---

Rose shrugged, "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something different about the way she acts around you. And it sounds like you'll have a lot of time to work on her while I'm gone."

"Well, okay, I'll try. But I don't see how I'm going to do any better than you. You've known her for a lot longer than I have." Tina said.

"That might be helpful, really. Different perspective. Just, please do your best okay?" Rose asked.

"Of course. I don't know what I can do, but I already intended to try." Tina said.

Rose sighed in relief, "Thanks. I'll feel better knowing you're keeping an eye on her while I'm gone."

Tina nodded and watched as Rose went off to bed. She couldn't figure out why Rose thought she had some kind of special rapport with Willow, but she shrugged that off and went to bed herself.

---

Tina was surprised to find Willow and Rose weren't up for breakfast. Charlotte was, as well. Tina wondered what that was about as she wolfed down her breakfast and hurried out to get to work.

She wasn't sure if Sarah would come to work or not, but saw her there as usual. She asked her how she was before getting to work, but she assured her she was fine. Tina wasn't sure she believed it, but let it go.

When she got home she was sad to find out Rose and Willow had already left. She was surprised how quickly she'd become attached to them.

Charlotte sent her to grab a bite to eat, then had her fill in for her so she could do the same. They were both back in the shop when Willow came in. Charlotte sent her through to the living room and told Tina to join her.

"So, what have you been up to today?" Tina asked once they were seated on the couch.

Willow shrugged, "Not much, mostly helping Rose pack. She's taking just about everything she owns with her! Her parents are springing for an apartment, though, so she has room. She's really looking forward to living on her own, I think, but she tries to hide it."

Tina nodded, "Yeah, I can see why she'd like to live on her own. I think that would be cool, too, but it's not an option for me right now. I just have too much to do learning magic to deal with it, even if I did make enough."

"Yeah, I'd love to get away from my parents." Willow said wistfully.

"Do they get on your case a lot?" Tina asked, trying to be casual though she figured this was as good an opportunity as she was going to get to find out what was bugging her.

"Not exactly." Willow said, then shook herself, "It's just a little stifling living with the 'rents, you know?"

Tina sighed, seeing that Willow's guard was up. Before she could try again Natalie walked in wearing a different, though equally Goth, outfit. "Where did you get that?" Tina asked.

"Willow helped me find my car." Natalie replied, taking a seat in the corner.

"How did you find it?" Tina asked, turning to Willow.

Willow blushed, "Well, I used a spell. I wasn't sure if it would work, but it did! I almost lost the path a few times, but we managed to find it."

Tina smiled and hugged her, "See, you are good at magic!"

Willow shook her head, "Not really. Charlotte told me about the spell you used to find your job, so that's what gave me the idea. But it didn't work nearly as well for me as it did you. I barely felt the direction of it at all and I had to keep touching stuff to find it again when I lost it."

"Touching stuff?" Tina said.

"Yeah, it was weird. She'd get all lost and confused, then touch a street sign or something and suddenly know the way again." Natalie said.

Willow shrugged, "I don't understand it, but it worked."

Before Tina could ask anymore about that Sarah and Tiffany walked in. Tina and Willow greeted them while Natalie glared at Sarah.

Tiffany asked, "So what happens at these meetings, anyway?"

Willow shrugged and looked at Tina. "Well," Tina said, "I don't know if there's any standard way they go. I've only been at a couple of them myself. I don't think they're all that organized."

There was an awkward silence after that, punctuated by the ringing of the doorbell. Trent and Stephanie came in and Charlotte suggested they leave introductions until everyone had arrived. Trent was relaxed about it, but Stephanie stared at all the new faces in open curiosity.

Others trickled in for a while. Finally Charlotte came back with Esme, the last one to arrive. "Okay, that's everyone. Please make yourselves comfortable." she said.

"I thought you said you'd caught Nathaniel?" Esme asked.

"We did, Esme, but let's start with introductions." Charlotte replied. She went around the room introducing everyone.

"So, where's Nathaniel?" Kerry asked, looking oddly at Natalie.

"You're looking at her." Charlotte replied, smiling at the look of surprise on her face.

"What are you talking about?!" Clarice demanded. "I don't see Nathaniel here!"

"Nathaniel attacked Sarah as expected, but she panicked a bit and transformed him. She's going by Natalie now." Charlotte explained.

"That's impossible!" Kerry gasped.

"I wish." Natalie grumbled.

"I don't know what kind of game you are playing, young lady, but hand over the real Nathaniel immediately!" Clarice demanded, glaring at Sarah.

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" Charlotte suggested, turning to Sarah.

"Uh, are you sure that's a good idea? People tend to get kind of... grumpy, when I do that." Sarah said, glancing at Natalie.

"I'm volunteering, Sarah. Please?" Charlotte said, stepping over and holding her hand out towards Sarah.

Sarah uncertainly reached out and tapped her hand. Tina and almost everyone in the room gasped at the sudden transformation, including Charlotte. "I see..." Charlotte began to say, obviously surprised by the sound of her voice, "what you meant."

"This is some kind of trick, an illusion!" Clarice insisted.

"I can assure you, it is no trick or illusion." Charlotte said.

"That's for sure." Natalie added morosely.

"Are you all satisfied yet?" Charlotte asked.

Clarice was the only one who shook her head 'no'. She stood and walked up to Sarah. "Transform me, if you can, and I might believe it." she demanded.

Sarah glanced at Charlotte, who nodded, and reluctantly reached out and touched Clarice's hand. She was instantly transformed into a man who was nearly bursting through the seams of her clothes.

Clarice gasped in shock, staring down at her new form and running her hands up and down it in awe. "It's true." she breathed.

"Now that we're all satisfied, I think you can change us back." Charlotte suggested.

"Sure." Sarah agreed, tapping each of their outstretched hands. They both sighed in relief at being returned to their original forms.

"I apologize for doubting you." Clarice said with a slight bow of the head to Sarah. She returned to her seat, as did Charlotte.

"So, you all accept that Natalie was Nathaniel now?" Charlotte asked. Everyone nodded, "Okay, then now we need to determine what to do with her."

"Obviously we must determine some sort of appropriate punishment for her actions." Clarice said.

"You don't understand. Nathaniel was driven mad by his extensive use of magic. Natalie has only fragments of memory from the time she began learning magic. She is also completely stable, if a bit 'grumpy'." Charlotte said. Natalie snorted at that, but said nothing.

Esme nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I've seen nothing of the unstable young man that had been described to me in young Natalie. She is obviously not happy about her transformation, but does not appear to be a danger. So long as she either remains female or returns to male without doing any magic, I don't see any reason to punish her further. The loss of her gender or magic should be quite sufficient for anyone."

"I have to have magic in my life. If that means staying a girl, I'll deal." Natalie said.

Kerry seemed surprised, "Really? You never struck me as the feminine type. Are you sure you can deal with being a woman for the rest of your life?"

Natalie shrugged, "I'm not, the feminine type, that is. But magic is a part of me. It's more important to me than my gender. I'm not happy about being a girl, but I'm even less happy thinking about a life without magic."

"I suppose this explains why Nathaniel vanished in my vision. He ceased to exist and was replaced with Natalie. Who, it appears, is no threat to Willow." Beatrice said thoughtfully.

"I never had any interest in hurting anybody. I just want to do magic." Natalie said.

"What about your family, friends?" Trent asked.

She snorted, "What family? What friends? My father ran out on me when I was six. My mother drank herself to death a few years later. I got passed from one aunt or uncle to the next and none of them wanted me there. As soon as I turned eighteen I was kicked out. I haven't seen any of them in a couple of years and they have no interest in seeing me. What friends I had all bailed on me and I don't blame them."

---

To Be Continued…