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“It’s right through here!”
Hunter’s hand was warm in Willow’s, and she let her thumb brush over the scarred skin as she led him through the woods behind her home. The night of the Wailing Star was upon the Isles again and, after hearing that Hunter had never really been allowed to watch it before, his uncle condemning it for its wild magic, the gears in Willow’s mind started to turn.
It took a little under a day for her to chart out the star’s pathway, and it had taken her and Gus another day to find a spot along that path where she and Hunter could watch. They’d stumbled upon the small clearing on their way back to Willow’s house after an unsuccessful few hours of searching. Willow had known immediately that it was the spot—the trees opened up enough to see the star as it passed overhead, the clearing already peppered with some of her favorite flowers.
(After hearing about Luz’s adventure in the library the previous year, Willow decided she wanted to see what the magic might do for nature—if it could bring books to life, what could it do for something already living? She’d started a list on her scroll almost immediately of potential plants to bring along.)
“Tada!”
Willow had done her best to spruce up the little plot of land she’d claimed for their evening. A pile of throw pillows in varying shades of green and gold sat on top of one of her dads’ spare quilts. She’d enlisted the help of Luz to spread light glyphs in a circle around the patchwork quilt, a soft, warm glow illuminating the area as the sun sank behind the trees. The flowers from before rustled with the light evening breeze, the potted plants she’d brought from her own collection earlier that day clustered together a few feet away from where she’d spread the blanket.
“Whoa…” Hunter’s eyes glittered as he glanced around the clearing, lips parted in silent awe. A flutter, one she’d become all too familiar with whenever she was with Hunter, kicked off in Willow’s heart. “Did you set this all up just for us?”
“Of course! Gotta make sure your first time seeing the Wailing Star is memorable, right?” Willow said, squeezing his hand and pulling him further into the clearing.
“... oh.” Hunter mumbled as he flushed, splashes of pink tickling the tips of his ears. “Wow.”
“I had some help,” she said, waving her hand. “Had to stop Gus and Hooty from coming up with some… interesting illusions, but I can’t take all the credit.”
Hunter laughed, one of the genuine laughs that had become increasingly common since they’d defeated Belos and the Collector. A grin spread across Willow’s face, her own cheeks burning. “Do I want to know what kind of illusions, or…?”
“Last I heard, Hooty was telling Gus about some kind of tunnel of love? I didn’t exactly stick around for the explanation, but I think I remember Luz and Amity mentioning it once or twice.”
Wrinkling his nose in fake disgust, Hunter shuddered. “I’ve had to hear that story from Luz more times than I ever wanted to. She’s so… mushy.” Willow raised an eyebrow at that, but stayed quiet. His expression softened to an almost comical smile, free hand resting on his chest. “How can I thank you for stopping them?”
Willow tapped a finger to her lips, feigning thought. “How about… you sit with me on this blanket, which looks incredibly comfortable if you ask me, and we watch the Wailing Star together?”
“I think I can manage that.”
A grin tugging at her lips, Willow sat on the quilt and pulled on Hunter’s hand, dragging him down to sit next to her. The sun had fully set, the only light in their little clearing that of Luz’s light glyphs and the beginnings of the stars above and the sliver of moon that peeked out from behind the treetops. There was still a good half-hour or so before the Wailing Star would pass over them—at least, that’s what she’d assumed based on all the information she’d found on the star.
Willow hummed as she leaned back, nestling into the mountain of pillows she’d assembled earlier that day. These were her favorite moments, moments she wanted to carry with her forever: the ones spent in pure comfort with the people she loved. A small part of her mourned the fact she’d forgotten to bring her camera. The way the warm light illuminated Hunter’s face as he looked around, the stars sparkling in his eyes—he looked so pretty.
“Hey,” she said after a beat, patting the empty space on the pillows next to her. “Wanna hear some of my theories on what the Wailing Star’s going to do to my plants?”
Hunter lay back, rolling over on his side to face her. “Is that why you brought some from your house?”
Nodding in affirmation, Willow launched into a slightly disjointed retelling of Luz’s account from the library, sprinkling in her own theories about the star’s magic, explaining the different plants she’d brought so she could test her theories across a wide range. “I even brought one of the ones I had from the human realm, I’m super excited to see how that one might react!”
Hunter watched her with a fond expression as she rambled on, a lovesick smile plastered across his face, the faintest traces of a blush painting his cheeks. Butterflies erupted in Willow’s stomach as she caught sight of him, warmth radiating through her. It wasn’t as if Hunter had been subtle about his crush before they’d started dating, but there were moments when the boldness of his admiration caught her off guard—in a good way, of course!
“You just… look really beautiful when you’re passionate about something,” he said after a moment, and suddenly the butterflies from before were nothing compared to whatever was fluttering in her chest at that moment. Her face burned, almost as hot as the Wailing Star itself.
Willow opened her mouth, ready to fumble out some sort of response, when a crying sound in the distance cut her off. Glancing up, Willow tapped Hunter’s shoulder, pointing toward the opening in the trees.
Gone almost as quickly as it had appeared, the Wailing Star shot over the clearing, its cries echoing off the trees. As it disappeared from view, a green glow engulfed the clearing, and Willow could feel the magical energy pulsing through the land.
She pushed herself up to a sitting position, Hunter following suit, and watched as her plants began to react to the sudden burst of magic. Most of her plants just grew to be almost double their size (and Willow wouldn’t admit it, at least, not out loud, but the thought of carrying the now much larger plants back home was not one she enjoyed). Her fairy trap plant snapped its jaws angrily, and some of her vining plants snaked their way through the clearing.
But it was the single human rose she’d brought that drew her attention.
Unfamiliar with the magic that had taken hold of it, the rose surged in size, vining out similar to how the other plants had. The vine, adorned with red petals and flowering buds, raced toward her and Hunter, dramatically looping itself around them before coming to rest next to Willow.
Willow giggled, picking up one of the stray petals, velvety soft in her fingers. “Well, that was a fun experiment, huh?” she said before leaning over to press a soft kiss to Hunter’s cheek. This time, it was his turn to blush, red erupting across his cheeks and ears.
Yes, she thought, these were the memories she wanted to keep and carry with her forever. It was just a shame she didn’t have her camera to capture Hunter’s utterly flustered expression—Willow had a feeling Luz would’ve appreciated the teasing material, especially once she heard Hunter had called her mushy.