happy early valentine's, everyone! hope you have a great time tomorrow. here's a new chapter to start the new decade off.

A month after the incident in the woods — along with Adelina's discovery of the castle and its inhabitants being cursed — the young woman found herself in the garden, walking along with Chief. As it was now winter, she was now wearing a white coat with a hood that had fur on it. Chief, meanwhile, wore a plaid dog-sweater.

The birds that hadn't flown south for the winter were fluttering and chirping all around. One yellow parakeet even landed on Adelina's finger, allowing her to pet it. Chief raced through snow banks, barking happily as he bound towards his owner, sending them both tumbling down into the snow. Adelina laughed and patted her dog's head.

High up in the mansion, Lionel was watching from the balcony along with Susan, Coraline and Eggs. "I… I don't know what this feeling is," he admitted, his eyes focused on Adelina. He watched her eyes sparkle with delight as she went about throwing small snowballs at Chief. Hearing her laugh so angelically made his heart beat faster than it normally did. He looked at his bandaged arm, remembering what she had done for him. "But I know that I haven't felt this way about anyone else except her." He got an idea. "I want to do something for her, to thank her for all that she's done for me." Then, he paused as a discouraged look crossed his features. "But what?"

"Well," Coraline started, "Well, there's the usual thing: flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep…"

"No, no." Eggs shook his head. "This is no ordinary girl we're talking about here. It has to be something special."

"Something that sparks her interest, maybe," Susan added, then remembered. "Aahhh!" He quickly whispered something into Lionel's ear.

The werewolf drew back, skeptical. "Are you sure that is also her interest?" Receiving a nod in return, he murmured, "Well…"

Adelina came back inside, wearing a green dress. Eggs quickly cleared his throat and bowed in Adelina's direction, as did Coraline. Susan and Lionel looked in her direction.

"Say something about the dress," the yeti muttered under his breath to the werewolf.

"It's green," said Lionel, confused.

"I meant a compliment!" Susan clarified. "Yeesh, and I'm supposed to be the one who's very literal."

"Oh, right." Lionel rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. He had never really courted anyone before, but now, here he was. "What a nice dress you have there," he said to Adelina.

She beamed at him. "Gracias!"

He looked at Susan, Eggs and Coraline as if he were asking how did I do? They nodded and made go on motions. He turned back to Adelina. "Adelina, I have something I want to show you."

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes. Follow me." He led her upstairs through a hallway upstage, towards a room. He began to open the door, but then stopped. "But first, you have to close your eyes." He noticed the questioning look on her face and added, "It is a surprise."

Adelina raised an eyebrow at first, but closed her eyes anyway, wondering what type of surprise he had planned for her.

Lionel waved a furry paw in front of her face, making sure her eyes were completely shut. Then, he opened the door and lead her inside. Just as she entered the room, Adelina asked, "Puedo abrir mis ojos ahora?"

"No, not yet," Lionel whispered. "Wait here." He walked away to draw back the curtains. As he did so, bright sunlight poured into the room.

Adelina flinched a little as the light hit her face, but she still kept her eyes shut. "Now can I open my eyes?"

"Yes," Lionel replied, grinning. "You may open them now."

Adelina finally opened her eyes. She gasped in surprise as she saw that she was inside a study filled with many artifacts of cryptids and mythical creatures. There were sculptures of creatures such as the Fiji Mermaid, drawings of bigfoot, a tooth from the Loch Ness monster and much more. All around her was proof and little pieces of hidden creatures and civilizations, just within one small room.

"Oh, Lionel," she breathed. "I — I can't believe it. I've never seen such a grand collection in all my life, especially not so much proof and bits of such grand hidden creatures before! How did you get all of these?"

"I have my ways," he said coolly. Then, he asked nervously, "Do you — do you like it?"

"It's wonderful!" she answered, turning to him.

"Then everything here is yours," he stated. "From top to bottom, all that is within this room is your property as it is mine, for this is your home."

Adelina smiled at Lionel and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. "Muchas gracias," she whispered.

Lionel's eyes widened for a moment, before he returned the hug. "You're welcome," he returned, stroking her back gently. "It's what friends are for, right?"

She grinned and hugged him tighter. "Right."

Just by the door, Susan, Coraline, Eggs, Herbert, Sariatu and Kubo had gathered to observe the two. Needless to say, they were very pleased with the progression the werewolf had made in his relations with the woman.

"Well, would you look at that?" Susan sighed happily. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"It seems like only yesterday, they were at each other's throats," Eggs remarked.

Herbert nodded at his son. "Now, they're so friendly around each other."

"What do you mean by that?" Kubo asked as the adults and even his two fellow kids began to chuckle quietly at Herbert's comment.

"It's very encouraging," Sariatu said with a small smile on her face.

"This is so exciting!" said Coraline, grinning and clasping her hands together.

"Okay, you guys are being weird," Kubo commented, still confused by the others' behavior. "He just gave her a gift, and then they hugged. I don't see the need to fuss over that."

Sariatu looked at her son for a moment, realizing that a twelve year-old had a much different view of romance than a teenager or an adult and thus would not pick up on certain things as quickly. Not to mention, he hadn't even been given the talk yet and barely had an idea of romance. "How about we get back to the kitchen?" she suggested, pushing him forward with her muzzle. "There's some chores that need to be done."

"But—" Kubo tried to protest, only for his mother to drag him away. He sighed, thinking to himself, people, especially grownups, can be weird sometimes…

In the dining room, breakfast was being served. As Adelina began to eat her porridge, she looked across the table, only to see Lionel gobbling up his food like a wild animal. The werewolf stopped once he saw the woman was staring at him, wiping his muzzle clean, feeling embarrassed to have been so un-gentlemanly in front of a lady.

Kubo giggled, only for Sariatu to shoot a glare at him afterwards. Susan laughed sheepishly and then decided to hand a fork over to Lionel, who took it nervously.

Adelina watched in wonder as Lionel tried to eat with the fork, with little success as he slurped and lapped at the porridge more messily than a puppy with wet kibble. Finally, after seeing his failed attempt, she put her spoon down and lifted her bowl as if she were making a toast.

Lionel noticed her attempt to compromise and did the same. Soon, the two were sipping their breakfast out of their bowls.

Later on, they went to the courtyard and were currently feeding the birds as Adelina began to think about the current state of their relationship. Weeks had been passing by and they were getting closer and closer by each day. It didn't take long for her to realize that he really had changed. No longer was the werewolf rude and unfriendly. Now, he was sweet and even kind. She now knew he wasn't like that. He was barely even recognizable as the same werewolf who was so snappy and had kept her as a prisoner. Instead, he was someone whom she was glad to call her friend for the great goodness she found within him.

There's something sweet,

And almost kind

But he was mean,

And he was coarse and unrefined

But now he's dear and so unsure,

I wonder why I didn't see it there before.

Lionel tried to attract the birds by shoving a handful of seed at them, only for them to fly away in fear. Noticing this, Adelina took a handful and gently spread it out, creating a trail that led to Lionel's hands. A yellow bird landed in Lionel's paw. He looked up at Adelina, thrilled while she beamed at him.

In his mind, as he sung, he couldn't help but be surprised by how joyful she was, how she wasn't angry with him anymore and that they were now friends. Seeing her smile gave him hope that this friendship could turn into something more.

She glanced this way,

I thought I saw

And when we touched,

She didn't shudder at my paw

He then looked down, quickly dismissing his own thoughts. He couldn't get his hopes up too high, just in case he was wrong. He had to give it time, just so that if he was proven wrong, the blow would be softened.

No, it can't be.

I'll just ignore,

But then she's never looked at me that way before.

Adelina quickly stood up, went over and ducked around a tree, leaving Lionel alone with the birds. She felt doubtful, just as new feelings began to surface within her. She had barely found a way to break the curse, and yet, she found himself growing attached to Lionel in a way she never thought she would. She placed her hand on her chest as a feeling of warmth washed over her. She began to breathe in and out, while her cheeks flushed a dark brown.

New, and a bit alarming

Who'd have ever thought that this could be?

She turned her head around the tree, only to burst out laughing as she saw that he was surrounded by birds.

True that he's no Prince Charming
But there's something in him that I simply didn't see!

After the birds flew away, Lionel looked back at Adelina proudly, only to be hit with a snowball. He shook the snow off his muzzle and saw she was giggling, prompting him to smirk and gather a large pile of snow. Seeing this, she gasped and quickly threw another snowball at him, causing him to drop his huge pile of snow on his head. He laughed and got up to chase her around a tree, but she ducked around the other side and snuck up on him from behind.

From high up near a window, the whole gang watched as the snowball toss ensued, resulting in the two laughing and tumbling around together.

Well, who'd have thought?

Well, bless my soul.

And who'd have known?

Well, who indeed?

And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?

It's so peculiar

The group then left the room just as Adelina and Lionel came back into the castle, to the den.

Susan stopped for a moment and quickly peered into the den, noticing that Adelina was reading aloud a book called The Pig Woman's Groom while Lionel was curled up around her, listening in. The yeti looked back at the others, grinning.

And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?

Herbert eagerly clasped his hands together as if he were a hopeless romantic watching a romance film.

It's so peculiar!

They all then began to walk away, leaving the two lovebirds alone.

We'll wait and see

A few days more

There may be something there was wasn't there before

"I don't get it though," Kubo spoke up, looking at his mother curiously. "What's there, mother?"

Sariatu shook her head, before she kissed his head and patted it. "I'll tell you when you're older."

Kubo was silent for a moment, before he then asked, "Mother, will I ever be a real boy again?"

"Yes," his mother answered slowly, looking at the others, who were now silent with looks of sympathy on their faces. "If it is to be, then it'll happen very soon."

The twelve year-old smiled a little, nodding. "Good."

And with that, they all soon cleared out of the hallway, knowing one thing was for certain: things were beginning to look better now.