Danielle looked up from the massive tome she was reading and smiled. This whole thing seemed to have worked out incredibly well, all things considered. Even if it wasn't intentional, she'd gone from a somewhat awkward teenage boy to a gorgeous fox-woman who'd married the love of her life and also gotten pretty rich. She'd raised "Thomas" properly, and ensured he'd be unable to use magic. To her surprise, he'd responded very well as he grew. He'd taken up silver-smithing under Rick's instruction, and was doing pretty well at it - from where she was sitting on her manor's balcony, she could see him working on a necklace, without his father's assistance this time. His twin sister Samantha, and one of Danielle's natural kits, on the other hand, had inherited a small portion of her mother's aptitude for magic. Actually, where was she...?
"Hah, gotcha!" Oh. There she was. Danielle sighed as the white-furred adolescent vixen loosed a bolt from her hands, which struck her brother squarely in the side.
"Hey, stop tha-aaaarrrh..." The voice trailed off into a whine as her grey-coated son shrunk down and collapsed onto all fours, becoming a cat. Danielle summoned up an absolutely miniscule amount of magic and warped instantly over. Samantha jumped, and Thomas' feline face looked smug.
"I didn't know you were here-" the white vixen stammered.
"Samantha..."
"It's just a joke, Ma! I'll change him back, see!" The panicky teenager whipped up another bolt of magic with exactly no forethought behind the spell, and Thomas returned to a bipedal stance... still a cat, though. And like three feet tall. He groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Samantha, you know what I've told you about transformation magic..."
"Yes, ma... 'only with consent or with your permission.' Sorry." Danielle shook her head. Restraint was something she was desperately trying to teach the up-and-coming mage, and she was making good progress, but she still had a ways to go. Danielle crinkled her nose slightly and absently sent another spell Thomas' way, restoring him to his proper form. She was going to have to administer The Punishment. Samantha could read the look on her mother's face, and her ears flattened against her head.
"Please don't, Ma, I won't do it again!"
"Samantha, you know I have to be consistent about these things. This is the second time this month; you're going to stay this way for a couple of days at least, young lady." Danielle fired off yet another spell, and Samantha felt herself shrinking. A few seconds later, where there had been a rather cute teenage vixen was a very nice painting of the same. Danielle picked it up; she'd look good hanging in the dining room, or perhaps in the library this time. It was a bit harsh, but Danielle refused to allow her kits to turn out like Kat had, malicious and sadistic. After she'd hung her daughter up - she'd settled on the library - Danielle went back out to Thomas, who had resumed work on the ring.
"Hey, Ma. Thanks for the save back there, don't know how long I'd have been stuck as a cat if you hadn't shown up. I feel kinda bad for Sam, though. Do you really have to turn her into a painting, of all things?" he asked. Danielle smiled at his concern for his sister. Yes, she'd raised him right. She motioned for him to sit down, and he did so.
"Thomas, how much do you remember?" she asked in a gentle, motherly voice. Thomas winced; he knew what his mother was referring to. He didn't like thinking back to his first life, it always made him twist up inside knowing he'd been like that.
"All of it, Ma, but I don't like thinking about it. We've had this talk before. I ain't Kat. I got her memories, but I am a different person," he stated defiantly. Danielle patted his head, causing his ears to twitch in irritation.
"Honestly, Tom, I think you're right. Not a hundred percent, but you're so different now you might as well be. Think back to what Kat was like. I don't want Sam to turn out like that, and the best way to ensure empathy is to make sure she knows what it feels like. She means well, of course, and it's all in good fun, but think how easy it is for power like that to go to someone's head."
"Yeah, but YOU didn't turn out like that."
"That's true. But remember how I got here in the first place. My very first experience of magic was having my home, friends, gender, and species ripped away in the blink of an eye against my will. That'll humble a lady." Tom nodded, cringing on the inside. He really didn't like thinking about what he'd done. It had worked out for the best - Danielle was a pretty great mother, after all - but there had been no way to ensure that. Honestly, he was glad he'd been given a new life and a chance to start over. It was a good world, and he had a good life, even if the process of going through puberty as a male fox-person was decidedly odd. They talked for a little while, and Tom returned to his workbench. Danielle went back to the balcony and resumed her reading for about an hour, when her husband Rick came out.
"Hello, dear. I noticed the new painting up in the library... Sam up to her hijinks again?" he asked. Danielle rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Yep. She'll learn eventually, though. And honestly, she doesn't mean any harm; she's got a good heart. She fixed up a robin with a broken wing yesterday. Turned it into a seagull in the process by accident, but it didn't seem to mind," she chuckled. "The girl just needs to figure out how to separate transformation and healing." Rick laughed along and sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her.
"You know... I've gotten to thinking. What about your parents? You ever want to see them again?" he asked. Danielle started, and thought about the question for a minute.
"Thirty-four years... Wow. Time flies, doesn't it? But honestly, I've thought about it before, and I keep putting it off."
"Why is that?"
"I know I'll have to confront 'em. Fact of the matter is, my parents knew full well Kat's soon-to-be abilities, and they knew her nasty personality. They didn't tell me about it, first off, and second, they didn't even consider staying home to protect me when she got those powers. They were more than willing to let her do whatever she pleased with me. You see it occasionally with the parents of mages here, but at least we're able to limit the damage - some folks favor magic children, even at the expense of their other kids," she said, fuming inwardly as her indignation bubbled up again. Rick pulled her close and stroked her, calming her a bit.
"Well, Dani, if this poor non-magic fox can offer his two pennies' worth, you ought to go back and confront them. It's not as if any real time has passed over there, so you're far more powerful than them. Show them that you're your own woman now, but let them know that they were in the wrong. And try to reconcile. I do hate to see a family divided," he said. Danielle sighed and nodded.
"You're right. I'll go tomorrow, I can't put this off any longer."
The next day, Danielle removed the time dilation and stepped through the portal, her husband, son, and daughter (just returned from her time as a painting) waiting outside.