As Kellie talked with Tatsu and Kiko, her friends now found themselves wandering the palace grounds. Soon enough the girls separated from one another, leaving Kumiko gazing at the garden in the center of the palace.
"Quite a view huh?"
The teenage girl spun around, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw Mika. "You startled me," she sighed. A sad smile now crossed her face as she gazed at the college age woman. "How are you Mika?"
"As well as can be expected," Mika smiled. "Know this has been tough for you sis. Especially considering the glamor charm that was used."
"Yeah it's been hard," Kumi sighed. "Mom, dad, Shiro, they dont remember you. How were you able to do that?"
"Wasnt easy," Mika grumbled. "Tatsu kind of helped. Figured the easiest way to deal with things right now was to keep my existence in solely the other timeline."
"Did Claudia do that too," Kumi asked. Mika rubbed her neck sheepishly as she now tried to avoid eye contact with Kumi. "Not quite," she answered. "And that's why we need your help."
Cole Harris was still incredibly confused by everything that was happening. As he now sat inside his home he tried to process what he was being told.
Claudia, or at least an older version of her had appeared in his home. The college coed explained everything to her family. She was from another timeline entirely, in that had much older versions of her family. While astounded by this, he quickly came to believe her when she performed an incredible feat of magic, transforming into a flaming anthro tigress. What was even more insane was hearing his teenage sisters voice come from the avatar. After answering a few questions that only Claudia would know, Cole now found himself sitting in the living room alone with his sister.
"So you doing okay little bro," Claudia smirked.
Cole frowned, running a hand through his short brown buzz cut. "Your not going to stop with that huh?"
"I've been the baby of the family forever," Claudia grinned. "Nice to know in this timeline I get to be the oldest."
"Second oldest," Cole corrected. "Julia is still older by a year."
Claudia waved this off dismissively, offering a quip about taking her brother out as a belated 21st birthday celebration. As Cole was about to answer they siblings heard a knock on the door. Getting up, Cole opened the door, a smile widening across his face. "Kumiko," he said happily. "Wasn't expecting to see you. I didnt forget about a date did I?" Cole paused, looking behind the aged up teen. "Is that your sister?"
"Sort of," Kumiko said meekly. "You mind if I come in?" Cole of course offered, watching as the two twenty somethings now made their way towards the couch.
"So," Claudia stated. "Heres the thing, already told my little brother and the rest of my family about alternate timelines. Now before you freak out Cole, Kumi here knows all about it too."
"Kumi," Cole exclaimed. "You knew about all this? Why didnt you say anything?!" Kumiko could only shrug as she now stared at the floor sadly.
"That's not the only thing Kumi has been keeping a secret," Mika said. "Go ahead Kumi, show him."
Kumiko sighed sadly, her eyes growing damp. She had a bad feeling Cole would be upset when he found out how old she was. Silently the girl cursed herself, why had she tried to date Cole? He was 21, almost 22. She had just turned 17. Their was no way it could work. Kumiko now activated her spell, reversing the magic that had made her 21.
Coles eyes went wide, watching as the cute Asian woman he had gotten to know grow younger. The changes were subtle as Kumi only lost a few years. Even so Cole could see a difference. Kumikos breasts lost a cup size, her hips narrowing as her body slimmed. In only seconds the woman had gone from a curvy college beauty to a skinny teenage girl with an innocent face.
"I'm 17 Cole," Kumiko whimpered. "I'm sorry I didnt tell you."
Coles jaw hung open as he stared at the teenage girl. "Why didnt you tell me," he whispered, still shocked. "In fact why would you even try to go out with me!"
"We can answer that," Claudia interrupted. "You see, in our timeline you two are married." Cole almost kept it of his seat, his body stiff as he gazed at the sullen girl. "Married?"
"Yeah in our timeline you two are alot older," Mika said. "In fact Kumiko is older that you." Cole was still dumbstruck as he gazed at Kumiko.
"My sister here," Mika said. "Kind of wanted to date you ever since she found that bit of info out. But that's besides the point, you see we have a bit of a problem and after alot of soul searching we decided to just do it. Hope you two can handle it.
Cole and Kumiko now gave the two women a curious look as they opened a portal. Watching curiously the two watched as a young boy of 3 now stepped through, his eyes wide as a huge smile spread across his face.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Tommy Harris squealed as he ran to the alternate versions of his parents.
Kumiko was stunned as her dopplegangers son now squeezed her. The young boy now turned to Cole, the military cadet still in shock. "Daddy you have hair," the boy squealed as he touched Coles buzzcut.
"In the other timeline his parents are missing," Mika said sadly. "So is his sister. We think they might be after him two."
"Things arent safe their for my nephew," Claudia sighed. "After alot of debate we realized we needed to bring him somewhere safe. And what's a safer place than with his parents."
"In another timeline of course," Mika added.
"But we've only been dating for what a month, month and a half," Cole stammered.
"And were both kinda young," Kumiko stated as Tommy now wrapped his arms around the teens neck.
"We know," Claudia and Mika said. "But we couldn't think of a better place than with you two. I know it's weird but we have a feeling things will work out."
Kumiko and Cole could do nothing but stare at one another before gazing at the toddler that how began to ask them incessant questions. Whether they liked it or not the two were now responsible for their dopplegangers child.