Fleet of foot as she was, it didn't take Hannah long to find Jasmine. The foxgirl was hanging out with the other teenage foxmorphs, just generally messing around. As Hannah approached they all turned to look at her. "Hey, kids," she smiled. "Jasmine, right?" she queried, although she already knew. Jasmine nodded.
"Listen," Hannah said, "I need to talk to you for a bit. Do you have a few minutes?" Jasmine replied that she did, and the two wandered off a ways before sitting down to talk.
"Jasmine," Hannah said, "your mother told me all about you. Or rather, your 'mother' did." The finger-quotes were oddly emphasized, as Hannah's fingertips, covered in a hoof-like keratin structure, made a soft clacking sound when they hit.
One ear perked up; Jasmine was a little surprised. "You mean you didn't already know?" she asked. "Geez, you're renowned around here for spotting people like me!"
Hannah shrugged. "What can I say? You really had me fooled until Laurie told me. That was a hell of an act you put on. Or, rather, I suppose it wasn't. Anyway," she said, "Laurie was talking to me about your discussion earlier this morning and I told her I'd talk to you."
Jasmine's ears drooped. "I know pretty much what you're going to say," she said. "And it's all pretty much true. I know this is going to get messy, and I feel horribly selfish for suggesting this, but...it's the only solution I can see. I told Laurie I don't want to just bail out on our wedding vows, and if she really wants Jason back I'd do the best I can, and I really did mean that. But...well, she and I both know I couldn't do a very good job as Jason anymore, not after getting a taste of being Jasmine. So...my promise is still good, but I don't think that's how it's going to work out." She sighed. "Go on," Hannah prompted.
"All the same," Jasmine continued, "I don't want to just leave, not unless she wants me to. I still love her; after all, she's been my wife for years now. And I want to be with her, I just want it in a different way. The more I've been in this body, the more I've begun to feel, not just like it's right for me to be a teenage girl, but begun to feel like a teenage girl. I don't know if you can call it regression; I'm still retaining all my knowledge, and...well, I suppose I have been getting less mature, but I've retained the really important principles I learned over the years. But I'm slowly becoming what I am, I think, and part of that is that I'm looking for a mother to look up to. I love Laurie; she's wonderful, a model woman, if a little unusual for finding guys like me attractive. And if I'm looking for a mother figure, I want it to be her. But I know that's much more to ask than if I just left, and I really don't know what it'd do to her." She put her head in her hands to hide the tears rolling down her face. "Dammit," she cried, "this is what I always wanted, but...it wasn't supposed to be like this!"
Hannah placed an arm around her shoulder. "It's like they say," she said. "'Be careful what you wish for.'" Jasmine lifted her head and smiled slightly. "'You just might get it.' Yeah," she said, "that's truer than whoever coined it knew. I came here to indulge myself; that's what you do on a vacation, and this was the opportunity to indulge my greatest fantasy. But if I'd known what a mess this would make of things, I would've held off."
Hannah nodded. "You can't change that now, though. The question is, what do you plan to do?"
Jasmine shrugged. "It all depends on what Laurie wants. Focusing on myself got us into this mess; focusing on her might not get us out, but maybe it can minimize the damage. I told her that ideally we'd dissolve the marriage and live as mother and daughter, out in the real world. Mike lives not too far from us, and I told her that I think I'm in love with him, so I guess we'd be in a relationship. I told her that if I were to move on to another relationship that I'd certainly release her from romantic fidelity. In fact, and I told her this, I'd really like for her to find a nice todd to be my dad. But...like I said, it all depends on what Laurie wants. I just don't know if she feels up to being a mom to a husband-turned-daughter."
Hannah nodded, pondering. "Well," she said, "you can't be all that immature. Not only are you recognizing your mistakes, you're learning from them, too, and putting aside what you want to fix whatever you can. Still, don't think that there's an easy out here. Even if Laurie does agree to be your mom, that means you'd be under her authority - from what I understand about the proposed reintegration laws, age-regressed people are treated legally as their new age. So you'd be a minor for another three years or so. And you'd have to accept her authority, or she'll feel that you didn't really mean it in the first place. And even with all that, it might still be hard on her. If she's not up for this, though, then it gets worse. You'd be, as I understand it, an emancipated minor, which means you'd have to fend for yourself when everyone sees you as fourteen or fifteen, with no Mom to help you. Not easy at all."
Jasmine sighed. "You're right, it's not going to be easy. But this is something I have to try. I made a mess of this when I should have known better, and I'm going to fix it as best as I can, no matter how long it takes."
"Pretty mature for a fourteen-year-old girl," Hannah said. "But one more piece of advice: don't be such a flirt. I know you just got this body, and I'm sure you've been waiting for this a long time, but the way you've been acting attracts the wrong sort of boys. And believe me, that's something you don't want. This Mike of yours seems like a pretty good kid, and what you two do isn't really my business, but if he's really in love with you then you don't need to throw yourself at him."
Jasmine nodded. "I guess you're right. I just got caught up in what felt good. But I'm not going to do anything further until I find out what Laurie want to do. And...thanks, Hannah."
Hannah nodded, and the two parted ways.