Nicole wanted to collapse as soon as she got to her apartment. She, Amy, and Zack walked in the front door, and a nigh-magical feeling of being HOME flushed through her. Her living room with the wide, long windows revealing the outside world, decorated with couches and accented with a fireplace; her kitchen, scrubbed clean before they’d left the previous night, save for a few plates in the sink while the dishwasher ran; the hallway extending to the back where her bedroom was on the right and Amy’s on the left… They were going to have to talk about how this was going to work. If they were dating now, and Nicole was pretty sure they were, it might not be the best idea for them to instantly start sharing a room every night as well… No matter how appealing that prospect was. They’d figure it out. 

“Holy Hannah!” Zack said, eyes going wide. “This is where you guys live?”

Amy looked at Nicole and smirked, then mouthed, ‘Holy Hannah?’

Nicole gave her a playful swat on the arm, then said, “Yeah, well Amy’s family pays for it. Which I still feel bad about-”

“And as I’ve said, we can talk about getting you on the lease and paying rent once you get a job,” Amy said. “Until then, my folks already set aside the money for a year in this place in one of their twenty-odd bank accounts, so it’s all taken care of.”

“You two are sure you don’t mind me staying here for the rest of the weekend?”

“It’s all good,” Amy said. “Why don’t you get washed up, take a shower or something, while I move some of my stuff out of my room. Then you can get situated. Okay?”

“Okay,” Zack nodded, looking down at the floor when addressing Amy. He… They… She (? (this was gonna get confusing)) then looked up at Nicole and went in for the hug. They’d gotten very huggy since breaking free of the demon… Not a bad thing, though. 

While Zack showered, Nicole followed Amy into her room and unhooked a few outfits from her closet: a pair of jean shorts and an orange crop-top, a high-necked light-blue dress with long, ruffled sleeves, and the sleeveless yellow sundress with the plunging neckline she’d worn when they first met. 

“Do you really need all those? Zack is only gonna be here a day and a half at most,” Nicole said as she gathered up Amy’s makeup kit and hairbrushes. 

“Somehow I get the feeling it’s going to turn into more than that,” Amy said with a wry grin. “Which I don’t necessarily mind- I think that girl’s gonna need some help going forward.”

“Right- but let’s stick with ‘he’ at least for now,” Nicole said. “Zack isn’t like me- he’s never been the type to take the big plunge, ya’ know.”

“Fair enough. What are you gonna tell your folks?”

“I already texted my mom on the way over here, told her I’ve got it under control. She’s gonna come down here tomorrow night to pick him up so he can attend his disciplinary hearing on Monday. After that… I have no idea what’s gonna happen. Theroux Academy’s got a pretty strict no-tolerance policy about fighting in school. Especially for cases like… Well, like my family,” Nicole said, carrying Amy’s stuff into her bedroom. 

“That’s such bullshit- nobody gets kicked out for one fight! At least not at my high school anyway.” Amy hung her outfit in Nicole’s closet, then went back and grabbed a small stack of unread comics off her nightstand.

“Really? Did you not go to a place like that?” Nicole asked, grabbing Amy’s medical textbooks and backpack. 

“No, I went to public school. All of us did. Dad thought sending us to private school would turn us into snobs.”

“Huh,” Nicole said. “Mom always wanted us to go to a private school so we didn’t turn into townies.”

“Ironic, no?” Amy said dryly. 

“Yeah, I guess. You got all your stuff?” 

“Yeah, anything else I need is in the bathroom,” Amy said. “So I guess that means tonight-”

Nicole didn’t let her finish. She leaned in for the kiss, tasting Amy’s soft, painted lips and opening her mouth and sliding her tongue into the other girl’s throat. Hormones exploded through Nicole’s body, in her chest and her nether-region, as everything started to focus in around the picture of beauty and grace in her bedroom. They collapsed onto Nicole’s bed, Amy burying her face in Nicole’s neck and working her way up with kisses. Nicole ran her hand through Amy’s long dark hair and kissed the top of her forehead. They stared into each other’s eyes, Nicole getting lost in Amy’s emerald gaze… 

Only to get interrupted by the sound of a high-pitched scream cutting through the apartment. 

They leapt off the mattress and ran over to the closed bathroom door. Nicole knocked, and over the sound of running water, Zack said, “Don’t come in!”

“We weren’t gonna,” Nicole said. “Are you okay?”

“No, I just, uh… All my body hair fell out.”

“Ahhhhh,” Nicole said, understanding. “Do you need anything?”

“No, no, just… Gimme a few more minutes.”

“Okay.”

They went back into the bedroom, but the mood to make out had somewhat been killed, so instead they laid on the bed snuggling. 

Eventually, the bathroom door opened a crack, and Zack said, “Hey, do you guys have any clothes in my size? Mine are kinda… Bloody and ashy and full of holes.”

“Ummm…,” Nicole started, “So, we do, but you’re not gonna like ‘em.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re two women who cohabitate, Zack,” Amy said, eyebrows raised, her smile a full-on smug smirk. “All we have are girl’s clothes.”

“What? Don’t you… Nicole, don’t you have any of your old clothes anymore?”

“No, I sold them all to a textile store so I could afford food,” Nicole awkwardly shuffled her feet around while standing still. “Also, I was like five inches taller than you.” Five inches taller than you were yesterday- you’ve clearly gone down a few inches already.

“...”

“Zack?”

“Yeah, I heard ya’.”

“So what do you want to-”

“You said it doesn’t have to mean anything, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Nicole assured him. “Nothing at all.”

“You won’t tell anyone?”

“Nobody,” Nicole said. 

“It won’t leave this apartment,” Amy said. 

“Okay, then… Then bring me something to wear. Please.”

Nicole breathed in a deep breath through her nose. Part of her heart was singing at this whole situation, while another part cried out in empathetic pain. Zack was a mess of confusion and shame right now- she couldn’t afford to make light of this situation when he was in such a sensitive place. 

She walked into her room. Amy followed her… 

… And immediately started giggling silently. 

Nicole’s eyes bulged. “Stop that,” she whispered. 

Amy swallowed her laughter. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Amy whispered. “It’s just… There’s a certain poetry to all this-”

“I’m well aware.”

“-And you’re not enjoying this even a little? Seriously?”

“I…”

“Could you guys please hurry up, I’m getting really freaked out by my reflection!” Zack, voice shooting up a little higher as he spoke. 

“Okay, a little,” Nicole whispered. 

Nicole and Zack were roughly the same height now, so it made things a little easier. She brought out a fairly neutral outfit- a pair of jeans and a black sweater and a sports bra. She handed it to Zack through the crack in the door, and he quickly slammed it shut again. 

“Um…,” Zack said. “Why do I need a bra?”

“Just trust me, kiddo,” Nicole said. “The weather’s cooling off. You’re gonna need that.”

“... Okay.”

After a few minutes of waiting outside the bathroom door, Zack said, “Could, um… You bring me something a little less obvious?”

“In what way?” Nicole asked, crinkling her brow.

“Um… In the crotch area?”

Nicole’s arched eyebrows shot up. “Right! You still have a-”

“HOLY HANNAH for the love of all that is good and p-pure do not finish that sentence, Nicole,” Zack whined. 

“... Right. So, uh, here’s the thing- if you want something that’s gonna draw less attention to that area, you’re talking ‘bout a dress or a skirt. Probably a dress. Ya’ sure you’re ready for that?”

“... Fuck,” Zack whispered.

“Language,” Nicole said. 

“For God’s sake-”

“Second Commandment!” Nicole said. 

Out in the living room, Amy laughed as quietly as possible. Nicole shot her a look, and Amy adopted an innocent, eyelash-batting expression. Nicole sighed but smiled at her.

“Okay,” Zack said gravely. “You can bring me a dress.”

“What’s the magic word?” Nicole said dryly. 

“... P-please b-b-bring me a dress to.. To p-put on, sis.”

“Much better.”

Nicole went back into her room and returned with something she thought he’d like, or at least not-hate: a black maxi-dress, long-skirted and flowing, and only revealing a small bit of cleavage. It was a plain, solid dark pattern, no dots or flowers or hearts or anything too overtly girly. Something for the young egg to wear but not so screamingly feminine as to scare him… Her… Gosh, what are the rules for something like this?

She handed Zack the dress. 

After a moment, he opened the door. Nicole stifled a gasp… He looked lovely. The dress was the perfect length for Zack’s tall, lithe body, the dark color creating a good contrast with his pale skin. His now dirty-blonde hair was wetted and parted steeply to the right, revealing his smooth, girlish face. He looked at the floor with a terrified fragility in his blue eyes, unable to meet her gaze. “How d-d-do I-I-I look,” he said. 

Oh boy, that was a bad sign. He hadn’t stuttered like that since elementary school. 

“You look good,” Nicole said, with an even tone and a simple smile. “How do you feel?”

“St… Stup-stup-pid,” Zack said. “Stupid.”

“Why?”

“I… I don’t know why.”

“Well then maybe try to ignore it. It’s just us and Amy here, and you can trust her-”

“Can I?”

Nicole glared. “Yes. You can.”

Zack met her gaze. “Okay. Fine. Let’s just get this over with-”

“Get what over with?”

“... I don’t know.”

“Well the first step to wisdom is admitting all the things you don’t know,” Nicole smiled. 

Then she hugged him. He allowed it.

They went out into the main room, where Amy was cooking turkey sausage and scrambled eggs with tomatoes and bell peppers and fresh arugula. The scent was rich and crisp and fresh and clean, and Nicole’s mouth nearly started watering. 

“Wow, you look great!” Amy said. Then she put a hand to her chest and said, “The nails especially, I might add. Which makes sense, given they were done by the incomparable team of the Donahue Sisters-”

“Is she always like this?” Zack asked Nicole.

“Yes,” Nicole said.

Amy pouted. “Like what?”

Nicole chuckled, then gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Adorable.”

Amy giggled. 

Zack just looked uncomfortable, and took a seat on the living room couch.  

“So, what do you guys wanna do?” Nicole asked. 

Amy finished putting the food on their plates, then carried two over and put them on the table in front of Zack. Nicole sat down next to her younger sibling, and Amy sat down next to her with the third plate. 

“Well, uh, I’ve b-been meaning to ask,” Zack said. “If… If I were a g-girl… Which I’m not-”

“Of course,” Nicole said.

Amy snickered. Nicole poked her in the ribs.

“Does that mean I’d have to like g...g…girly stuff?” Zack asked. 

“No,” Nicole said. “You don’t have to like or not like anything. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Doesn’t it?” Zack said. 

“Again I say ‘no.’ Why do you ask?”

“Well b… Because… You didn’t used to like girly stuff. And now you’re… Well, you’re all p-pink and frilly. All I’ve seen you wear since you came out are dresses and skirts- I was surprised you even own a p-p–p-p-pair of p-p-pants!”

“He’s got you there,” Amy said. 

Nicole sighed. “Zack, remember a couple years ago, when I was driving you back from that party two towns over?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember what I did on the ride back?”

“... You sang along to something on your phone-”

“I sang along to Paramore the entire ride home.”

“That doesn’t mean anything-”

“No, it doesn’t. But that’s a pretty girly thing to do.”

“... I thought you just had a crush on Hayley Williams.”

“Both things can be true,” Nicole said. 

“OMG you like Paramore too!” Amy said. “How has this never come up before?”

“I dunno,” Nicole shrugged. 

“Give me a second,” Amy said, scuttling off to her room for something. 

“Plus, there was other stuff too,” Nicole continued. “All those Disney princess movies I watched on loop-”

“I thought that was just a way of spending time with Monica,” Zack said. 

“The fact that my two favorite superheroes are Courtney Whitmore and Stephanie Brown-”

“They’re just g…Great characters underserved by sexist editors and writers!”

“I always loved to comment on women’s clothes.”

“That… Okay, that I was always confused by.”

“I mean, hey, so was everyone else, myself included,” Nicole said. 

“Okay, so you were always into a g-girl-stuff,” Zack said. “I just didn’t recognize it.”

“And neither did I,” Nicole said. “But none of that is what makes me a girl. It’s just stuff I like, that happens to be stereotypically girly stuff. You could argue that those were signs that I was trans, but at the end of the day, I’d still be a girl even if I wasn’t into that stuff. Plus, I still enjoy stuff like sports and hunting and fishing and hiking-”

“And g-girls can like those things too,” Zack said, as if just now realizing that for the first time in his teenage life.

“Exactly.”

“But I don’t know if I l-like a-a-any of that stuff. I mean… And this doesn’t leave this room… But, I don’t think I could ever really be a g-girl when I don’t think I’ve ever really been into girl…girly stuff like you always were.”  

Nicole smiled. “You don’t have to like or dislike any girl stuff or boy stuff to be either, or neither, if that’s where you land. You can just be you. That’s okay. There’s plenty of guys who are in touch with their feminine sides. There’s plenty of girls who hate makeup and dresses and princess movies. And there’s plenty of enbies who don’t give a single hoot about gender norms at all! Oh, yeah, by the way, an enby is-”

“I know what an enb-by is,” Zack said. 

“You do?” Nicole beamed. 

“I… May have d-done sssome research o-o-on my own,” Zack said. “After you… After we… Oh, Holy Hannah, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for what I did, I was… What’s wrong with me?!”

Nicole put an arm around her… Her sister’s shoulder and held her tight. “You were confused. It’s okay. You’ll be okay, I promise.”

Zack sobbed. Poor thing had fallen off over the edge right into the deep end of the estrogen pool, by the looks of it. You’ve been through this not so long ago yourself. She’ll get through it. She’s strong. She’s a Nygaard, after all. 

Amy finally returned with a speaker. “Did I miss something?”

“No,” Zack cried. 

“Ah. Well, in that case,” Amy said. She plugged in the speaker, then tapped on her phone until ‘Brick by Boring Brick’ started blaring out. She started dancing around the room, singing along to the lyrics, and stopped in front of Nicole and extended a hand. 

Nicole was exhausted… But she couldn’t say no to dancing to her favorite band with her favorite girl. She took Amy’s hand, they sang and danced together, and after the first song ended and ‘Rose Colored Boy’ started playing, Zack got up and danced with them. By the time ‘Fake Happy’ came on, Zack was singing along. Nicole had forgotten how wonderful a singer Zack was. And she didn’t stutter a single syllable or letter.

They went on like that for a while, until finally they forced themselves to sit and eat. Eventually, exhaustion caught up to them, and they all passed out on the couch, Zack moving over to the loveseat while Nicole and Amy cuddled together on the bigger one. 

Nicole saw, in her dreams, a brief vision of the blackness of Chaos and the ever-flowing tides of the Floodwater, and her demon, still a black-clad version of herself, floated atop it. She waved hi, and Nicole waved back. 

When she woke up, the sun was going down, and there was a knocking at the door. 

“Please don’t be demons, please don’t be demons, please don’t be Astra, for the love of all that is Holy please don’t be Astra,” Nicole muttered as she pulled herself away from her sleeping girlfriend(?) and went to answer the door. 

Cass, Debbi, Heather, and Matt stood on the other side of the door. 

“Trick or Treat,” Debbi said. “Mind if we come in?”

“Yeah, sure,” Nicole said, ushering them inside. And then she thought, wait, no- ZACK!

Before she could say or do anything, Zack yelped, then ran out of the room and into Amy’s bedroom. Amy, to her credit, was up in an instant and chased after Zack. 

“What’s going on there?” Matt asked. 

“Oh, I’m ninety percent sure Zack is actually a girl and right now she’s struggling with it something fierce,” Nicole said, shuddering as Matt’s powers inadvertently forced the whole truth out of her. 

“Ah,” Matt said. “We can come back- well, I can, anyways. Feel like I might-”

“No,” Zack said, slowly shuffling back out into the main room, dragging her bare feet over the wooden floor. “No, it’s fine. Just… Just don’t tell anyone about this. It doesn’t have to mean anything, even though it clearly does.”

Zack’s eyes bulged as she realized what she’d just said. 

“Uh, yeah,” Matt said. “Here’s the thing.”

Once he’d explained, Zack assumed the fetal position on the floor. 

Nicole and Cass sat down next to her, mimicking Zack’s posture. “Hey now, you’re okay,” Cass said. “Come on, what’s going through your head right now?”

Zack looked at Cass intently. Nicole winced before Zack opened her mouth. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Then Zack face-palmed. 

“That’s very sweet, but I’m very straight,” Cass said, ruffling Zack’s hair. “And you’re a little young for me.”

“I’m sixteen- I’ll be seventeen in two months!”

“Yeah, but you’re just the cutest little thing,” Cass said, ruffling Zack’s hair even more, then booping his nose. 

“STAHP!”

Amy burst out laughing. She and Nicole cleared the plates off the coffee table, while Nicole reached into the kitchen cabinet for the twin bags of Halloween candy they’d been saving. She poured one into a plastic bowl and put it over by the door, then brought the other one over to the coffee table. Amy came back with a bottle of Irish whiskey and seven glasses on a tray and set them down next to the candy, then went back into her room and retrieved a grinder and bong as well. 

“So,” Amy said, clapping her hands together. “As far as I’m concerned, we’ve earned a night off. And it’s a holiday. Granted, I know every day is Halloween for us to an extent, but I feel like celebrating. I say we get epically cross-faded, eat junk food, play Smash Bros, and watch a movie. All in favor, say I.”

“I,” sang a choir of voices throughout the room. Everyone except Zack joined in the affirmation, and after a moment, she said, “I, I guess. I’ve never really… Done alcohol before.”

“Wait, seriously?” Nicole said. 

“Y.. Yeah,” Zack said. 

“What about all those parties you went to?”

“... I was too nervous to imbibe anything. I spent most of them spacing out in a corner trying not to think about all the hot g-” She clamped a hand over her own mouth before she could finish that sentence. Interesting. Through semi-parted fingers, she said, “I’ll try it though, as long as you guys don’t tell anyone.”

“Relax kid, we’re superheroes, we’re good at keeping secrets,” Heather said. 

“Plus, as leader, I can order everyone not to say anything to anyone about any of this,” Debbi said. 

Soon thereafter, cannabis smoke filled the room, and Amy turned on a fan and opened the window to let the place air out as they all passed the bong around in a circle. Nicole found herself giggling deep within her soul as she leaned on Amy, and Amy leaned on her. 

After that came whiskey shots, and soon, everything was a haze of happiness and contentment. 

“Okay, time to kick all y’alls asses in Smash,” Cass said. “Who’s down?!”

“I’m down,” Zack said. “I love Smash.”

“Sweet! Who’s your main?”

“... Rosalina.”

Nicole tried very, very hard not to say, “Oh yeah, you’re definitely not into girly stuff,” out loud. She failed. 

Zack simply said, “Yeah, I guess you’ve got me there.”

“Ayuh,” Nicole replied. 

First up was Zack against Matt, a brawl that Zack won after a brutal struggle. Then was Nicole versus Heather, which Nicole won within two minutes; Cass versus Amy, in which Cass utterly dominated; Debbi versus Nicole, in another victory for Nicole; Then Zack versus Nicole versus Cass. 

It took thirty minutes, but Cass triumphed over both Nygaard’s.

“DAMMIT!” Zack shouted. “Not fair!”

“Still think I’m beautiful?” Cass smiled and gave Zack the finger. 

“Yes,” Zack gulped. Nicole patted her on the back. 

After that, they put on the 2011 version of Fright Night and piled onto the couches together. Halfway through, the doorbell rang, and all sound drained out of the room even as the movie kept playing. 

The doorbell rang again, and everyone held their breath. 

A third ring. 

Nicole finally exhaled, and forced herself off the couch and towards the door. Amy followed her, then Zack, then Debbi and Heather, then Cass and Matt. Nicole looked back as she held the doorknob in her hand. Her friends, her family, and her girlfriend were all with her, no matter what happened, no matter what awaited them on the other side. 

She breathed in through her nose, and opened the door. 

“TRICK ‘R’ TREAT!” five elementary-school girls in Magical Girl Exorcist Squad costumes all stood in the hallway holding plastic jack o’lantern candy buckets. 

Nicole breathed out, and behind her Cass started laughing, and the collective tension loosed and let out like a knot. Nicole reached for the bowl of candy, passed it out, then turned around and looked at her friends one more time. 

She smiled. There was still more to be done, still villains to fight, demons to face. She wasn’t sure she’d done the right thing, convincing Aidan and Winona to turn themselves in. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen with Astra, or with anyone else Cass had warned them of. She wasn’t even sure she’d finish her midterm paper for anatomy class on time. But for now, for tonight, for this moment, everything was at peace, and all she felt was love. For her team, and for herself.