Kaitlin and Laura continued making their way to the magic shop, slowly but surely. After a few minutes, Laura stopped to catch her breath. Walking even a short distance at this age was difficult. Kaitlin, however, didn’t notice, and continued to walk, following the instructions on Laura’s phone.
Laura was about to speak up and tell Kaitlin to stop when she felt someone pick her up.
“Hey there, cutie,” gushed the stranger. “What are you doing, wandering around in a shirt and no diaper? Let’s get that fixed.”
“No diapoo,” Laura protested as the stranger, still carrying her, began to walk away. She looked over the stranger’s shoulder. Kaitlin had disappeared from her field of vision. Laura let out a loud wail.
“Someone likes being a little jaybird, huh? Is that why you aren’t wearing a diapy?” the stranger asked, bringing her over to a nearby park. Laura continued to cry, concerned that she may have lost Kaitlin for forever. “Aw, it’s okay,” the stranger cooed. They arrived at a picnic table.
“Who’s this?” asked a teenager sitting at the table.
“When I was coming back from the bathrooms, I found this little girl just sitting on the ground. No diaper, no real clothes.” The stranger pulled a changing mat out of a diaper bag next to the teen and placed it on the table, then laid Laura down.
“Oh, no. I hope her parents didn’t leave her.”
“Well, whether they left her or just turned around for two seconds, one thing’s for sure. This cutie pie needs a diaper.” The stranger quickly put a diaper on Laura.
“She needs some real clothes, too,” the teen said.
“Nah. She doesn’t need anything except for the diaper, really,” the stranger said, removing Laura’s shirt. “There! All better! Now, let’s try to find your parents, okay?” The stranger noticed that Laura was holding something. “Oh? What’s this?” The stranger took the die from Laura.
“Laura Peters. The spirit of youth is no longer bonded with you. Enjoy what has been returned to you.”
Meanwhile, Kaitlin had successfully arrived at the magic shop. She beamed proudly and turned to talk to Laura about their next step. Her jaw dropped, however, as she realized that Laura was no longer there. After a moment of freaking out, she pulled herself together, deciding that once she was back to normal, she could locate Laura and fix her, too.
Kaitlin walked into the magic shop and made her way to the counter. The employee standing there, an old man, walked over and crouched next to her.
“Hello there, sweetheart, are you lost?” he asked. Kaitlin shook her head. She held out the die still in her hand. The wizard sighed. “Oh. You had a bit of an accident with the dice, huh?”
“Yes,” Kaitlin said. The wizard took the die from her.
“Where’s the other one?”
“My friend. Lost her,” Kaitlin said. The wizard stood and went back behind the counter. “What do?”
“I’ll return you to whichever age you choose, and then we can discuss what happened to your friend. What age would you like?” Kaitlin grinned, deciding to use the opportunity to shed a few years.
“Twenty-five,” she said firmly. There was a flash of light. Kaitlin was now an adult, and somehow in clothes that fit her. “Thank you.”
“No problem. People have this issue a lot. Now it’s time to track down the other die…” The wizard waved his hands and mumbled something under his breath. He frowned. “Hmm.”
“What?”
“I can locate the other die, but it’s no longer bonded to someone.”
“…What does that mean?”
“The other die isn’t bonded to your friend.”
“Can you bring her here anyways?”
“Of course.” The wizard waved his hands again. With a small pop, Laura appeared on the desk, wearing nothing but a diaper. After a second, the other die popped into appearance as well and was quickly scooped up by the wizard. Laura looked around, confused. She caught sight of Kaitlin.
“Kait?”
“Laura!” Kaitlin rushed over to comfort her now much smaller friend. “You’re okay!” She looked at the wizard. “Turn her back, please.”