:=: Brandi :=:

The two of them were back on the sofa again. Brandi was cuddled up against the tall blonde, her head resting against Tanya's shoulder.

She'd calmed down a little after her big revelation, and the two of them had cleaned things up a bit. The left-over pizza was in the fridge, and the dishes were washed and put away. It had been a few minutes of routine, mundane activity, to help take her mind off the more serious concerns.

Tanya had an arm around her now, holding Brandi close.

Brandi was quiet for a little while, then finally commented "I kind of thought you'd be more surprised... About me wanting to stay like this? You've been really calm about it all."

Tanya smiled slightly. "To be honest, I was wondering on and off all day yesterday if that was going to happen... When you hadn't said anything about it by breakfast today, I decided I must have been wrong."

"What?" Brandi frowned, looking up at the blonde. "How were you expecting it yesterday? How could you have known I'd want this, a whole day before I did?"

"The way you were just accepting everything." Tanya explained. "Taking a shower, getting dressed, going shopping for womens' clothes. Even the way you sit, and the way you walk."

Brandi was still frowning. "What's so special about all that? It was just stuff that needed to be done. Or stuff I was doing because of the bet."

Tanya smiled patiently, "Brandi if you were a cis guy, you'd have been freaking out about every one of those things."

"If I was a cis guy..." she repeated, as her frown deepened. "What would you have done if I did start freaking out about all that stuff?"

Tanya sighed, "I'd have reversed the spell. I kept watching you, and a few times I even prodded a little, to be sure. If you'd started really freaking out or having a break-down, I'd have undone the spell right away. What I saw though was the opposite, you were adapting to everything almost immediately. Even if you were sometimes grumpy about it."

Brandi let that sink in. She thought back to some of the things she'd felt weird about, stuff she hadn't even told Tanya. Like the shower yesterday morning, she'd been curious, but hadn't been freaked out. The most annoying thing was having to wash more hair than she was used to. And the shower today had been almost routine.

And things like putting on a bra, or seeing herself in the mirror last night in the dress and make-up, she'd had weird feelings but not bad feelings. In retrospect, she realized she'd been feeling positive about those experiences, but at the same time she felt guilty and embarrassed about feeling good.

She almost felt surprise at the realization that in the whole time since she'd been changed, she never once missed having a penis. In fact the only thing she'd really missed was the physical strength she used to have.

Even after all that, she still wasn't sure. Frowning, she said "I still don't think I was trans... I mean, I didn't really hate my body or whatever..."

"Then you wouldn't mind if I turned you back?" Tanya asked.

"What?! No!" Brandi almost yelped. Then when she saw Tanya's smirk, she realized the point the blonde was making and blushed a little. "Oh..."

After a few seconds though, her frown returned. "What about how I used to look? I was a football player. There's no way I'd have been able to be a girl, let alone a cute girl."

She felt Tanya give her a little squeeze, as the blonde smiled. "Except here you are, being a very cute girl."

Brandi sighed, "That's just because of your magic."

"No," Tanya stated firmly. "My magic put you in a different body. You're the one who made it cute. You're the one who made it Brandi."

That took another few seconds to sink in. As she was thinking it all through again, her eyes drifted downwards.

Her old clothes were still there in a little pile next to the sofa. Her jeans, sneakers, and t-shirt. And her wallet, full of ID with the wrong name and the wrong picture. It's like it was all just waiting there for her to go back to being him again. The old belongings kept reminding her of what was waiting for her. Waiting for him.

"I know you keep saying not to worry about this stuff Tanya, but I can't help it. It's after nine o'clock now... I've got a class at ten tomorrow morning, and they're going to be expecting Brendan to be there... I can't just show up and be me..." Brandi gulped, trying not to let herself panic. "And there's a practice on Tuesday... I can't do that. I don't want to do that... But if I quit the team, I lose the scholarship..."

It wasn't just anxiety now, it was fear again. She wasn't just worried about going back to school or having to deal with football stuff. Sooner or later she'd have to go back to her place, and face Corey and Doug. And eventually she'd have to deal with her parents.

She trembled a little, still staring down at the wallet and clothes. As much as she hated it, she knew she'd have to go back to her old self again. There just wasn't any way around it.

Tanya pulled her a little closer again and said "It's ok Brandi. I'm not going to change you back. We'll fix things so you can stay like this."

"But...how?" she was still nervous, frowning up at Tanya.

The tall blonde replied with a little smile, "Magic, of course. Let me get in touch with someone from the coven, who can help with this stuff."

Tanya got her phone from her purse, then sat back down. She spent a few moments tapping out a text message, then sent it off.

It took only a minute or two before her phone buzzed as a reply came back.

Tanya looked and smiled, "Oh good! Nikki says she can come over, she'll be here in a minute."

"She lives nearby? Are there a lot of witches around here?" Brandi asked, surprised.

Tanya smiled "Nah, she's down in Welland. I'm from near there too, that's where most of the coven live."

Brandi frowned, "How's she going to get here in- !" She gasped a little in shock as a woman suddenly appeared in the apartment, standing off to the side of the sofa.

She was probably three or four inches taller than Brandi, and looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had long straight jet-black hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a black dress and black shoes. Brandi also saw some large chunky piercings in the woman's ears, and a little stud in her nostril. She looked slightly goth, though she wasn't wearing any heavy make-up, just a bit of dark lipstick.

Tanya smiled, "Hi Nikki! Thank you for coming. This is my friend Brandi."

Brandi was still staring at the young woman, and said "Uh... Hi." She felt a little self-conscious as Nikki looked her over.

"Hello Tanya, hello Brandi." Nikki replied. Her tone was somewhat reserved, her attitude slightly cool at the moment. She glanced around, then sat down on the easy chair across from them, watching them both.

Brandi cuddled closer to Tanya, as she felt a bit wary of this new person. And knowing this was another witch, apparently a powerful one, wasn't helping her feel less stressed.

Nikki watched the two of them for another few seconds, then finally asked, "Ok Tanya, how did this happen? I thought we'd made the dangers of transformation magic clear to everyone, after Maria's situation last summer."

Tanya nodded, "Yeah, that's why I didn't use Cindy's spell. I used the original one that you and Sam came up with."

"Why would that make a difference?" Nikki asked, frowning slightly.

Brandi felt some tension in Tanya's body now. Between Nikki's tone and Tanya's body language, she got the feeling that the blonde witch was in a bit of trouble.

"Uh... Cindy's is the one that has the problem... Your original version is safe." Tanya replied hesitantly.

Nikki was still watching Tanya, as she stated "Explain."

Tanya was blushing now, "Sorry, I assumed Cindy told you. Uh, she figured out her version of the spell has a flaw? Your original version works off the image in the subject's mind right? It reads their mind and works off of what they want?"

Nikki nodded slowly but stayed quiet.

All of this was going over Brandi's head. The two witches were obviously discussing some sort of magical problem, but from the sound of it, Tanya had avoided whatever the problem was, when she did the spell on Friday night.

Tanya took a breath then continued, "Cindy's version works off the caster's mind and lets you change someone into what you want instead of what they want... But Cindy thinks it also sort of...implants that new image into the subject's mind too? She said the effect is weak, that's why it takes a few days to a week, but it it sort of gradually overwrites the person's own body image or whatever? Cindy said that's why that problem came up for Maria..."

Nikki was quiet for a few moments again, her eyes on Tanya. Finally she said, "It seems we need to have a long conversation with Cindy, next time she's home."

Then the older witch turned her attention back to Brandi and asked, "Ok Brandi. So you want to stay like that, but you need to figure out the practical side of things?"

"Yeah..." Brandi gulped. "I need to sort out my ID, clothes, where I'm living, college... and I guess figure out what to tell my parents? I guess for now the critical stuff would be ID and college..."

Nikki nodded slightly, still watching Brandi. Then after a moment, something seemed to happen. Nikki shifted a little in the chair, changing her posture slightly. She was sitting up straighter, with her shoulders set. Her blue eyes became a little brighter.

At the same time, Tanya seemed to get nervous or stressed again. This didn't help with Brandi's anxiety either. She still wasn't really sure what was going on, but she didn't like being the subject of attention between two uptight witches.

The raven-haired witch's bright blue eyes stayed on her, and Brandi started to feel as if the woman was looking right into her soul. The woman's eyes almost seemed to be glowing, and there was definitely a sparkle to them that wasn't there before.

After what felt like a full minute, Nikki seemed to relax again in her chair, though her eyes still looked like they were sort of glowing, and still had that sparkle in them.

She smiled, her expression was suddenly relaxed and friendly. "Don't worry Tanya. And you can relax, Brandi. Despite Nicole's stern headmistress act, we're actually in a fairly good mood this evening." There was something a little different about her voice now too.

Brandi stared for a few more moments, then finally asked "Uh... ok. So... can you help me with my ID and college and things?"

"Yes, I can." the witch smiled. "I have a fairly good idea now of what it is you want."

Brandi was surprised, "You do? How? I haven't even figured it all out yet myself."

Still smiling, she replied "Oh, I had a quick look through your thoughts and memories. It's not quite like 'looking into your soul' but it's close enough."

Seeing the look on Brandi's face, she added "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Ceridwen, Goddess of Transformation and Rebirth."

"You're...what?" Brandi just stared. She wasn't sure if the woman was joking or being serious.

She looked up at Tanya, who nodded and said softly "It's true."

Brandi looked back at the brunette and asked, "I thought your name was Nikki?"

"Nicole is here as well," the strange woman replied. "I'm just borrowing her for the moment. Now, let's begin."

Before Brandi could say anything else, she saw the woman's eyes glow even brighter. A wave of dizziness came across her and she felt herself clinging to Tanya a little tighter as it felt like the world was spinning around her.

After several seconds, the spinning stopped and the dizziness faded. Brandi was still cuddling against Tanya on the sofa, and she blinked a few times to clear the last of the fuzziness from her head.

The first thing she noticed was the little pile of her old clothes were gone. They'd been next to the sofa for the last two days, and now they weren't. As she wondered where they went, suddenly everything else snapped into place in her mind.

She was still in her second year at college, studying journalism. She wasn't here on a football scholarship though. Instead, she had an academic scholarship. She'd excelled in English and creative writing in high-school. And instead of spending her free time in high-school on football and other sports, she'd been active writing and taking pictures for the school's blog, and for the yearbook.

Rather than her father pushing her towards football and other sports, she now remembered both her parents fully supporting her choices and her desire to study journalism, and how proud they both were of her for getting the scholarship.

She and Tanya met last year when they were both freshmen, but instead of becoming rivals or enemies, they'd become friends. And over the summer, instead of moving in with Corey and Doug, she'd moved in here with Tanya.

Even the apartment was slightly different. Instead of the one-bedroom unit it had been originally, there was now a second bedroom which belonged to Brandi.

Finally Brandi gasped, "Holy crap!" She was staring wide-eyed at the Goddess sitting across from her. She had no doubt now, she knew it wasn't a joke. After what she'd just experienced, Brandi knew this was an actual divine being sitting infront of her. "Thank you! But... What just happened?"

Ceridwen replied casually, "I just changed a few parts of your life. You still remember all the original details, of course. Apart from Tanya though, everyone else only knows the new you. Everyone else knows you as Brandi."

"Holy..." Brandi just shook her head slowly. She was feeling awed, and a little frightened, by the power she'd just been exposed to.

Meanwhile, the Goddess was looking at Tanya again, with a slight frown. She asked, "Tanya, why aren't you wearing the amulet we gave you?"

"Um..." the tall blonde blushed. "We're not allowed to wear jewelry during games... Either soccer or hockey. And people were asking questions about it when they'd see it in the change rooms, so I just sort of stopped wearing it..."

Ceridwen was still frowning. "If jewelry is prohibited, I assume a tattoo would be acceptable."

Before Tanya could respond, Brandi saw the Goddess's eyes glow for a moment, and Tanya gasped and flinched. She reached an arm around and rubbed the back of her right shoulder, frowning a little.

"You no longer need the amulet. I'll take it with me when I leave." Ceridwen stated. "Next time you see Cindy, do be sure and show her that tattoo. I suspect she'll be very interested."

Tanya nodded "Yes ma'am... Actually if I don't need the amulet, could I give it to Brandi?"

The Goddess glanced at Brandi and her eyes glowed again.

Brandi yelped a little as she felt a sudden sting of pain on her left hip. It was over as soon as it happened, but like Tanya, she was left rubbing her hip a little as she wondered what just happened.

"She won't need it either," the Goddess stated. "Now, Nicole would like to get back home to her wife, and I'm sure the two of you have lots to discuss, so we'll take our leave."

"Thank you for coming." Tanya said.

Brandi nodded, "Thanks ma'am, for everything."

The Goddess, or Nikki, just smiled, then simply vanished.

As soon as she was gone, Brandi stood up and pulled her leggings down to get a look at her hip. Sure enough there was a tattoo there. Even though it was only a minute old, there was no sign of redness or swelling. It was already completely healed.

She now had a small four-leaf clover on her hip. It was green, with a black outline. About an inch across, it wasn't too big, and it was kind of cute. As she stared at it, she realized the outline was made up of small intricate runes.

Tanya leaned over to have a look and smiled, "Cute. I wonder if She picked that because you look sort of Irish? Like, emerald eyes, red hair, freckles..."

Brandi just nodded slightly as she was still staring at it. Suddenly she grinned as she exclaimed, "Oh my god it's like she gave me a cutie-mark!"

Tanya stared at her for a second then burst out in a fit of giggles. "Seriously Brandi?! From that pony cartoon? Was that a new memory, or were you always into that show?"

Brandi felt her cheeks going bright red, and she pulled up her leggings. She hoped to change the subject as she asked, "So uh, what's the significance of the tattoo?"

Tanya was still grinning, but she answered, "It's like a magical protection spell... It uh, won't make you immortal or whatever, but it'll help protect you from injuries, keep you from getting hurt. And I think it speeds up healing too, if you do manage to get hurt somehow."

"Holy shit," Brandi gasped. "That's incredible!"

"Yeah, it's pretty nice." Tanya smiled, as she stood up and pulled off her t-shirt. She tried to look over her shoulder, straining to get a look at her own new ink. Finally she asked Brandi, "What's mine look like?"

Brandi smiled, "It's a rose, with orange petals and a couple thorns on the stem. I guess it's like, cute but dangerous, or something?"

"Huh." Tanya nodded. "That works."

While Tanya was pulling her shirt back on, Brandi went down the little hall past Tanya's bedroom, and opened the door that hadn't existed before. Inside was her new bedroom.

The bed was different. As Brendan, she'd slept on an old twin-size with a saggy mattress, but this was similar to Tanya's. A large comfy-looking queen-size bed, with a nice thick fluffy duvet and a bunch of pillows. She blushed at the half dozen pony plushies arranged on the bed next to the pillows.

Looking around, she also recognized her laptop, the small desk, and most of the books on her bookcase, and a few trinkets and keepsakes. And some things were similar but subtly different. There were some pictures, but instead of Brendan and his friends, it was Brandi and her friends.

She opened the closet and instead of Brendan's clothes, it was full of her own clothes. There were skirts, dresses, blouses, tops, and jackets. A dozen pairs of shoes were arranged on the closet floor. She looked in the dresser, and found her panties and bras, socks, stockings and leggings, and some t-shirts. Ontop of the dresser was her collection of make-up.

She picked up the purse on her desk and looked inside. Her ID and all her various cards and things were there, and everything had her correct name and picture on it.

"Everything ok?" Tanya asked from the doorway.

Brandi looked up at her, "It's... I mean it's a miracle. I don't know how else to describe it."

With a frown, she asked "But... She just completely changed your apartment and everything. Made us room-mates. Are you ok with this? Like... She didn't even ask. She just did all this and assumed it was ok..."

Tanya moved closer and put an arm around her shoulders. "Of course it's fine, Brandi. If I wasn't ok with it, She wouldn't have done it."

"Still, She just did all this without asking or anything..." Brandi was still frowning.

Tanya shrugged, "You needed a new place to stay, and She saw how we were practically cuddling on the sofa infront of her." She added, "If you're not comfortable here though, I understand. At least its a safer place than with Corey and Doug, while you're looking for somewhere else..."

Brandi put her arm around Tanya's waist and leaned in close against the tall blonde. "I didn't mean it like that, Tanya. I was worried about you, that you didn't get a say in any of this. I'm happy to stay. This is perfect."

"Good." Tanya smiled.

After a brief pause, she gave Brandi a little squeeze. "You know, just because there's two beds now doesn't mean we can't still just share one or the other..."

Brandi felt herself blushing again, but couldn't hide her grin either.

:=: Tanya :=:

"What time does the movie start?" Brandi called from her bedroom.

"Uh, not till nine o'clock." Tanya called back, as she checked her lipstick in the bathroom mirror. Satisfied, she started brushing her long hair.

She wasn't wearing anything fancy tonight, just her favourite pair of skinny-jeans, a tight t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. It was Friday night, and the two of them were getting ready for their second date.

Only one week ago tonight, they'd run into each other at Tony's Place, one of the local bars. They'd traded some insults as usual, and wound up in a silly competition. There'd been a bet, and things got a little carried away from there. Brandi seemed pretty happy with the way things turned out, though.

Tanya called to the petite redhead, "Where would you like to go for dinner tonight?"

"I don't know, what do you feel like?" Brandi replied as she joined Tanya in the washroom, checking herself in the mirror.

Brandi was wearing a pair of ankle-boots with low heels, black leggings, and a knee-length dress. Even with the heels she was still small enough she and Tanya could stand next to each other and both use the bathroom mirror without being in each other's way.

She looked great, with just a bit of subtle make-up around her eyes and cheeks, as well as some bright red lipstick.

Tanya smiled and suggested, "How about we go back to Tony's?"

The petite redhead frowned at her in the mirror, "Seriously? You want to go to a bar for our second date?"

"Their food is actually pretty good for 'pub grub'. And it's close to the theatre." Tanya said.

Brandi nodded, "Yeah, ok. I assume they have something to drink other than beer?"

Tanya grinned, "They have a fully stocked bar, I'm sure they can mix you up something you'll like."

"Ok then." Brandi nodded.

A few minutes later they both grabbed their jackets and purses, and headed out.

• • • • •

Tanya stifled a little giggle, "I'm not teasing, I just think it's cute."

"I never make fun of your posh snobby wines." Brandi pouted. "So please don't make fun of my fruity drinks." She was still pouting a little as she had another sip of her banana daiquiri.

"You made fun of my wine last Friday night!" Tanya protested. "And you turned your nose up at it when I offered you some back at my place. We only wound up doing shots because you wouldn't even try the wine."

Brandi shook her head slightly, "I'm pretty sure that doesn't count. It was before we started dating."

Tanya just smiled, "You're lucky you're so cute."

The redhead blushed a little, but she was grinning too.

It was kind of remarkable, Tanya thought to herself. Thinking about person she'd known Brandi as before, they'd never really looked overly unhappy, but Tanya couldn't remember ever seeing a genuine smile on their face either. The past few days things were completely different. The redhead had seemed so happy, she was almost bubbly at times.

As she had another sip of her wine, Tanya realized with a bit of surprise, Brandi's personality had more or less turned out to be what she'd asked for last Friday night. She had the happy and bubbly parts down. Tanya wasn't sure yet about excitable but maybe she'd see some of that later tonight at the movie. They'd be seeing the new horror flick after all. And as for horny... here they were almost a week since the redhead officially moved in, and so far she still hadn't actually spent a night in her own bed.

Tanya remained quiet for now, sipping her wine and enjoying the view as she watched her girlfriend. It made her feel good, seeing the cute redhead looking so happy and obviously enjoying herself.

Eventually Brandi noticed she was being watched. She smiled as she said, "You're staring again, Tanya."

"Yep." she replied with a grin. She didn't stop staring of course, simply acknowledged it.

Brandi rolled her eyes, then pointed out "Dinner didn't take very long, we still have another hour before we need to get to the theatre." She paused for another sip of her daiquiri, then asked, "What do you want to do till then?"

Tanya looked over her shoulder, towards the other side of the bar, then smiled. "The foosball table's available. Do you want a rematch? Maybe this week I'll even let you win."

"No thanks," Brandi grinned. "Losing that game was the best thing that ever happened to me, I don't want to jinx it by playing again."

She glanced around, then spotted something else in the same general direction. She looked back at Tanya and asked, "Are you any good at darts?"

Tanya tried and failed to suppress a smile. "Maybe. We could play a round or two and see how it goes..."

The cute redhead was about to say something, when Tanya added, "Maybe we could place a little wager on the game, to make it more interesting?"

"Nooo!" Brandi blushed. "No more bets!"

PurpleCatGirl

So the business with Tanya and Nikki talking about the different transformation spells, was kind of expositiony stuff that answers some ongoing questions that have come up through-out the series. Sorry if it was kinda clunky. If you want to know about the Maria incident they referred to, check out our other stories, 'A Taste of Dysphoria' and its sequels. :D