She didn't know how long it had taken her to convince her brother to come back with her, but once Nicki had found her brother, whom she realised shortly after she had begun to look was called Taylor, and then convinced her to come back with her, the two choose to sit in silence on the patio stone. After a bit, Nicki finally broached the subject and asked, "So what happened?"
Silence from her brother and at first Nicki thought he was going to take off again and then she thought that he wasn't going to say anything. But finally he quietly stated in a quiet tone, "I don't know what happened," and looking up at the stars, he took a deep breath and slowly began to explain.
---
She had spent most of the afternoon packing away her mother's stuff, while at the same time keeping an eye out for anything else her mother might have kept from her childhood. During this whole time, her younger self slept on, something she was secretly glad of because at the moment she wasn't sure how she was to deal with the idea that her significant other had somehow turned into a four year old version of herself. But at the same wondering how it happened and if her mother had actually somehow did it.
When it became apparent that she wasn't going to be able to find anything else, which bothered because she was sure that her mother had kept other things besides the romper, Heather resigned herself to the fact that she was just going to have to buy clothes, knowing that Nick would not be happy with the prospect of wearing girl's clothing.
Taking the strange medallion out of her pocket as she pondered over where she could buy some clothes for a relatively inexpensive price, she stared at the images on either side, tried to pronounce the word printed on one side and wondered why it was that her mother had such a thing hidden in her closet and not stored in with her jewellery. After a couple minutes of just standing there, Heather figured that for the moment she had had enough of boxing up her mother's possessions and that Nick would surely continue to sleep for a bit longer. Deciding that she had enough time to pop over to the local department store, "Especially if I go back home for the car," she reasoned, Heather slipped the amulet back round her neck and left.
Home, she grabbed her purse, a light coat and the car keys, thought about dropping the medallion in with her jewellery, but decided to keep wearing it for the moment and leaving the house, she rummaged through her purse, making sure she had some cash and that she hadn't once again misplaced her cheque book and credit cards.
Pulling up in front of the department store, Heather sat in the car for a moment, trying to decide if she should buy girl's clothes or boy's clothes for Nick. Clicking off the ignition and dropping her keys into her purse, she exited the car, figuring that she would purchase her boyfriend shorts, shirts, pants, socks and pair of shoes for a boy, but that he would have to wear girl's underwear. Collecting a cart from the nearest corral, Heather hurried into the store, a feeling of abandonment creeping over as she came to the conclusion that she needed to hurry and that she shouldn't have left Nick sleeping.
As she navigated toward the girl's clothing section of the store, Heather found herself absently touching the strange amulet she had found in her mother's room through her shirt. Selecting several pairs of briefs, some with print and some without, she thought about the medallion and for a moment thought that it had something to do with Nick's transformation.
"That's just silly," Heather told herself and heading toward the shoe section, she began to convert girl's sizes to boy's size and finding herself at a lose.
In the end, feeling the need to hurry back home more then ever, she chose a couple different sizes and figuring that what didn't fit Nick she would return, Heather quickly made her way toward the boy's clothing section of the store.
Finding herself at a lose as to what a four year old boy would wear, having never been a tomboy at any age and not really ready to have children, Heather found herself wandering through the various wracks, end-caps and shelves, trying to decide what it was that a four year old would most likely want to wear. Glad that she was the only one currently in this section of the store, Heather decided to try to find a floor attendant and backing up, she proceeded to knock over a shelf holding several shirts.
As she cursed at her own clumsiness and her need to hurry, she bent down and began to pick up the shirts. As she did so, the medallion round her neck swung loose. Not really paying attention to the piece of jewellery, it came as a complete surprise when it became tangled in with a shirt with a Pokémon on the front and that moment she attempted to untangle it, she received a nasty shock for her trouble.
Dropping both, Heather squealed out, "Ouch!" and reaching for the amulet, figuring that the atmosphere in the store was tad dry, she paused as a strange feeling started in her abdomen and moved up and down throughout her body.
Over come with a sensation of vertigo, she attempted to straighten up, but found herself instead doubling over as the sensation coursing through her body shifted to a cramping sensation, while in her groin it violently turned into a burning feeling. Thinking, "What the..." she watched as her hands grew smaller and when she managed to look at her arms, watched as they literally regressed back in years before her eyes. But then the sensation of vertigo came back, worse then ever, and squeezing her eyes closed, she collapsed to the floor, curling up into a ball as the sensation of something pressing inside her groin pressed its way outward.
And then, the feeling began to quickly dissipate just as quickly as it started and standing, Heather wobbled in place, trying get her bearings as everything appeared a lot bigger and her centre of gravity had suddenly shifted. And then it dawned on her that the reason everything was bigger was because she was smaller and looking down, she took in the next big shock
---
"From there, I don't really remember anything until I turned up here some time ago," Taylor said in an even quieter tone. "I don't even remember where I got these clothes, which my mind says are mine, or where the amulet is, which I am sure is the reason why you are a girl and I am a boy."
Nicki, having listened to all of this, found herself unsure of what to say as something inside her memory begged for her to remember it, sure that whatever that it was, it had something to do with the strange medallion in her brother's story. After a moment, she stated, "I believe you." to which Taylor didn't say anything to response as he continued to stare off into the dark.
An idea suddenly came to Nicki and taking her brother's hand, she squealed out, "Let's make a pat!"
"A what?" Taylor asked, looking at her as if he still could not quite believe what had happened to him and how much was still changing around him, including his mind, which was insisting more and more that the girl next to him was not his boyfriend, but his little sister, Nicki.
Waving her free hand, Nicki stated, "You know. An agweement between two."
"You mean a pact," Taylor said and after a moment, asked, "What would this agreement be?"
Taking a deep breath, Nicki replied, "That if anyone of us were to ever find the amuwet, we would tell the other and afterward trade places. You can become the girl and I could become the boy, as we think we aught to be."
As he thought about this, trying to sort through his sister's immature words that didn't always come out right, Taylor eventually nodded and said, "All right," to which his sister squealed in delight.
Before either could say anything, a voice suddenly called out, "Kids. Time to come in," and turning to the sound of the voice, both Taylor and Nicki took in the woman framed in the patio door, realising that it was their aunt, who had been raising them since their mother's disappearance.
"Come on, it's dinner time," their aunt said and looking at each other, a look passed before the two and silently, both stood and slowly made their way inside as their aunt announced, "Both of you, upstairs to wash your hands before dinner," and as she slid the patio door closed, each in turn thought about the pact and whether they would ever see the medallion again.