Chapter 3: 3. Who

My hands were shaking as I stuffed the license and the other cards back in the wallet, then crammed the wallet into the purse. I dropped the purse in the drawer and was about to slam it closed when something made me hesitate.

I was staring at those drop-folders, particularly the purple one. The label sticking up on the top edge read 'Transition' and that word rang some more bells in my mind.

After a couple deep breaths I slowly opened the drawer all the way, then pulled out the purple folder and set it down ontop of the desk.

My heart was racing as I opened it up, and inside I found a number of notes, print-outs, and official letters from various government agencies, doctors, and therapists.

Most were addressed to Violet Moon, but when I flipped to the back to check the earlier ones I felt another shock go through my system.

The oldest one in there was dated from twenty-thirteen, and it was addressed to me. My name, my basement apartment address.

"What the heck..." I whispered to myself.

I couldn't bring myself to read it, I just flipped though the pages till I found where things stopped having my name on them and started being addressed to Violet Moon instead. And at that point there was an official certificate from the government. And seeing it sent my heart racing and my head spinning yet again. I almost felt nauseous as I stared at the document.

It was made of some kind of fancy paper and felt more like money than anything else. According to text in the corner it was a legal change of name certificate, and the date at the bottom was from early twenty-fourteen.

What had me feeling sick to my stomach was the text in the middle. According to that certificate, Violet Moon's legal name used to be... Her old name was my name.

Same name, same birthday, same height, and she looked kind of like me in her license photo.

"No!" I stated as I shook my head. "It's not possible. I don't believe it."

I closed the folder and put it back in the drawer, then slid the drawer shut. I got up and moved away from the desk, and ended up stumbling back to the sofa. Izzy was curled up asleep at one end, so I slumped down at the opposite end and tried to forget what I'd just seen.

The picture on the drivers license, the name-change certificate, the meds in the bathroom, I knew what it all meant but I refused to accept it.

And the reflection I saw in the mirror wasn't a thirty-four year old trans woman, and it wasn't me either. The girl in the mirror was my eighteen-year-old character, she was a cute little blonde witch I dreamed up as a young teen.

I sighed as I curled up on the sofa, and ended up hugging my knees against my chest.

It was impossible, it didn't make sense. It wasn't me. Just because I wished I was a girl when I was younger didn't mean anything, and I stopped thinking about that stuff anyways. I pushed it out of my head and forgot about silly fantasies and impossible dreams.

By the time I graduated high school I'd completely abandoned all that nonsense. I forgot about it and moved on. End of story.

Except no matter how much I tried to forget, all the thoughts and the stuff I'd seen and experienced since waking up here kept running back and forth through my head. My emotions were just as mixed up. I was confused, angry, and scared.

Beneath it all though was that little flutter of excitement and joy, maybe even a touch of euphoria. And that was just as confusing and frightening as everything else.

After a few minutes I picked up my water bottle and drained the last of it. I put it back on the coffee table next to my plate, and thought about trying the TV again. Instead I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I took a couple deep breaths, I tried again to forget all that stuff.

I lost track of time, it might have been fifteen minutes or it could have been an hour, but eventually some of the tension started to unwind. And as it did, I realized I had to pee again.

Reluctantly I let go of my legs and straightened out, then got to my feet. I didn't bother with the light, and I didn't bother closing the door either. I just shuffled in and did what I had to do, then sorted out my panties and leggings and my dress. I washed my hands, but before I left I glanced at that full-length mirror again.

The dress and leggings made me look even cuter. I wasn't that happy with the braid though, and almost like I was moving on auto-pilot I reached up and unwrapped the hair-tie from the end of it. Then I started slowly, methodically unravelling the braid.

In a way it was kind of soothing, and my hands continued moving as if on their own accord. Once I had the braid fully out, I ran my fingers through my hair all the way down to the ends and shook my head a bit to get it all to hang naturally.

It was even longer once it was freed, and it looked really nice. If I saw this girl at college I'd have fallen for her on the spot. I wouldn't have approached or talked to her though, I was way too shy and self-conscious for that.

After staring for another few seconds I let out a long sigh as I frowned at the girl in the mirror. I still couldn't accept it was me.

And the girl in the mirror sighed as well. She looked back at me with a sad, worried expression. Then she asked, "Why are you here? Why come back now, after all this time?"

"What?" I gasped and took a step back.

The reflection in the mirror didn't move with me. She stayed where she was and continued watching me with that sad look on her face.

"Who are you?" I half-demanded. "What's going on?!"

The girl in the mirror responded, "Just calm down ok? You're going to work yourself up into a panic attack if you keep freaking out like that. Take a few deep breaths alright? In, hold, out, hold."

I shook my head as I stepped back again till I bumped into the counter behind me.

"I want to know what's going on!" I demanded. "Where am I? What happened to me?! Who are you, and what did you do to me?!"

"You know who I am," she said in a quiet, intense voice. "I'm Violet Moon. I'm a trans girl, though it took me a while to figure that out. Those meds in the cabinet up there worked ok, but I wanted more. And I'm a witch, so I tackled that problem my own way and figured out the magic."

"The full moon was early this morning," she added. "I did the ritual at midnight last night, and obviously it worked. Got that body looking pretty darn good, if I do say so myself."

I shook my head again, "What does that have to do with me? Why did you drag me into this?"

She raised an eyebrow and gave me a look, "Seriously? You saw the transition folder, and the ID in the purse. You must have it figured out by now."

"Please just tell me?" I asked, and it almost sounded like I was pleading. I didn't understand what was happening, or I was afraid to accept it. I was lost and scared and confused and it was all overwhelming.

"Fine," Violet sighed. "I'm you. You're me. This is your house. That's your body. You weren't kidnapped or isekai'ed or transmigrated or any of those things."

"That's not true!" I insisted. "I'm not a -"

I couldn't say it out loud. The best I could do was whisper, "I'm not a girl."

She rolled her eyes, "Of course you are, it just took you a few more years to figure it out. After that accident on your bike you had a lot of time to think while you recovered. You read a bunch. You socialized online, because you couldn't get out in person. You met other trans girls, and eventually you figured yourself out."

The girl in the mirror shrugged, "You did the legal name-change stuff, and of course you picked my name. Really you picked that name back when you were twelve. Violet wasn't just a game character, she was the version of you that you always wished you could be."

"And good news Violet," she added with a smile. "Wishes do eventually come true. At least, when you have the drive and passion to make them come true, regardless whether the rest of the world believes in magic or not."

I shook my head again and stammered, "It's not... That isn't... It's not possible! My name's not Violet! You're not real, and there's no such thing as magic!"

You are reading story Violet Moon at novel35.com

She sighed, "So says the thirty-four year old trans woman who's now got the body of an eighteen year old girl. A body that's a perfect match for the girl you imagined as a tween, when you felt the first inklings of dysphoria and had no idea what it was."

I shook my head once more and demanded, "If I did all that stuff then why don't I remember it?! The last thing I remember was a bike ride in twenty-ten. Then suddenly I'm here, it's twelve years in the future, and I look like this?! How did this happen?! What did you do to me?!"

The girl in the mirror sighed again, "Please calm down Violet. I'm -"

"Don't call me that!" I shouted at her. "I'm not Violet!"

My whole body was shaking at that point and I slowly sank down till I was sitting on the bathroom floor with my back against the wall. I was still facing the full-length mirror on the opposite wall, and the girl in the mirror sat down too. Except she was cross-legged, while I was sort of curled up hugging my knees to my chest.

I felt a little nudge on my arm and looked.

It was Izzy, she'd heard me shouting and came to check on me. I reached out and gave her a hug then started stroking the fur from her head down her back to her tail, and in return she purred happily. Even though I only just met her a few hours ago, having her there with me was calming. It helped me relax, and I uncurled myself somewhat. I stayed seated on the floor though.

Meanwhile the girl in the mirror apologized, "I'm sorry. May I call you Vee?"

I stayed focused on petting the cat while I thought that over. For some reason I liked the sound of Vee. It wasn't really a name as such, but definitely a sort of short form. A little more than just an initial or the letter V, but less than a proper name. It was odd, but it fit.

"Ok," I nodded. "Vee works. I think I kind of like it actually?"

"Thanks Vee," she replied. "And the reason you don't remember is because after the accident, you sort of faded away."

The girl watched me as she paused.

It felt good hearing her call me by my new name, but the other thing she said left me a bit numb again. Petting Izzy seemed to keep me calm and grounded though, so overall I was maybe doing all right. All things considered.

After watching me another couple seconds Violet continued, "The van clipped your bike and you were hurt really bad. The bastard didn't even stop, but luckily another driver was nearby and saw the whole thing. They called emergency services, who saved your life and took you to hospital."

"The witness statement also led the cops to find the guy," she added. "It was a delivery van right? Big multinational courier company. There was insurance, a lawsuit, court stuff, legal stuff. Between that and the long slow painful recovery you kind of just checked out. Not all at once, it was more of a slow fade."

She sighed again, "Friends and family thought you were depressed, they worried about you. Then somewhere along the way, like maybe around two years after the accident, you were gone. And I guess that's when I took over? I pretended to be you for a while. Hell I thought I was you at first. But unlike you, I could look back at things you'd done or said or thought or felt, and I recognized what it all meant. I knew you were a trans girl, I knew you'd experienced dysphoria and depression. I knew Violet Moon wasn't just a character, she was your ideal self. Mine too, since you and I are the same. So I made it my mission to fix what was wrong."

Violet shrugged, "I started doing the physio the doctor kept bugging you about. I started looking after my health and my body. I found a trans-friendly therapist and started the ball rolling on that. When the legal stuff was finally settled I got the payout from the accident and bought this house, the rest went into investments so I wouldn't have to worry about work. I focused exclusively on becoming the real me. The me you wished you were back when you were a confused teen trans egg."

By that point Izzy had climbed onto my lap, she curled up and purred while I kept petting her. And despite the happy purring furball I still felt overwhelmed, confused, almost sick as Violet talked. But the more she spoke, the more her words resonated.

I couldn't remember doing the things she talked about, but I could sort of remember that they happened. It was more like recalling details from a book I once read, or something I saw on TV. They weren't my memories and they weren't from my life. I was aware the details, but they didn't happen to me.

"Finally I made friends online with other folks interested in real magic," Violet continued. "We did research, compared notes, figured stuff out. You always imagined me as a kick-ass witch right? It took longer than I'd like, but I got there in the end. Last night's ritual took almost a year of planning and preparation, but it was worth it. I mean look at that body right? That's what you and I both wanted since we were twelve."

After a few moments I finally responded, "You say I faded out after two years, but I don't remember any of that. Last thing I remember is the accident, sort of. I remember seeing the van but not getting hit."

Violet shrugged, "Memory's a messy thing at the best of times Vee. Maybe you don't remember those years because you were already starting to fade? And maybe I remember them because I was sort of starting to act behind the scenes? Either way the bottom line is you were gone, and I was there. And now for some reason, you came back today. I should have been the one to wake up after the ritual was over."

I frowned, "That doesn't make sense to me either."

"Maybe..." her voice trailed off. "You wanted that body as much as I did. Maybe you woke up because we finally got what we both wanted?"

"That's not true," I tried to deny it. "If I wanted this, why am I freaking out about it? Shouldn't I be happy?"

"Aren't you?" she countered. "Be honest, isn't there some part of you that's happy?"

My cheeks started to heat up as I admitted, "Maybe a small part. Very small. The rest of me is confused, scared, upset..."

She smiled, "Perfectly natural reaction Vee. It's a big shock after all."

Izzy nudged my hand, I'd stopped petting her at some point and she was displeased.

As I started stroking her soft fur again I asked nervously, "So what happens now? I mean, I don't know anything about what's going on. I've missed over a decade. It's not my life anymore right? It's yours..."

The girl in the mirror shrugged, "I don't have all the answers cutie. I guess if you really wanted, you could go dormant again? Something tells me that's not going to happen though. You came back for a reason, and I think the reason is our body is finally comfortable for you."

"I'm not going anywhere though," she added. "Not to sound rude but I put all the work into getting us that perfect body, I'm not going to disappear and leave you to have all the fun with it."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

Violet replied simply, "We share. You're me, I'm you. You're Vee, I'm Violet. We can work out the details later. Sound good to you?"

I frowned as I thought it over. I was still confused about a lot of things, and I still had a load of questions, but at the end of the day I didn't want to just disappear again. I didn't want to go away or fade out or whatever happened before. At least, not until I gave this a chance.

"Ok Violet," I nodded. And as soon as I made the decision those little flickers of happiness and excitement got stronger. A small, nervous smile settled on my lips as I told her, "I'll give it a shot."

"Cool!" she grinned at me. "Then get our butt up off the bathroom floor, let's grab a drink and we can curl up on the sofa with Izzy and start figuring this stuff out."

"Right," I nodded.

Izareal complained as we got up, but she followed us out.

We argued a bit over what to drink, but after a few seconds we finally agreed on a glass of wine. We sat on the sofa and Izzy was back on our lap the instant we were comfy.

Violet and I talked long into the night. Rather than strangers, it felt more like we were a couple old friends getting reacquainted after a long separation. And by the time we finally made our way to bed, we'd done much more than simply rekindle a friendship.

We were friends, partners, teammates, and after getting past some hesitation and anxiety, we'd also become lovers. And by the time we woke up together Sunday morning, I felt a kind of happiness I'd never experienced before.

I was Vee, and we were also Violet, and together we were a cute little blonde witch. Just like we wished for when we were younger.

~ The End ~