"Wait, what?" I responded.

"Oh my," said my mother, "did you think we wouldn't recognize you just because you've turned into a girl?"

"I, uh... what?" I said.

"Well, this is awkward." commented Oswin.

"You seem pretty calm about this." responded Mary, "He's supposed to be dead, isn't he?"

"The world works in mysterious ways." my father said.

"Okay, now it sounds like you're hiding something." said Oswin.

"So, what are you going to do now?" asked Mary.

"I... don't know." I said.

"Why don't you come with us?" my mother suggested.

"Uh, s-sure." I replied.

This didn't really make sense. My parents recognized me in my new form. What was even stranger was how they didn't seem that bothered by it. Their only child was supposed to have died, but he (or I guess she now) is back. I'd assume most people would be confused or freak out. But now that I think about it, these two were often pretty calm about things. I wonder why that was?

"Gabe?" my father said, "You coming?"

"Oh, r-right." I said.

So, I followed the two of them back to my old house. I immediately headed for my old room. Nothing had changed. My parents left it the way it was before I had died. They didn't need it anymore, so why was it still here? Did they just want things to keep moving forward like nothing had happened? I mean, they were my parents, but that was in my past life. In my current life, I hadn't actually met my parents. That night, my parents decided to have a talk with me about the future and what ended up happening to me.

"So your name is Nova now?" my mother said.

"Th-that's right." I said.

"Since you're here," said my father, "would you like to go back to school?"

"I'm not sure I should." I said, "I do have to get back."

"Don't worry about that." my father said, "It will be fine."

"Dad, are you hiding something from me?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" he asked.

"The way you're talking." I said.

"Just don't worry about it." my mother said, "We'd just like some time with you, now that you're back."

"I still wish you'd tell me how you could be so calm about all this." I said.

"So, are you going to go?" asked my mother.

"Won't that cause problems?"

"I'm sure it won't."

"Whatever you say, I guess."

The next day, I was in front of my old class, introducing myself as a new student. It felt so weird, being in my old classroom, but being a face that most people wouldn't recognize. Well, I guess they'd notice my hair and eyes were similar. I hoped nobody else would think that I was crossdressing.

"My n-name is Nova Neville." I said, "I'll be a part of this class from now on."

Surprisingly, I ended up in my old seat next Oswin and behind Mary.

"So you're going to school with us now?" whispered Oswin.

"My parents decided I'd be going to school as long as I was here." I responded.

"But, they're not your parents anymore, right?" he said.

"I wonder about that..." I said.

"Still," said Oswin, "it's really weird to have someone transfer in so late. I know for you, it's a bit different, but that's not how it looks to everyone else."

"Are you two done flirting?" asked Mary.

"I, uh, s-sorry." said Oswin.

When class was over, I had a ton of people coming to my desk and asking me questions. Some of them were if I had any connection to Gabe. Since I do technically no Gabe, I said I met him a while back, but he hadn't talked much. I guess people thought we might have been related with our similar hair and eyes. Since we're the same person, I guess we actually are.

"Are you okay?" asked Mary when school was over.

"I think so." I replied.

"I can't believe everyone." she said, "Coming up to you and bothering you like that."

"I'm sorry." I said.

"What?" she said, "Why are you apologizing?"

"It's just... I kinda left you and Oswin behind." I said, "I feel kinda bad about that."

"Look," said Mary, "there's nothing we could really do about that. Besides, I know you can't stay here with us forever."

"Oh, yeah, that's right." I said, "It'll be a while before I can go back home."

"Um..." said Mary.

"What is it?"

"Please don't worry too much about what I said before you left."

"What was it you said?"

"You... jerk."

"Hey, it might to have been that long for you, but it's been like eighteen years for me!"

"So, you really did start your life over from the beginning..."

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" asked Oswin.

"Ah, n-nothing important." I said.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." responded Mary.

"So, are you really okay with staying here?" asked Oswin.

"Until I go back, I don't really have much of a choice." I replied.

So, I spent several days at my old school. It felt really weird to be experiencing life at my old school in my new body, one that wasn't insanely sick. Why was I insanely sick anyways? I had that illness since I was a kid and nobody could figure anything out about it. All I knew was I could die from it, which I did. That and the fact that there was no cure. For all I knew, I was probably the only person in the world that had it. Was there a reason for that?

"So, how has school been?" my mother asked me after I got back home.

"It's been fine." I said.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You know I can't be here with you guys forever, right?" I replied.

"We know, Nova." my mother replied, "We just want to spend as much time with you as we can."

"T-thanks." I said.

Before I could say anything else, a hole was blasted in the side of our house.

"What the hell!?" I exclaimed, and noticed a familiar figure in front of the hole.

What the hell was Naomi doing here!?

"Did you think you could hide from me in another world?" she said.

"I didn't think I'd see your face again." my mother said.

"What?" I responded.

My mother knew Naomi? What the hell was going on!?