=::= Maria's PoV =::=

It was already half past four when I finally reached the small cafe my GPS had been guiding me to. Fortunately there was an empty spot in the far corner of the parking lot, so I wouldn't have to circle around and hope I could find somewhere else to leave my car.

Bracing myself against the blowing snow I exited the car and hurried across the lot and through the doors. Inside the air was much warmer, and the smell of freshly roasted coffee filled the air.

The cafe wasn't exactly packed, but there was a good crowd despite the weather. Or perhaps because of it, there were probably at least some folks who'd come in for a hot drink to warm them up. Then again it might have been the typical late-afternoon Friday crowd for all I knew. I'd never been to this particular cafe before.

I glanced around the interior but I couldn't see anyone who fit her description. I double-checked my phone, but there weren't any messages or missed calls saying she'd be late or she had to cancel. So I moved ahead and got into the short line, and soon enough I had a cup of hot freshly brewed coffee in hand. I moved to the last available table, where I slipped off my coat and folded it over the back of a chair. Finally I took my seat and waited.

Another five minutes or so passed before the door swung open and an attractive young woman stepped inside. She was bundled up in a parka that was clearly much too big for her. Her fair cheeks were red from the cold, and her long black hair was a bit messy from the wind.

After taking a couple seconds to warm up she started looking around the interior of the cafe, her eyes flicking from table to table until she spotted me.

"Ms. Watson?" she asked in a light airy soprano voice as she approached my table.

I smiled, "Yes that's me. And you must be Lina?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm going to grab a drink then I'll be right back."

"I'll get it for you if you like?" I offered. "Why don't you have a seat and get comfortable?"

The girl seemed surprised but nodded, "Oh, yeah ok. Thank you ma'am. Can I get a latte please? Large, with a double shot of vanilla syrup?"

"Of course," I smiled as I got to my feet.

I left my coat on the chair but took my purse as I got back in line. Then as I waited for Lina's drink I took the opportunity to look back at our table, to have a proper look at Tally's older sibling now that she'd removed the oversized parka and fixed her hair.

She was a tall slender girl like Beth and Tally said, almost the same height as Jenny but much slimmer. Her long straight black hair hung halfway down her back, and framed the fair skin and delicate features of her pretty face. She had bright blue-green eyes, and her lips were painted with red gloss.

Her outfit accentuated her curves, both her dark green sweater and black pants were rather form-fitting, and she had tall black winter boots on her feet. She even had a small purse hanging by her right hip, the narrow strap ran across to her left shoulder. I hadn't noticed that earlier, but I realized it had been hidden beneath her coat.

Apart from the big parka it looked like everything she was wearing fit properly, which meant it all had to be relatively new. She or her parents must have spent a fair bit of money on a new wardrobe, which definitely wasn't what I expected to find when I got here.

By that point Lina's latte was ready so I headed back to our table, where she was waiting awkwardly for me to return.

"Here you go," I said as I placed the cup on the table in front of her, then slipped back into my own seat across from hers.

"Thank you ma'am," she replied as she picked it up and had a sip. Then she watched me for a couple seconds before asking, "So um, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Is this because of my parents?" she added a moment later. "Did they send you to talk to me about..."

Her voice trailed off, as if she wasn't sure what she was asking. Or perhaps she just didn't want to voice whatever concern was on her mind.

I picked up my coffee and had a sip before responding, "Your parents actually asked me to speak with your professor, Sue Powell. Which I did, on Tuesday. It was Sue who suggested I should try and speak with you directly."

"Oh," she sighed and her shoulders slumped.

We were both quiet for the next minute or so as we enjoyed our drinks. Lina had a frown on her face as she stared at the table, while I was mostly watching her and thinking about the past few days.

My meeting with Professor Powell on Tuesday left me with a lot of food for thought. I ended up getting Lina's email address from Tally that evening, then wrote her on Wednesday afternoon. She wrote back later that night, and we exchanged another round of messages yesterday. She confirmed that she was using she/her pronouns, and that she was using the name Lina. That's also when we arranged to meet, here in a cafe not far from the campus where she was attending college.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" she suddenly asked, breaking the silence between us. "What did Sue have to say? Or what do my parents want?"

"Your mother and father had some serious concerns regarding your teacher," I replied. "They told me what you told them, about the assignment Sue Powell gave you. And that you needed to complete it in order to secure a passing grade in her class."

After another sip of my coffee I continued, "Bethany and Tally both confirmed what your parents said, and honestly I shared the same concerns as your parents Lina. I believe that sort of assignment would raise some significant ethical and safety concerns. I think you can probably guess what Professor Powell told me when I confronted her about it?"

By that point the girl was blushing as she stared down at the table again. She had a gulp of her latte then admitted, "So you know there's no assignment, no extra credits. What did mom and dad say when you told them?"

"I haven't," I replied. "Not yet anyways. I wanted to speak with you first, to see if I could help in any way."

Lina frowned, "Help how? What do you mean?"

"I imagine you have concerns about how your parents might react," I replied. "Otherwise you wouldn't have felt the need to invent an excuse for using the spell last full moon."

"Yeah," she sighed. "So you know there's no assignment and I'm not flunking Sue's class. I'm actually doing really well in her class. In fact I've already put in the application to change my major, starting next month when the second semester begins."

She added, "Not that I don't like the technical stuff anymore, that's still cool and all? But Sue's class kind of opened my eyes about a lot of things I didn't really know about before, stuff I never even really thought of. And that's what I want to learn, that's what I want to do."

I smiled, "That's wonderful Lina. I'm glad you've found something that excites you. Have you told your parents yet, about your change of plans?"

"No," she shook her head as she cringed again. "I'm a little scared how they're going to react."

"You don't think they'll approve of your decision?" I asked.

She sighed, "I don't think they'll understand. That's why I didn't tell them the truth about using the spell last month either, because they won't understand."

"Ah," I frowned.

We were both quiet again for a few moments, and I had another sip of my coffee before it got too cold.

"Would you feel comfortable telling me why you used the spell?" I asked. "I won't share it with your family without your permission. That goes for everything we talk about, by the way."

Lina grimaced then gulped down the rest of her latte as she thought it over. She finally admitted, "I've been thinking about a lot of things lately? I guess since I started college. Like I said, Sue's class opened my eyes about a lot of stuff. She helped me understand things better about Tally too? Then when I was home for thanksgiving, seeing my sister and how happy she was and everything, and thinking about the stuff I was learning, stuff Sue talked about in her class? It just got me thinking."

"So I guess first off it was curiosity," she finally stated. "I've seen a lot of other people use the spell, mostly little stuff. Hair, eyes, maybe a bit taller or whatever?"

She lowered her voice and added, "Some guys even use it to make their junk bigger, that comes up in the locker room now and then."

Her voice was back to normal volume as she continued, "Anyways between the way Tally changed herself last spring, the way she seemed so much happier and more alive and everything, and all the stuff I was learning at college and stuff Sue said, I just wanted to find out for myself? So I talked to Sue when I got back after thanksgiving. Everyone knows she's used the spell a couple times, and I told her I wanted to try it too."

"What did she say?" I asked.

Lina shrugged, "She told me to think about what sort of changes I wanted to experience. She reminded me that whatever I did, I'd be stuck with it for a whole month? So she told me to be very careful and put a lot of thought into it, and not to rush into it and do something that I might regret."

"So I missed the October full moon," she explained. She lowered her voice again for the next part of her story, "Then I spent most of November just sort of thinking about what I wanted to try. I missed that full moon too because I hadn't made my mind up yet. It wasn't till the beginning of December that I decided I wanted to try being a girl. I talked to Sue about it again, we talked a lot about it. She warned me about dysphoria and stuff, and she also suggested I talk to my little sister about it since Tally already went through it herself."

As I listened I realized again how much I'd misjudged Sue Powell. It was clear she cared for her students' wellbeing, and it sounded like she was a good teacher too. She certainly seemed to have made an impression on Tally's sister at least.

"Thank you Lina," I gave her a little smile. "I'm glad you took so much time to prepare and think about things, rather than rush into something. I'm sure you know the next full moon is just seven days away. May I ask what your plans are when that happens? I know you told your family you were going to reverse all this."

The young woman went quiet at that point. She was staring down at the table again, and her cheeks were starting to colour.

After a half minute I added softly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's entirely -"

"A few days ago I went to the government registration place downtown," she stated quietly. She was still staring at the table, still blushing as she continued just as softly, "I updated all my identity information. Lina Lambert is now my legal name. Then I updated everything with the college administration too. I..."

She hesitated again before continuing "I'm still doing the prep spell, and I'm planning on using the magic again at the full moon next Friday. But I'm not going to change back to who I was before. I'm just going to adjust a few minor details."

Her cheeks were still red and her eyes wide as she looked up at me and asked, "Please don't tell my family though, ok? I'll have to break it to them sooner or later, but I'm not ready yet."

"Of course Lina," I responded softly. "Your secret is safe with me."

Then I surprised us both as I added just as quietly, "I'll let you in on a secret of my own. I'm also using the prep spell. I haven't quite decided yet what I'm going to do next Friday morning, but I think I might try the spell myself for the very first time."

I wasn't being entirely truthful there. By the time I spoke with Sue on Tuesday the full moon was only ten days away, I didn't have time to prepare for Cindy's spell. Unlike the rest of the population I had other options, and for the first time in my life I was actually thinking about using them.

Lina's eyes widened slightly, then she smiled. "That's really cool. I kind of wish my folks would try it too, you know? Even if all they did was mess with their hair or their eye colour or something."

"Or make their junk bigger," she added with a smirk.

Her expression became serious again as she stated, "I just think it kind of normalizes it, the more people who use it? Even for little things. Normalize it, demystify it, then even the people who don't use it themselves won't freak out so much about the people who do. Like the way I did last year, when Tally used it. I was a complete jerk to her, because I didn't understand, didn't know any better. All I knew was the stuff my parents said, and the stuff my friends said. And now I know my mom and dad and those friends were wrong."

"Tally's probably going to think I'm a complete hypocrite," she added with a sigh.

I assured her, "I'm sure if or when you tell her the truth she's going to be happy for you."

"Thanks ma'am," she replied with another blush. "So um, what now? You're here because my folks were worried, right? What are you going to tell them?"

I sat back in my chair as I told her, "I'm not going to lie to them, but I also won't violate your trust Lina, I promise you that. It'll probably boil down to some vague information and assurances, but primarily I'm going to suggest they need to talk with you themselves. And that if you aren't ready to talk to them when they want, they need to trust you to make the right decisions for yourself."

"As Sue reminded me when I met her on Tuesday," I added, "You're an adult now. You've moved out, you're off on your own at college. And most important of all, this is your life. Not your mom's or your dad's. They need to trust you to live it the way that's best for you."

Lina smiled, "Thank you ma'am. So um, you said you haven't decided yet what you're going to try next Friday. Do you have anything on a short-list, stuff you're considering?"

I sighed, "I think my problem is there's too many options. Whatever I do, it's not going to be as sweeping as what you did last month, or what Tally did last May. I'm probably not even going to be as adventurous as Bethany was in the summer, so there likely won't be any furry ears or a tail in my future."

"Whatever happens I'm sure you'll hear about it from your sister," I added. "I assume you and she will be in touch with each other following the full moon, I know she's as curious and concerned about you and your plans as your parents are."

The girl grimaced again for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. "I'm not sure when I'll be ready to talk to my folks, but maybe I'll talk with Tally again soon."

I smiled, "That sounds like an excellent idea Lina."

She smiled back for a moment, before her expression became serious again. She admitted quietly, "Part of the problem is I don't really know how to explain this stuff? I mean to my parents, or to Tally."

"Like my sister said she's known for a long time that she was really a girl inside?" Lina added. "She said it didn't matter what her body looked like, she was a girl all along? I never felt like that. Or at least, I don't think I did? I was pretty positive I was a guy."

I gave her a sympathetic look as I explained, "There's no right or wrong way to be trans Lina. Or to be anything else, really. Everyone is unique. Some people figure themselves out early, others can take much longer. It's not a race though, and the important thing is to get there when the time is right for yourself."

She frowned as she stared down at the table again for a couple seconds. Then she finally looked back up at me and asked softly, "So does that mean I'm trans? I guess maybe it does? I don't know though. I hadn't thought of it like that. And like I said, this wasn't something I'd thought about or wanted all my life. It was more like an experiment maybe?"

"I remember last spring Tally did the name change stuff like the day after she used the spell," she added. "It took me three weeks before I made my mind up to keep this."

That left me quiet for a couple seconds as I realized I needed to apologize again. "I'm sorry Lina, I didn't mean to label you. That was an assumption on my part. As for your question, some people will make the same assumption I did, but if you're not comfortable with that label or it doesn't fit how you feel, that's fine too. You don't have to accept it or use it."

"May I ask, what made you decide you wanted to keep this?" I asked after another brief pause. "I have to assume you prefer this over your original shape, but perhaps you'd like to tell me how you feel about it?"

Lina looked thoughtful again as she considered her answer. She finally responded, "It's not just about my body. I didn't hate my body before, even though this does feel more comfortable? It's also about how people see me."

"The physical stuff..." she frowned slightly, "Before I was like a rock or a boulder. Strong, heavy, tough, but rigid and unyielding. Now I feel light and airy, like a small tree that can bend in the wind? I know I'm more fragile now, and more delicate? But more flexible too. More adaptable."

Her cheeks coloured again as she continued, "Everyone just saw me as the bully before. The big tough guy, more interested in fighting than thinking. I don't want to dis my mom but she encouraged that, she was all about boys being tough and rugged and roughhousing and stuff. I thought that's how I was supposed to be, and it made mom happy when I acted that way. Now I know it's not right, and being Lina means I can leave all that behind me. Now when I meet someone I have a chance to actually tell them who I am inside, the real me."

"People care about who I am as a person now," she concluded.

I smiled, "That's very insightful Lina. And a little poetic. May I ask, what about the people who already knew you before? How have your friends handled your change?"

"The guys I used to hang out with back at home have been giving me grief about it online," Lina frowned, "I don't think we're going to be friends anymore, once they realize I'm not changing back."

Her expression shifted to a smile again as she added, "But the friends I've made here at college have been cool with it. There's a group of Sue's students that meet Wednesday nights after class, they invited me to join them back in November? They've all been really supportive and accepting. Even my roommate's been really nice, he thinks it's cool how I've changed."

I smiled back, "I'm glad to hear it Lina. I'm glad you've got good friends and support here."

"And even though I came here based on a request from your parents," I added, "I want you to know I'm here for you as well. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. You have my contact information, and I'm sure you know how to find me at QSAW."

"Thanks Ms. Watson," she replied. "I really appreciate that."

Lina and I ended up getting more drinks and the two of us talked a while more. She told me about the new program she'd be starting in the new semester, and shared a little more about some of the new friends she'd made through Sue Powell's class.

When it was finally time to go I gave her a drive back to the residence building so she didn't have to walk in the dreadful weather. I bid her a good evening and wished her luck on her exams next week, and she wished me luck at the full moon next Friday.

In all it was another surprising and enlightening conversation, and one that left me feeling positive about the future.

PurpleCatGirl

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