It had been four years before she finally returned home for what she hoped was for good. Having spent the last four years living with her mom, her aunt Carol and her cousin Dennis, now Kailey, Abbey had only come back to the town she considered home twice, but never for longer than a week and a half to two weeks. The first time had been to collect her stuff and say goodbye to Sara, Diane, and Thomas, to explain she was moving to New Mexico because her mom wanted to help out aunt Carol, and that she didn't know when she'd be back.
She had tried to stay in contact with her friends. And for awhile it worked. Sara and Diane get her posted on what was going on and anything juicy that might past for excitement. But, slowly, the letters between the three began to peter out and the last she had heard was Diane was dating Thomas, which had been about a year and half to two years go. Figuring this would happen, Abby wasn't the least bit surprised and moved, making a new friend, who ditched her at graduation to move to California so that she could go to some up-scale university in Los Angeles and study fashion.
The second time she had returned, briefly, was when she was about sixteen and she had learned of her grandma passing. The funeral would have gone smoothly, but shortly after her mom and her had gotten back, her grandfather had taken in ill and within about forty eight hours he had died of what the doctors thought was a broken heart. And what was supposed to be one funeral had turned into a double funeral service that had stretched their stay to two weeks, which Abbey did not mind as it allowed her to try and catch up with her friends.
But after that, she had remained in New Mexico, going to school, helping aunt Carol and her mom where and when she could, and assisting Kailey as much as she could as her cousin adjusted more and more to being a girl.
Now she was back for what she hoped was the next four years. As she prepared for her upcoming semester at the local university, she caught up with Sara, who was doing good and had managed to snag an internship. Diane, Abbey found, wasn't doing too good, as the girl was already pregnant with her first child, a daughter, looking at marriage to Thomas, who had taken a job at a junk yard on the outskirts of town, and was living in a run-down trailer on the edge of town. Sighing as she thought about this, she understood these things weren't the only things weighing heavily on her mind.
Four years ago she had thought she had put behind her the weirdness of thinking that she had been a guy and had somehow used an amulet to become a girl. Thinking back it, Abbey thought it sheer lunacy and that such a thing wasn't possible. She had accepted that she was female, liked being so, and chalked the whole thing up to the chaos of her life as her mom wanted to move and the uncertainty of what was happening to her as her body made the transition to womanhood. But when her dad had taken her to a department store on the south end of town, as he went to take care of something in the area, she had been left to do her shopping. And had seen someone that seemed to bring back a lot of the oddity of that summer four years previous.
Having doubts, and feelings like she knew the woman, Abbey had asked Sara and Diane about her, found her name was Roni, and that the two knew of her since junior high, but neither had been real friends, as the three had travelled in different circles. From there, it didn't take her long to find where Roni had lived. And wanting to have answers, she almost knocked on the woman's apartment, but had found an excuse not to.
"But I need a definitive answer," she told herself as she drove her dad's car south and thinking that talking to Roni, she could find what she was looking for. "And maybe find a way to put all this finally behind me," she reasoned as she turned into the parking lot of the south side department store.
---
Roni strolled into the place she worked, thoughts on her paycheque and the folded slip of paper she had in her back pocket from her OBGYN. She was unsure who to talk to first about the news that was confirmed by not only what she felt, but also had been given to her via a test in the bathroom, followed by a trip to her doctor. On one hand, she felt Ted should be the first. But, on the other, she wanted to tell Kira and Dakotah the exciting news. Conflicted, she headed towards the back of the store, collected her bi-weekly pay, and headed back the way she had come. Walking through the store, she kept an eye out for her friends, but seeing they weren't working today, she sighed and figured that she'd have to call them, the figured if she was going to call anyone, it would be Ted first.
Lost in thought, she did not see the young woman until she had run into her. Taking a couple steps back, her mind going fuzzy as she felt a spark of static electricity jump between them, Roni hastily said, "I'm sorry," as the woman told her, "Excuse me."
What each was going to say was cut short as for Roni the previous month or so came back to her, whilst to Abbey the events of what happened to her four years previous came back to her in full detail. Each remembering the Amulet and Zulo and the confusion of what it did, "Or might have done," Abbey thought to herself, and as Roni asked, "Abbey?" the other young woman inquired, "Roni," at the same time before nodding.
Each looked at the other, unsure before, finally, Roni said, "I think we need to talk," as Abbey exclaimed, "I, um, came looking for you, cause I think we need to talk about something," and dissolving into silence, the two looked at each other awkwardly before smiling and starting fresh.
---
Sitting in Roni's apartment, sipping coffee with the other young woman, the two idly talked about nothing important as they danced around the subject that had brought them together. On the table sat the Amulet of Zulo.
After some time of idle banter, their conversation turned to what they could remember, which they found wasn't much. Both Abbey and Roni could vaguely, almost as if from a bad dream, recall that they had been male and they had used the necklace. But neither could remember who they had been, Roni was certain her male name had begun with M, or why they had used the amulet. Laughing, enjoying their reminiscence, the conversation soon turned and Roni casually said, "So when did you accept to remain female? That it might be better than being a guy? Or that you probably couldn't go back, which I have some information on that front."
A shrug and after she had taken a sip of her coffee, Abbey replied, "I guess I grudgingly accepted about four years ago, a couple days or week after I had transformed, either most of the way or all the way. I do not really recall. I just remember I was frustrated by what had happened and that, if I had to be a girl, okay. But the first change I got, I was going to change back.
"But that opportunity never came about. And, I do not know. I guess, after some time, I just accepted. I found I was happy as a girl, even if my life was sometimes uncertain. It no longer seemed important to look for the Amulet of Zulo and change back. And, eventually, I put it all behind me completely and moved on. I forgot everything until recently, when I saw you at the department store. And then all of it came back, slowly, when we ran into each other, followed by out talk her," and indicating to the amulet between them, she explained, "And I still accept what I am and know I do not want to change back."
A sip of her hot drink and Roni said, "About that," and sighing, she explained, "See, I think the transformation is one way," and seeing the look on her friend thought lost, then found, she pressed on.
"See, for me, it was having sex with Ted that finally convinced me I liked being a girl. I was able to look back and, as if through a fog, able to see that my life was better. I had thought I had lost a friend, who I hoped to one day find. But, in the meantime, I had gained two new ones, plus a boyfriend who it is going to be something more some day. With everything happening, and how good it seemed, I figured I'd give you the necklace, if I ever saw you again.
"Yet, the one thing I wanted to make sure, was that the transformation could be reversed. I tried a couple times. Once or twice with a pair of little girl's panties. The rest with a man's shirt. And each time, nothing happened. Which, I guess, with what I have found out, is probably a good thing," and taking from her pocket, she set on the table the test results from her doctor as she beamed, "I guess this was the final thing that cemented I am happy. The thought I am going to be a mother, that I am bringing a new life into the world, fills me with a pride I didn't have before. And once I break the news to Ted, I am sure he will feel the same way. Not about me staying a woman. But the sense of pride in what we created. What we are bringing into the world."
A smile crept across Abbey's face and reaching out to clasp the other young woman's hands, she gushed, "Congratulations," to which Roni responded with a heartfelt, "Thank you."
Their conversation drifting, it took some time, and a couple more cups of coffee before it returned the Amulet of Zulo. Nodding at, Roni said, "It's yours. Do with it whatever you want."
Unsure what to do with it, Abbey almost declined. Thinking about it, she instead slipped it in her purse. Forgotten for the moment, the two visited for a while longer before Roni explained she wanted to get a hold of Ted and Abbey said she had some errands to run. Parting ways with the promise to keep in touch, the two went their separate ways.
Hours later, Abbey sat at home, studying the necklace. She had no desire to use it, as what she had said earlier was true. She was a young woman, was happy being so, and did not want to change back to being a dude, the thought feeling wrong on so many levels. After a moment, she dropped it and the letter she had written to her cousin in a nearby box. Packing it all in, and making sure it didn't rattle about, she sealed the box, made sure the address was accurate, stood and headed out of her room. Placing the parcel in the postbox attached to the side of the house outside the front door. Figuring she was doing the right thing, she headed back inside, thoughts on her rediscovered friends and the upcoming semester at the local university.
---
Days later, and miles away, Kailey opened the package her cousin had sent. Finding it contained an old looking amulet with a weird word printed on it, she frowned, wondering what Abbey was up to. Reading the letter, her frowned deepened as she read what the necklace could do and daring to hope, she thought about her transition and wondered if the Amulet of Zulo could do as her cousin said. After a moment, she turned and headed to her room, her mind made up on what to do.