“Wait what do you mean by ’work’?!” I exclaimed, my smile faltering from the surprise.

“Don’t worry my little hatchling, as I said training, but at the moment it’s just getting you settled down.” She calmly explained, a smirk dancing across her face much to my chagrin “Though, you’ll probably need some clothes, we’ll probably need to shop for that soon!” she exclaimed clapping excitedly before blushing from embarrassment. I couldn’t help but look at her incredulously. I was excited to shop mind you, but there was one tiny problem.

“I don’t… I don’t have any money…” I mumbled, embarrassed as I felt a blush creep across my face. “And I can’t really go back to my apartment cause… you know.”

She laughed a warm laugh that made my heart flutter “Don’t you worry about that dear!” she giggled, booping me on the nose. I melted on the spot becoming a sputtering mess in the process. “And I need you to live here… For training purposes obviously.” She said casually, giving me a mischievous wink. The blush intensifies, goddess she knows how to fluster me.

“O-oh.. Sure I guess, not like I have any real options… Can you give me a minute to just… Look at myself?” I pleaded, everything was just a bit too much at the moment.

She smiled and patted me on the head “Of course dear, just head to bed after you’re done alright? We’ve got a big day ahead of us.” She smiled before leaving, presumably getting ready for bed. I excitedly turned to the mirror, hurting my neck from the whiplash but I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t believe that this strawberry blonde bombshell in the mirror was me! This couldn’t be me, but no matter what movement I made she followed. No matter what I did with her face… my face? Whomever's face it was, it followed my movements. Was this me? I knew that I wanted this but… Did I deserve this? I don’t… I don’t know… I hated myself before, my body was awful, it felt like a prison that I so desperately needed to escape from… But here I was with the body of my dreams and I couldn’t accept it somehow. Why couldn’t I just let myself be happy? I shook my head, snapping myself out of my thoughts, tiredness hitting me much harder now than I had realized. I tiredly finished up in the bathroom before flopping on to the bed I woke up on. Gosh it was so soft I could just…

Then it was morning! I began to get up mumbling to myself, I blearily noticed Alysandra smirking in the doorway. “Morning sleeping beauty.” She teased, that smirk on her lips once again. I blushed and looked at my feet out of fear of melting from her gaze into a blushy puddle.. Goddess what is happening to me.

“M-Me? B-beautiful?” I sputtered covering my face with my hands out of embarrassment, hoping she didn’t see my blush. “I-I don’t think so. I’m just not really worthy of it anyway.” I felt her move towards me before feeling her hand on my head.

“You shouldn’t think like that Miranda. I think you’re beautiful. I refuse to think anything else, my hatchling. Even before your little rebirth.” she cooed warmly. I still smiled and felt so warm hearing that name, my name! “So would you like some breakfast? I don’t have much but I can fry up some bacon and some eggs if you’d like?” She asked me, smiling brightly.

“U-um sure! I am very hungry… And I’d love to eat with you!” I agreed excitedly. Gosh now that I think about it I was feeling ravenous, my stomach growling in agreement.

“I figured you would be, the transformation is very exhaustive due to all the… changes.” She giggled waving her hand at my body. “So how do you like your eggs cutie?”

“Scrambled!” I replied excitedly! “Gosh I love breakfast. I haven’t sat down and had a good breakfast since…” My mood immediately dropped straight to the earth’s core. Why did I have to remember my family? I felt my anxiety skyrocketing as I started to panic. I couldn’t hold back the tears as they just poured from me. Shaking from the memory of them, the way they made me feel, the way they treated me. I felt so worthless and powerless thinking about them why am I even still--

I felt Alysandra wrap me in a warm tight hug. “It’s okay Miranda, it’s okay. You’re safe here alright? Just follow my breathing, alright?” She said, comforting me, running her hand through my hair, holding me close as she breathed slowly. After a long crying session, I eventually was able to calm down from my little breakdown.

“I-I’m sorry I just couldn’t I couldn’t I just fell apart… I just thought that when I became like this I wouldn’t have to worry, b-but I’m still hating myself! I’m so scared Alysandra…” I croaked, emotions threatening to cause me to spiral again as I hugged her like she was my lifeline.

“I’m so sorry my little hatchling, but I promise I won’t let them hurt you again, at least unless they want to get hurt themselves.” She smiled reassuringly at me “How about we eat breakfast, just together, a whole new tradition for you! Just a little ritual we do every morning before we do training or whatever.”

“Y-yeah… That would be really nice.” I meekly agreed, still emotionally fragile, but I tried my best to hold myself together for this new tradition with Alysandra. She went back to preparing breakfast. I watched her gracefully dance throughout the kitchen, humming a little tune to herself as she deftly made food. If making food were a performance art she’d probably be the best in the world, in my humble opinion at least. I couldn’t help but smile and just watch her have fun with herself. I felt myself get butterflies in my stomach just seeing her like this, so happy and care free. And before I knew it she was done, placing a plate of delicious scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me along with a little biscuit.

“And breakfast is served! Eat up my hatchling, we still have to go clothes shopping today!” she excitedly exclaimed, sounding almost as excited as I felt. We dug into our breakfast and it was amazing. I need more Alysandra food in my life because holy shit she was good! I saw her give me her classic smirk as she saw how much I was enjoying her food and cooking. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself so much hatchling, I enjoy seeing you happy like this.” she cooed causing me to blush furiously. How was she this good at getting me flustered?!

“O-oh of course…” I stammered “I-I just like breakfast a lot and… You make a really good breakfast.” I offered lamely.

She patted my head reassuringly “Happy I could be of service.” She said, giving me a toothy grin that was positively adorable. After that our breakfast was relatively quiet, we cleaned off our plates and Alysandra cleaned out her pans for the dishwasher. We made for a pretty good team as we somewhat clumsily filled the dishwasher with our dirty utensils. “By the way dear…” Alysandra started casually “Don’t hold back during our shopping okay? I want you to get as much as you want for your new wardrobe!” she chirped happily, moving along with her day, shushing any protests from me.

I pouted and returned to my room to start getting ready for the day. I could wear my guy clothes from yesterday… What’s this? It appears Alysandra had left some hand-me-downs that I could make into an alright outfit! It would have a very goth aesthetic to it though, but that’s to be expected from Alysandra’s wardrobe. I gathered the clothes and happily skipped to the bathroom, ready to take a shower. I think I might’ve got in right as Alysandra was about to! I heard her grumble and I couldn’t help but giggle. “Better luck next time Aly!” I teased. Wait… Aly? Did I just give her a nickname? I think the surprise caught her a bit too as I heard her remain silent for a moment before giggling too.

:”Don’t take too long in there Miranda, I like having some hot water for my showers. If you take it all for yourself I’ll make you warm me up instead!” She teased back, making me blush at the thought. That didn’t sound too bad actually… Wait was I thinking?! I snapped myself out of my reverie and took my shower quickly, my mood elevated by the upcoming shopping trip. Showering wasn’t as bad as it used to be, I could actually bare to look down in the shower and not get sick to my stomach, so that was nice. I dried off quickly but carefully, taking a good minute to try and look good in the mirror. That’s another change I didn’t mind, which was no longer being scared of looking at mirrors. As I admired myself again I couldn’t help but cry a little. I still couldn’t believe this was me, that my wish came true that I was a real woman. ...That’s not healthy thinking is it? I was a real woman before this happened but I guess I haven’t even accepted that yet. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at that.

I heard a knock on the door as I was getting my outfit on, clearly sending the message that I had to hurry up, which I did. Not necessarily style but I can kick with it, black jeans, a black band t-shirt with a skull on it, and some black and white sneakers. I took one last look in the mirror, satisfied, I opened the door beaming, and found myself face to face with Alysandra. She let out an audible ‘wow’ before continuing “You look amazing Miranda! I can’t wait to see what outfits you’re going to be picking out after today! Gosh you’re such a cute girl!” She clapped excitedly causing me to blush from the praise. I sputtered a bit unable to form a sentence, before quickly excusing myself so she could take her shower.

About twenty minutes later she was ready to head out to go shopping, I was still really nervous but very excited. She led me out of her apartment and down to her car. It was a basic worn out SUV that seems to have been taken care of. We hopped in quickly and we fishtailed out of the parking lot heading back towards the city and to the mall. Oh goddess I realized I have to go to the mall, and I visibly deflated at the thought of it. The mall always made me feel so anxious and gross. My apprehension grew each moment that we drew closer and closer to arriving at the mall. By the time we arrived at the mall I was shaking a bit from the anxiety. I felt Aly move and give me a comforting hug, and she didn’t let go until I had calmed down a bit.

“Are you okay Miranda? The mall scares you that much huh… Well I guess you could um…” She blushed from embarrassment “You could hold my hand while shopping to help you feel more at ease.”

I was speechless at her offer, my voice was caught in my throat so I just nodded instead. We got out of the car carefully, and before we headed towards the mall she offered her hand out, and I gratefully took her it. Gosh it was so warm and comforting compared to how cold my hands had gotten. “T-thank you…” I murmured, blushing a bit at the contact. She flashed me a bright smile as we walked towards the mall. I still felt very anxious but… Alysandra being here helped me relax considerably. We then began our shopping adventure! I went between stores feeling incredibly awkward in the women’s section. I didn’t feel like I belonged there, and it made me feel dirty inside. Alysandra gave me reassuring smiles throughout it though, and she walked with me patiently as I mustered up the courage to start picking out items. Soon I picked out some thigh highs I really liked, and after that I couldn’t stop myself. Some cute blouses, some sweatshirts, leggings, skirts (gosh I adore skirts), thigh highs, and panties! In all different colors for what I felt I could pull off. There was a good variety of black, red, pink, yellow, white. I could barely carry the bags I was carrying and I saw Aly struggling with hers too. I giggled at the sight, though us holding hands like this while carrying all these bags was impractical, but it helped me not have a panic attack in the middle of the mall.

We carried my haul back to the car, placing the bags carefully in the back, making sure the trunk would be able to close without smushing it. I smiled and was satisfied with everything.we had gotten, smiling at Aly as she smiled back warmly. “See? Wasn’t bad at all.” She teased lightly before her belly rumbled “I’m starting to get hungry… Wanna grab something to eat before we head home?” She asked, before starting the car back up, pulling out of her parking space and leaving the parking lot.

I nodded to her question, thinking of what we should get to eat. “Oh I know where we should go to eat!” I exclaimed, almost causing Aly to swerve into oncoming traffic. I shot her an apologetic look before continuing, “We should get carryout from this amazing ramen shop called Ramen For The Seoul. Cheesy name I know but their food is amazing!” I was practically bouncing in my seat at the thought of it.

I felt Aly briefly pat me on the head before returning her focus on the road “Cute. That settles it then. How about you go ahead and order, I’ll get whatever you’re going to get.” She smiled and continued driving. I quickly placed my order on their website before giving directions to Aly. And not too long after that we were home with our yummy food! I excitedly bounced to the kitchen getting out bowls and forks for both of us. She giggled at my antics “I see you’re pretty excited about this! Now I’m really looking forward to trying it out.” she cooed. We quickly got ourselves situated and in the living room, watching TV and eating together. Today was probably my best day ever, as sad as it sounds. I couldn’t help but look at Aly as she ate, causing my heart to flutter and do somersaults every time I did so.

Before too long we had finished our food, I drank the rest of my broth as Aly gave me a look of disbelief that nearly made me choke on the broth with a laugh. After a moment of quiet Aly spoke up looking immensely more serious and solemn “Tomorrow is going to be a lot harder than this… I wish I could give you more time but... I must begin your training. We don’t have a lot of time unfortunately.”

I looked at her wearily before sighing in defeat “This is going to suck. Also what do you mean we don’t have a lot of time?!”