot too as he kept picking at something from his plate. "I didn't think Palismen can eat organic matter" he told him.

Flapjack chirped in response. "Oh, so you don't need it, but you can taste it from time to time, but still don't overdo it or you risk indigestion?" Hunter murmured in surprise. "Well, this is interesting. I always assumed that you didn't like human food... well, although I have to admit that the food I normally brought with me wasn't that great, so I understand that you never asked me that"

Flapjack chirped again. "Of course I like to stay here, why do you ask?". Another chirp. "The mission? The mission continues as usual, of course. We continue to keep an eye on the situation and make sure we have something to report at least once a month... and that puppet remains a puppet, obviously. My uncle is satisfied with my work, so let's make sure things stay this way"

When Hunter had informed his uncle of Lilith's existence, thus revealing that the fairies they were up against were not one but two, he hadn't reacted positively: Hunter didn't know what his uncle had done, because the magical connection had begun to flicker, preventing him from to see anything, but judging by the noises he had heard he could say with certainty that at that moment he was very happy to be far away from him. When his uncle finally calmed down and re-established the connection, however, he declared himself satisfied: Hunter had brought him a very important piece of information that could have been crucial in his plan. It was the first time Hunter had heard such satisfaction in his uncle's voice: even if he couldn't afford to let his guard down, he was happy that for once he hadn't just made him angry. This time at least his uncle had concluded their conversation by telling him to continue his mission as planned, without adding veiled (and not so veiled) death threats or anything else.

Hunter was happy about it: now he could take some time without fear of making him impatient. He hadn't yet revealed to his uncle that Luz was aiming to become a real girl, so that he would have a card to play in case he ran out of options. Obviously he had no intention of slacking off: he had already planned to continue investigating to discover every weak point in Eda and Lilith, but at least he could do it more calmly. Of course, everything would have been easier if those two pain-in-the-ass twins hadn't come looking for him more and more often to involve him in their adventures... although Hunter enjoyed their company, he would have liked them to at least leave him alone every now and then so that he could do his work. They weren't the only ones, however: over the last week he had also received visits from Luz, Gus and Willow. And a couple times even from Willow completely alone, who had flown all over town just to come visit him and spend time with him. Hunter had to admit that he had seriously started to appreciate the cricket's company: it was a feeling similar to the friendship he felt towards Flapjack, but different, more intense and stronger, which he couldn't explain. He only knew that he enjoyed spending time conversing with her and that during those short hours all his worries completely vanished.

While he was immersed in those thoughts he heard the door slam, and saw a girl enter... or rather, be thrown into the inn by someone. His body tensed and he immediately put his mask on; he had gotten into the habit of having dinner quite early (it was only six in the evening) precisely because this way there would be no one present to see his face; the only person who was in the tavern at those hours was the innkeeper, who almost never left the kitchen, and when he did Flapjack would warn Hunter far in advance and he would put his mask back on before he could see him. He knew he had to keep his identity as secret as possible, and even though there were now many people who had seen him without a mask, it was still imperative to prevent strangers from seeing him.

He looked at the girl again. He had never seen her, so she had probably just gotten lost and had entered the tavern to ask for information. He hoped she would leave as soon as she realized no one was there, but instead she twiddled her thumbs and blushed in embarrassment, and then walked unsteadily toward him. Hunter was surprised: was anyone actually willing to come talk to him while he was completely hidden by his monster hunter uniform? He knew with absolute certainty that he had an intimidating appearance: when he had arrived at the Red Lobster Inn for the first time he had entered towards late evening, and inside there were quite a few bounty hunters and mercenaries intent on eating and drinking, who however had immediately silenced in his presence and had fixed him with worried looks, ready to fight at the slightest hint of danger. Whenever he wore his mask no one tried to get closer than ten meters to him. And now, did that seemingly fragile girl want to take the risk? Strange, very strange. And even stranger, that girl seemed more embarrassed than scared, as if she were meeting an old friend she hadn't seen in years and wasn't sure what to say. And strangest of all, Hunter actually thought he'd seen her somewhere before...

The girl walked until she was in front of him, and Hunter noticed that her gait was rather unsteady; she walked like a newborn who had just started taking his first steps. Once in front of him she was silent for a moment, then she said in an uncertain voice: "Um... hi, Hunter"

Hunter thought he'd heard that voice before, but that didn't stop him from raising an eyebrow. But unlike normal times, where he would immediately snap to attention and point his weapon at his interlocutor's throat, this time he remained seated in his chair without a single muscle stretching; it was as if his own instincts were telling him there was nothing to fear. "How do you know my name?" he asked her. "And why do you look so familiar?"

The girl scratched her hair nervously. "Um... can I ask you a question first?" she whispered. "Do you… do you find me ugly now?"

Hunter was quite surprised. "Well... no, not at all. I think you're quite cute, actually" he replied truthfully.

The girl's face light up. "R-Really? So in your opinion... I'm not ugly?"

Hunter felt strangely good seeing her smile like that. "No, you're not, I told you. You're very pleasant to look at. But if your intent is to hit on me, know that I don't intend to go with a stranger, even if I still believe I've seen you before somewhere and..."

He stopped when he heard a strange noise: the girl had opened her mouth wide as if to celebrate, but instead of her voice a very familiar 'cri-cri' had emerged from her lips. She blushed and put her hand over her mouth, then she giggled. "Sorry, it happens every now and then" she said in embarassment. "It's me, Hunter! I am Willow!"

Hunter froze for a moment. "Willow!?" he exclaimed, suddenly taking off his mask, completely unconcerned about being recognized. "It's you!?"

"Yes! I'll show you: when we first met I yelled at you that an arrow was about to hit you!" the girl replied.

Hunter knew that she couldn't be an impostor: no one knew about that event of their first meeting except him, Flapjack, Willow and Gus. And also something inside him was telling him that what the girl had said was absolutely true: the more he looked at her, the more he recognized typical traits of that cute cricket in her. The black hair, the sagacious and at the same time sweet look, the smile that inspired courage and happiness, the plump cheeks, the slightly large waist typical of an insect too stocky to be able to fly well... everything about her reminded him of... "But... but you are..."

"Human, that's right!" Willow responded by trying to do what was supposed to be a pirouette, and she nearly fell face first onto the table. "Sorry, I still have to get to grips with my new balance... it's complicated, you know! I can't understand how you humans can move so easily using just two legs!"

Hunter continued to be shocked, so he shook his head forcefully in an attempt to collect himself. Come on, he couldn't have been that surprised, it wasn't the first time he'd seen someone transform into something else... ok, no, that example right there was horrendous, better not think about it. But at least this way he began to put the pieces together. "It's that fairy involved, right?" he asked, and then he added with a bit of fear: "So... Luz also became a real girl...?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Willow replied. "Luz is still a puppet... and technically I'm still a cricket too. Eda made me this special magic stone that I can change my shape with. It's not permanent, it only lasts six hours a day, so I'm not really human. But at least now I have the form and can do all those things humans do!"

"Uh… I see" Hunter replied, sighing with relief in his mind: apparently Luz hadn't become a real girl yet, so he could still keep his head on his neck. "When did it happen?"

"Eda gave me this stone not an hour ago. We did some experiments at home and then we rushed here to show you!" Willow replied.

Hunter had noticed that she was speaking in the plural, which meant that she had probably come here accompanied by at least Luz and Gus, which explained why it seemed like someone had literally forced her into the inn. He wondered if Gus had also been given a temporary human body. However, his attention was currently focused on something else: "Why did you ask me if I found you ugly?"

Willow blushed. "Um... well, how can I say, I wasn't sure what I was like from... you know... from the human point of view. I mean, everyone told me I was beautiful, but I wasn't sure if they didn't just do it out of kindness... after all I clearly noticed that I'm a little shorter and wider than girls considered cute like Amity... so I wanted... you know... the point of view of someone that didn't know yet... well... that this is the new me..."

Hunter thought Willow seemed to be acting strangely, as if she didn't want to tell him the real reason for her question. But he decided that there was no point in investigating too much: after all it had to be his personal matter. Hunter could only imagine how difficult it might be for the cricket to get to grips with her new body. "You're beautiful, don't doubt that" he said to comfort her, and he meant it.

Willow looked over the moon. "Well... I'm glad you think so!" she exclaimed, letting out the familiar 'cri-cri' from her mouth again, then she looked at Hunter's plate: "Ehm... do you mind if... I eat something? You know, before my mouth was too small and I had to settle with very small pieces... I have never been able to taste human food in its entirety..."

"Sure, take it" Hunter replied, passing her a fork, but the moment Willow touched it, the fork broke in two between her fingers. Hunter remained speechless and Willow lowered her head slightly in embarrassment. "Um... as I told you I'm still built like a cricket... except now my muscles are much stronger... I haven't learned to control them yet"

"Well… I can see it" Hunter muttered, looking at the broken fork. Even though cricket muscles were quite powerful, and they must have been extraordinary now that Willow was human, breaking a piece of metal like that was indicative of a certain personal physical strength. Probably all the strength Willow had built up from training when she was a cricket was now amplified thousands of times by her new body.

"I'll train myself to have more self-control" Willow murmured, then her eyes lit up. "Hey, why don't you teach me?"

"Me?" Hunter repeated.

"Yes! I mean... you are an elite soldier, you manage to perfectly calibrate your strength and skills! I've seen you do it many times, you manage to stop every time you don't want to hit your opponent. With you as a teacher I'm sure I would learn self-control!" Willow replied. "And... besides, now that I'm human you could even teach me how to fight! You couldn't before because I was a cricket, but now I have the body for it!"

Hunter thought about it for a moment, and concluded that it wasn't a bad idea at all. "Yes, why not. I'm sure you will be an excellent student". "And it would also be a good excuse to spend time together" he thought to himself without saying it out loud.

"Great, then it's settled! Erm... sorry, forgive my bad manners, but I'm afraid I can only take it like this" Willow said grabbing a piece of the mullet with her hands; even though she was terribly ashamed, she absolutely wanted to taste it and she didn't have the possibility to do it with a fork. When the fish covered in tomato sauce touched her palate she almost jumped and couldn't hold back a moan of pleasure. "Gods! This is the food of the gods!"

"I'm glad you like it. Here" Hunter said, passing her a napkin.

Willow quickly cleaned herself up. "Sorry. I'm showing you an indecent sight..."

"No, absolutely not. Believe me, compared to the way I eat when I have to camp on the road during a trip, you look like a high class lady" Hunter replied. "To make you understand, I once ate a wild boar with my hands, and since I had just cooked it for a short time I burned myself and dropped it, but anyway I didn't want to waste it and so in the end I ate it dusty"

Willow started giggling. Hunter found that that laugh was truly identical to that of the cricket: same smile, same eyes, same way of putting a hand in front of her face, same way of laughing sweet and thin. It was Willow, there was no doubt about it. "Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed at one point. "Do you know rugby?"

Hunter was a little surprised by that request. "I heard about it. Why?"

"We're making a team. We want to play... well, actually Boscha wants to play, but it sounds fun" Willow replied. "Everyone you know will partecipate... Luz, Gus, Amity, Skara, the two Blight twins... but we're missing one member. Would you like to come and play with us?"

Hunter was tempted to say yes, but he forced himself to remain rational. "I don't know. You know that I prefer that no stranger sees me without my mask. You know, the opponents, anyone who happens to be watching the match..."

"We can disguise you. I'm sure that with a little make-up it will be impossible to recognize you! Trust Gus, he is a master of illusionism, he will transform you into someone else!" Willow said. She didn't know why Hunter didn't like people seeing him without a mask so much, but she knew that the boy was a monster hunter and therefore probably he had some enemies, so it was natural that he preferred as few people as possible to recognize him, even if she doubted there was anyone in all of Bonesborough who knew what his face looked like other than her and her friends. "So, are you in?"

Hunter thought about it for a moment, then he shrugged. "Well, it won't hurt to give it a try. I'm okay with it. But I warn you, I don't know how to play rugby"

"Why, do you think I know how to play?" Willow said wryly. "Let's just have fun! Boscha has assured me that she will train us erself... let's try and try until we will succeed! Oh, damn... the prospect of it is so exciting! To think that until a few hours ago I would never have even I was able to think certain thoughts! Now I can play with others! Oh, it's so good! It's so..."

Hunter let Willow practically talk to herself; she was so enthusiastic that he almost felt sick at the thought of interrupting her as she listed all the things she could now do. He felt really happy for her: he remembered what Willow had told him at the library, so he was glad that her dream had come true at least in a small way. And watching her be so happy and smiling for some reason unknown to him made him feel good, better than he had ever felt in his entire life. He almost wanted that moment to never end and to spend the rest of his life there at that table listening to that ex-cricket girl who still couldn't even eat with cutlery.

Meanwhile, without they noticing it, the door had reopened slightly, so little that not even a pin could pass through, and through it several pairs of eyes were observing the scene. "Come on, this time they have no more excuses! The kiss must happen!" Gus exclaimed.

"Ssssh! I can't hear what they're saying!" Luz said him.

Amity tried to put the pieces together: "So, let me get this straight... Willow has a crush on Hunter, but so far she didn't make any moves because she was a cricket?"

"Yeah. And you have no idea how much drama this spider here was causing about that" Matt said, pointing to Gus. Among everyone he was the only one not interested in the situation, or so it seemed.

"Oh, come on, don't talk like she's the only one interested! That blond guy is clearly overcooked too! Look at the way he looks at her!" Skara exclaimed, her voice squeaky with excitement. "Oh, it's so romantic! It sounds like one of the classic bard stories: a forbidden love that wins in the end, even overcoming species differences!"

"Tsk! Maybe it's like that, but that cricket should hurry up and make a move. If she waits for that guy to make the first step she can get old in the meantime" Boscha commented with a grin. "Boys have zero sense of romance. In my opinion, unless she tells him her intentions very clearly, he will never realize that she has a crush or that he is..."

"What are you doing?" a voice behind them asked. Everyone turned and saw Lilith behind them looking at them in confusion. "Oh, hello, fairy godmother!" Amity greeted her blushing slightly. "We were… um…"

"We were watching Hunter and Willow! She finally became human, so now something definitely has to happen between them!" Luz replied.

Lilith raised an eyebrow, but she decided to focus on the more important detail: "I suppose that you made up"

"Oh, yes! We are on perfect terms with each other!" Luz responded by grabbing Amity by the shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug, so much so that their cheeks touched. For a brief moment Amity's eyes bulged and a light blush colored her face, but it quickly vanished and was replaced by a tender smile.

Lilith felt her heart warm. It seemed that the bond between the girls had not only reformed itself, but had become even more solid. She could clearly see their hearts overflowing with happiness. "I'm happy for you" she said, then she became stern again: "But you shouldn't eavesdrop anyway, it's a bad thing! Luz, Eda never told you..."

"She's over there" Luz interrupted her by pointing to a window of the tavern, next to which was a middle-aged woman with large dark glasses on her face and her hair hidden by an abnormal hood, who was clearly spying on what was happening inside. Lilith's eyes widened when she saw her: "EDA!"

"Uh... what a combination, Lilith! Are you here too?" Eda exclaimed realizing her presence.

Lilith walked quickly towards her. "Eda, as a fairy you should set a good example for the kids!"

"Oh, come on, Lilith, no one is doing bad things here! It's not eavesdropping if the person in question doesn't specifically ask you not to listen to them, right? Right now we're just passers-by looking into a tavern" Eda replied, and then she winked.

Lilith's eyelid quivered slightly. "Eda, are you serious!?"

"Of course I am! It's called a loophole, Lilith. You have to use them every now and then!" Eda responded with a laugh.

While the two fairies were busy arguing, Luz and the others took advantage of that to move away; even though they wanted to continue watching how Willow and Hunter's meeting would proceed, they preferred to leave before Lilith came back to lecture them. Even though they were pretty sure that the only one who would get a long lecture would be Eda. "Mph! It's really true that fairies also have their own personalities" Luz commented.

Amity was silent for a second, then she burst out laughing. It was an extraordinarily beautiful, crystalline laugh, and no one could remember ever hearing Amity laugh so genuinely. "Sorry... I don't know why I'm laughing... it's just... It's just happening!" she said amidst laughter.

The laughter was so contagious that everyone else soon followed suit. They laughed for almost two uninterrupted minutes before being able to finally stop to catch their breath. Sometimes it was really nice to laugh. "Well, now what do we do?" Luz asked.

"You, I don't know. Since I'm human now, I'm going to look for a place that prepares fried chicken for me. I've always wanted to try it" Matt replied and started to leave, but Gus chased him and almost jumped on him: " Hey, hey, don't leave me behind, buddy! I want to try human food too! Let's go together, like two bachelors adrift in the..."

The two of them walked away between the disjointed sentences of the ex-spider and the protests and grumbles of the ex-crab. Once alone, the four girls looked at each other, then Boscha said: "I'd better go home, my parents will be furious if I come back after sunset. Skara, will you accompany me?"

"Gladly, I have to go home too! Bye, girls, see you tomorrow at school!" Skara replied, then she ran off with her friend.

Luz and Amity were left alone, and the puppet asked: "Do you have to go too?"

Amity shrugged: "Well...technically I should..." she said, but then she added: "...but my fairy godmother is here, and it would be rude to leave without even saying goodbye to her, so I think I'll wait a little longer"

Luz smiled. "Wonderful! So, can you accompany me to look for a stuffed animal that I can take to King tomorrow?"

"Very willingly. I'll show you the best puppet shops in Bonesborough" Amity replied. Then her smile faded slightly. "Luz, listen... I want to apologize to you again for yesterday and..."

But Luz put a finger over her mouth. "Don't talk about it anymore, okay? It's in the past, it doesn't matter anymore. Like Eda told me once, the only thing that matters is the present" the puppet said. "And in the present I have decided to forgive you, to forget about that bad moment and to keep my friendship with you strong"

For some strange reason, Amity felt her face heat up again and her cheeks turn red. "Oh, Luz… you are definitely the best girl in this world!"

"Heh heh! Not even close! Now let's go, we have to buy the best doll ever, we have to please a mighty Titan after all!" Luz responded by grabbing her hand and dragging her away. And Amity strangely felt her heart do a somersault at that touch and the grip of Luz's hand seemed to send an electric shock through her, as if suddenly all the nerves of her body had concentrated on the palm of her hand.

The Red Lobster Inn where Hunter stays is a place that actually exists in the Pinocchio novel: it appears briefly when Pinocchio, the Fox and the Cat are going to sow the gold coins, and they stop there to rest. It also appears in other film versions, including the Disney one (it is the place where the Cat and the Fox come to an agreement with the Coachman)