:=: Sadie :=:

Sadie lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep again. It was almost eleven o'clock Tuesday night, and she was full of nervous excitement about tomorrow.

If everything went right, aunt Maria and her friends would come and help, and maybe by the end of the day tomorrow, Ash would be Ashley! No waiting to turn eighteen, no fighting with parents.

Except there was also a lot of stuff that could go wrong, and that was helping to keep Sadie awake. The worries were mixing with the excitement, and leaving her tense.

She hoped Maria had been able to convince her friends, that the other witches would agree to help.

And then they had to convince Ash somehow. Maria had suggested a demonstration that sounded amazing, if it worked. But it might also leave her friend shocked or freaked out.

And then would Ash even trust some people she didn't know, to completely change her life around? Or would she want to flee, would she be too scared or freaked out?

Sadie wasn't even sure she'd be able to convince her to skip class. If she insisted staying at school, then the whole thing would fall apart. Or at least she'd have to figure out a way to reschedule it, and then maybe Maria or the others wouldn't want to waste another day waiting.

Then there was another big question. Should she tell Ash her secret? And how would she react? Would she even believe her? Sadie was sure she wouldn't freak out too much about finding out she was trans. But she didn't want to admit who she'd been before. That would be too much... It had taken Amanda months to get over that, Sadie didn't want to risk Ashley being just as freaked out.

She decided, if she said anything about her past, she'd only mention about aunt Maria helping her with being trans. The rest would stay secret.

Her thoughts kept pinballing from fear to concern to hope to excitement, and then back to fear again.

Eventually she pulled her diary out from under her mattress, where she kept it hidden.

Between the break-up with Lucy, her growing feelings for Ash, her friend's secret, and then her conversation with aunt Maria, she'd had an awful lot to write about over the past twelve days.

Sadie made a few more notes, trying to sort through her thoughts and emotions by writing them down.

After five or ten minutes, she was feeling a little better. She returned the book to its hiding place, and settled back down in bed again.

She was still excited and anxious about tomorrow, but at least she was ready to get some sleep now.

:=: Ashley :=:

"So, not that I have any great love of Calculus or English," she asked, "But why'd you wanna skip class this afternoon?"

Sadie smiled at her. "I needed to talk with you. Somewhere private. It's important."

"Ok..." Ash frowned. The two of them were walking to Sadie's house. She'd convinced her to cut class after lunch. "It couldn't wait till after school though? We could have just gone to the library, or the burger place?"

Sadie shook her head, "No. It has to be somewhere really private. My place is perfect, there'll be no-one home. Mom's at work, Amanda and Jenny are both at school."

Ash nodded slowly, but it was still a bit weird.

When they got to her place, Sadie unlocked the door and let her in, then closed and locked it again behind her.

"C'mon." She said, leading her up the stairs.

She'd never been here before, but it looked like a nice place. Big, but not huge. She wondered how Sadie's mom could afford a place like this. Being a single mom with three teen girls, Ash figured she must be doing really well at work or something.

She followed as Sadie led her into her bedroom. Sadie sat on her bed and motioned her to sit too. Ash hesitated for a moment, standing infront of her.

"Sadie?" she asked. "What's all this about? You're not like... Into me or something, are you? I mean, I thought you were a lesbian?"

Sadie blushed, and she looked down for a moment. "Honestly... I don't know right now. You're my friend, Ash... And I like you. Maybe I like you a lot... And now that I know you're really a girl... Well, I still like you a lot..." She then added, "But that's not why we're here."

Ash was blushing brightly now too as her words sank in. She was definitely feeling flustered, but tried to get her mind off of that. "Ok... So.... Why are we here, then?"

Sadie motioned her to sit next to her, and she finally did so, settling onto the bed beside her.

"So, this is going to sound super crazy, but hear me out ok?" she asked her. "Promise, you'll hear me out?"

Ash nodded, "Ok, I promise."

Sadie took a deep breath then said, "My aunt Maria is a witch. Like a real live actual witch. She can do spells, work magic. And her coven can do like miracles or whatever. I'm telling you this, because she can help you. She can make it so you can be Ashley, and you won't have to wait till you're eighteen and stuff."

Ash sighed, and she started frowning. "You're right Sadie, that does sound crazy." She sighed again. "So what, is this like some kind of joke or something? Because it's not funny..."

Sadie shook her head. "I swear I'm telling the truth. Please, just give me one minute to prove it?"

She shrugged a little, watching her.

Sadie pulled her phone out and tapped out a message to someone. Ash was feeling more apprehensive now. She didn't think Sadie was that sort of person, but she couldn't help worrying that she was about to be embarassed or humiliated.

"Ok." Sadie said once she sent the text. "Aunt Maria will be here in a moment."

"Sadie, did you tell her my secret?" She was frowning more now. "You swore you'd-" Then she gasped "Holy fucking shit!" as a middle aged woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the bedroom.

The woman was about Ashley's height, with short black hair and dark eyes, and a tanned complexion. She was wearing black tights, a black suit skirt, and a white blouse. She looked like she'd just come out of an office somewhere.

As she stared at her, Ash realized she could see a bit of a family resemblance between the woman and Sadie.

The woman was looking a bit flustered, and she muttered, "Phew... I definitely need more practice doing that..."

Sadie was grinning widely, "Hi aunt Maria! Wow that was pretty amazing! This is my friend Ash."

Maria looked around at Ash and Sadie, and smiled to her, "Hello Ash, nice to meet you."

She just nodded slowly, still in a bit of shock from the woman's sudden appearance. "Uh... hi?"

Maria apologized, "Sorry for the sudden arrival. Sadie and I thought it might help convince you that this stuff is real."

Ash stared at her, "You're really a witch?"

Maria nodded, "I really am, yes."

Sadie then said softly, "Ash I'm sorry but I did tell her about your situation. I knew she could help you, so I had to ask."

Ash looked at the older woman again, "So how can you help me? Put a curse on my folks or something, so they'll let me transition?"

Maria shook her head, "No Ash, I don't curse people."

Sadie smirked as she whispered, "Not any more at least."

Ash looked at her, but Sadie just shrugged and pretended she hadn't said anything.

Maria must have heard Sadie as well, as the witch blushed a bit.

Ash figured there was some kind of story or inside joke between the two of them, but neither offered to elaborate. She continued watching Maria as she asked, "So how will you help, then?"

"The short answer is," Maria replied, "I could just turn you into a girl."

Ash's eyes went wide. "No fucking way! Really?!"

The woman nodded, "Yes, really. However, you'd be stuck with some problems... Such as explaining the sudden transition to everyone else. Your parents, the school, your friends..."

"Oh, right..." Ash frowned. "So how would that help, then?"

Sadie then spoke up. "Aunt Maria is just one witch, there's only so much she can do on her own. But the rest of her coven? They can do some pretty powerful stuff. They could make it so you're Ashley, and everyone else would already know that, and accept it and stuff. It'd be as if you were already Ashley, all along."

"Woah..." Ash was trying to imagine what that would be like. Then she frowned. "Wait, if she can do all that, why didn't she do it for your little sister?"

Maria explained, "I did help Jenny. I changed her body so she's a girl. We didn't need to change the rest of reality though, because her family accepted her and were ok with the change. The rest of the world believes she's a normal trans girl, but the truth is she doesn't need to worry about hormones or surgery or anything else."

Sadie added, "And she was twelve at the time, so the outward changes weren't all that drastic. Nobody had a problem accepting her as a girl, after she transitioned over the summer."

Ash nodded slowly and just said, "Woah." again as it all slowly sank in.

"You have to swear to keep this secret, Ash." Sadie stated, sounding very serious. "You can't tell anyone about any of this stuff, ok?"

She looked at her friend and nodded, "Yeah, of course. I'm not stupid enough to go around pissing off real live witches..."

"Good." Maria smiled. "I've already spoken with the coven, and they're willing to help you Ash."

She looked back at the witch with a wide grin. "Wow, really? When? What do I have to do?"

"We can do it right now if you like." Maria replied.

"Holy shit! Yes please!" Ash could feel her heart racing with excitement now.

"That's why we needed to be somewhere really private and stuff." Sadie smiled. "That's why we skipped class and came here."

Maria suggested, "Let's go downstairs, ok? It'll get a little cramped if we're all trying to crowd into your bedroom, Sadie."

Sadie nodded, "C'mon."

Ash and Maria followed as Sadie led them back downstairs. They wound up in a living-room. Sadie motioned to a large leather chair, "Ash, you can sit here." Sadie then sat down in a wingback chair to the right. Maria moved to a a sofa on the left.

As she sat down, Maria took out her phone and started tapping out a message, "I'll call over a few friends, and then we can get started."

Ash frowned, "So you witches can teleport and work miracles and cast spells and stuff, but you all just like, text each other?"

Sadie giggled a little, and Maria smiled, saying "Yes, even the coven of witches relies on their phones to communicate." She added, "They'll be here in a moment, and they'll explain how it'll all work."

A few seconds later, two more women appeared in the room. They were both younger than Maria, both looked to be in their twenties.

The shorter one was dressed like a goth, all in black and with dark makeup and long jet-black hair. She was maybe a an inch or two shorter than Ash. The other one was an inch or two taller than her. She had shoulder length brown hair, and was wearing a long flowy dark brown skirt, and a green t-shirt. She had a necklace on that was some kind of copper medallion with strange symbols engraved on it. She looked more witchy than the goth.

Maria greeted the two, and then gestured, "This is Ashley, she's the one who needs our help." She then said to the goth one, "And you remember Sadie of course."

Ash felt a little buzz of happiness at being called Ashley and referred to as 'she'. At the same time there was a twinge of fear, knowing that the secret was out and things were getting more and more real.

Maria then said to Ash and Sadie, "These are the two leaders of the coven, and we won't be mentioning their names. You don't need to know them."

Ash just nodded slowly as she looked at the two young women. She was feeling nervous now along with the excitement.

The goth smiled, "Hello again Sadie, you're looking good. Hi Ashley."

The witchy one just smiled "Hello Ashley, hello Sadie."

"Hi... So this is for real huh?" Ash gulped a little. "What's going to happen?"

The witchy one replied, "Yes Ashley, it's for real. We're going to ask you to make some big decisions, and unfortunately we can't give you a lot of time to think it over."

She continued, "We understand the problem is your parents won't let you transition. We can make it so you were born a girl, always been a girl, and so you never needed to transition. Everyone will know you've always been Ashley. Only yourself, Sadie, and the three of us will know the truth."

The witch added, "You'll still remember your original life up to now, but you'll also remember a new life where you were always Ashley."

Ash just gasped, "Holy shit... Wow!"

The goth then said, "We don't have to go back that far. If you wanted, we could still change your body how you want, but have it so you transitioned at some point in your life. Like, say, at age ten or something like that. Again, you'd remember your current life, but also the new one. The difference being, some people would know you'd transitioned at some point."

She paused, then explained, "It depends on what you want, what's important to you. If you want people to know who you were before, or not."

The witchy one added, "You'll also have to bear in mind how your family could react. If your parents are resistant to letting you transition, having them believe you changed anyways will definitely affect your relationship with them. We can't know if that'll be positive or negative, until it happens."

Ash just blinked as all of this was sinking in.

"I know it's a lot to consider Ash," Sadie said, "But whatever you decide, I'll be here to help. I'll be your friend, whatever you want to do."

Ash looked to Sadie, feeling more nervous as the reality of all this was sinking in a little deeper.

"What if something goes wrong?" She asked nervously. "What if it doesn't work out or something?"

Sadie gave her a warm smile, "I know it's safe, Ash. I know it'll work out perfectly."

She frowned a little, "How though? I mean..."

Sadie looked hesitant, then she said softly, "I know, because I've been through it myself. Last July I was sitting where you are now. Same chair, same decision..."

Ash frowned at her, not quite understanding or accepting what Sadie was telling her.

Sadie explained quietly, "I'm not going to tell you who I was before, I don't like to think too much about that. But I haven't even been Sadie for a full year yet."

Her eyes went wide as she stared at her friend. Then she frowned, "That can't be true... I remember seeing you at school last year. I think I first saw you with Amanda back in grade nine..."

Sadie smiled a little, "Right, and soon everyone's going to remember seeing Ashley at school too. But you and I never spoke before this year. We really only met this past September."

Ash's eyes went wide again. "Holy shit..."

Sadie just nodded slowly. "Yeah. Jenny's not the only trans girl in our family... She's just the one who's brave enough to be public..."

"Wow..." Ash frowned again. Everything the witches had told her, and now what her friend had revealed, all of it was spinning around in her head.

After another minute or two she finally looked to the three witches and said, "Ok... I'm not brave enough to let people know about being trans and stuff. I mean, Sadie's the only person I've ever worked up the courage to tell, apart from my folks. So... Let's do the whole reset thing, so no-one else will know."

The women nodded, and the goth one said, "Ok Ashley."

She then asked, "Wait, will my parents still know?"

The goth shook her head, "No. They'll believe they always had a daughter."

"Wow..." Ash shook her head again. Then frowned once more, "Will it hurt? How long will it take?"

The tall one answered, "It won't hurt. And it will only take a minute or so."

The goth added, "We can begin now, if you're ready?"

Ash nodded, her heart racing and a nervous grin on her face. "Yes! Ok... What should I do?"

The tall one replied calmly, "Just close your eyes, relax, and visualize who you are inside. Who Ashley is. What she looks like, what sort of person she is. Who you want to be. Picture that in your mind."

She glanced at Sadie, and her friend just smiled and nodded. Ash smiled back, then closed her eyes. She'd fantasized about this countless times before of course, so it wasn't hard at all to picture herself as Ashley. As the person She was meant to be.

After a few seconds she felt a wave of drowsiness come over her, as if she was drifting off to sleep, while still holding that perfect image in her mind.

:=: Sadie :=:

Sadie sat down alone in the cafeteria again. Today was Friday. It was two weeks ago yesterday, when Lucy had dumped her infront of half the school. She sighed a little.

She could see her former girlfriend on the opposite side of the room, sitting at a crowded table, surrounded by friends. And that slimy jerk Kevin was sitting right next to her. Lucy was practically on his lap, the little slut.

Sadie sighed again then started eating her salad. Mom had been right of course. It had only taken a few days before everyone else forgot all about her public humiliation. She still hurt a bit, but she knew that would eventually fade.

She stayed lost in thought for another minute or two, before she was brought back to reality by a friendly voice.

"Hi Sadie. Want some company?"

"Yeah!" she smiled as she looked at Ashley.

Her friend was a bit tall, at about 5'6". She was slim, but busty. She had long black hair, pretty green eyes, and a cute face. Today she was wearing a pleated blue and green tartan skirt, white tights, a white blouse, low heeled black shoes, and some carefully applied make-up.

Instead of taking the seat across from her, Ashley came around the table and sat down right next to Sadie.

"Wow I love that skirt, Ashley!" Sadie smiled as she looked her friend over.

Her friend blushed, "Thanks! I just got it yesterday." She then started eating her lunch, and Sadie did the same.

After a few minutes, Ashley asked quietly, "Hey Sadie? I know you're still sad about Lucy and stuff, I know it's only been like two weeks... But I was wondering, if you'd like to go see a movie with me tomorrow?"

Sadie gave her friend a slightly suspicious look. "Ashley Nesbitt, are you asking me out on a date?"

Ashley blushed again and looked a bit flustered. "Uh... I guess so? I mean... If that's ok... It doesn't have to be a date... I was just thinking..."

"Of course it's ok!" Sadie giggled. "To be honest, I was going to give you a week to get adjusted and stuff, then I was gonna ask you!"

Ashley blinked in surprise, blushing yet again as she squeaked, "You were?!"

Sadie grinned, "I was. But you beat me to it!" She added, "And yes, I'd love to go see a movie with you."

Ashley smiled widely, "Then it's a date!"

:=: Ashley :=:

"Gods I love days like this." Sadie sighed happily. "Warm, peaceful, quiet..."

It was a bright, warm, sunny day today. It was the last Friday of July, and Sadie and Ashley were enjoying it together. They were sitting at a picnic table by the beach, in a park next to the lake. There was a gentle breeze, and out on the water they could see a few dozen sailboats and motorboats, as people were out enjoying the day on the water.

Ashley was wearing a pair of short shorts and a bikini top, Sadie was wearing a bikini and a light skirt. Both girls had sandals on their feet, and were wearing sunglasses. They were both wearing some subtle make-up. And although they were both dressed for a dip in the lake, the water was still a bit too cold for either of them to actually consider it.

They'd just finished lunch, each had a hot dog and they shared some poutine from a food truck that was in the parking lot next to the park.

"Yeah, I wish it could stay this hot all year..." Ashley sighed. She had a sip of her cola, it was already starting to get warm in the afternoon sun. "Hey, you said something earlier about celebrating today? What was that about? Your birthday's not for another week or so right?"

Sadie had some more of her root beer, then leaned closer. She whispered in Ashley's ear, "This Sunday is my uh, one-year anniversary of being me. It was July thirtieth last summer, when I became Sadie..."

Ashley's eyes widened but she smiled, "That's great! Congrats, Sadie!"

Her girlfriend blushed a little but smiled. "I figured even though we're two days early, it'd be better to sort of celebrate that with you. I know my mom won't want me to mention it around her at all."

"Oh?" Ashley frowned. "So your mom knows about it, and what, she's not happy?"

Sadie sighed a little. "All my family knows... They all know how I changed. It took mom a long time though to get used to it I guess? Like... It was around January I think, when she finally fully accepted it all? So yeah, like a year ago was a big deal for me, but it was kind of a bad time for her I guess. So best not to remind her about it."

She paused a moment, then added, "Though she might already be thinking about that stuff, she's been a bit grumpy this week."

Ashley sighed, "Sorry Sadie. I'm glad she got over it, but wow, that's like, five months? From end of July to January? That's a long time to have your mom being bitchy at you..."

Sadie shrugged slightly, "Thanks. It wasn't too bad I guess, and it was worth it, since I got to be me." She smiled at that.

Ashley finished her cola then asked, "So what are you planning for your birthday? Can we go out, or does your mom want you to do some family thing?"

"Yeah, mom wants to do a big family dinner thing on the fifth. So she'll want me and Amanda both there." Sadie rolled her eyes. "How about you and I go out next Friday though, the fourth? I'm pretty sure I can get the mini-van again. Amanda's planning to go out with Ben, and he's got his own car so she won't need the van."

Ashley grinned, "She's getting serious with that guy, huh? Ugh, I don't know what she sees in him."

Sadie smirked, "Amanda likes guys, so I guess Ben's got that going for him." She paused while Ashley giggled a little, then added, "She says he's nice though, he's kinda smart, and she said he's funny. Like, good sense of humour."

"Huh." Ashley looked thoughtful. "Have you ever thought about hooking up with a guy?"

Sadie smiled and replied quietly, "I thought I was interested in a guy once... But then he turned out to be my girlfriend."

Ashley blushed but grinned.

"How about you?" Sadie asked before draining the last of her root beer. "Any guys ever catch your eye?"

Ashley shook her head, "Nah. A few of them seem nice, but not nice enough to make me like, interested in them or whatever."

Eventually the two of them took a walk along the beach, before they finally made their way back to the parking lot.

The inside of the mini-van was roasting, so they rolled the windows down and let it air out a bit before they both got in.

"You and Amanda are really lucky your mom's letting you both take turns borrowing this." Ashley said, feeling a little envious. Her folks almost never let her borrow the car, even though she'd had her licence for nearly eight months now.

Sadie nodded, "Yeah, I know we're pretty lucky about that. Still, sometimes me and her sorta fight over it? Plus, we have to drive Jenny around. That was part of the deal, if we borrow it then we hafta give our little sister rides all the time."

As they both got in and buckled up, Ashley asked, "You only have to fight with your sister for it? What about your mom, doesn't she still need it for work and stuff?"

Sadie started the engine, and they pulled out of the parking lot as she replied, "Mom's got a new car now that's just for her. Me and Amanda aren't even allowed to touch it." She grinned. "It's like, her mid-life-crisis-mobile."

Ashley was surprised. "Wow! Your mom must be doing really good with work and stuff. What kind of car'd she get?"

"A little red Corvette." Sadie smiled. "I never even knew she was into that kind of thing. But she seems to like it. Her sporty little sports car." She giggled. "That's why I call it her mid-life-crisis-mobile."

With a straight face she added, "Oh my gods don't ever let her know I call it that! She'll literally murder me."

"Don't worry," Ashley giggled, "Your secret's safe with me."

Soon enough they pulled up infront of Ashley's house. Sadie sighed a little, "Here we are. I'll text you later and let you know if I still have the mini-van tonight or not."

Ashley nodded, "It'd be nice, but if not we'll make do." The plan was for them both to shower and get changed, then they were going out in the evening for dinner and then to the movies. If they had to, they'd get around on the bus, or they'd use a ride-share. But if her girlfriend had the van, that would be so much better of course.

The two of them leaned closer and exchanged a little kiss, then Ashley got out. She waved, and watched as Sadie drove off. Then with a smile on her face, she turned and headed inside. She was already mentally putting together her outfit for their date tonight.